The Flag Burning Amendment

While it passed in the House, a close miss was the result for the Flag Burning Amendment in the Senate. Some are happy about this vote, but I prefer another opinion:

I just know how some folks - the VFW; the American Legion; WWII vets - cherish the American flag and feel profound sorrow when it gets trashed.

I feel sorry for them today.

When I hear of leftists who hate symbols of our country, it does not surprise me; they mistakenly believe that the flag represents our government and that it is a symbol of oppression. But an increasing number of people appear to believe that actions are included in speech.

That is fine, so let's remember something about the First Amendment. It does have its limits. For example, a threat against the federal government is a felony. If the flag represents the United States government, then it seems to me that burning the flag is an explicit threat against the federal government.

It also seems like a lot of people believe we have a right to not be offended these days. If that is so, then who is here to defend the veterans who fought for that flag and the values it represents?

There may be some more pressing matters that our Senate should have considered, but the vote was there, and we as Americans had the right to vote on the amendement in the upcoming elections. If people are against it, they could have had an opportunity to vote against it (and as Waldo believes, it fail anyway).

And it is rather interesting. Many Democrats claim that this is all a political stunt, and have come very strong against the amendment. With so much noise coming from the left over this vote, it might be interesting to see how this affects the upcoming midterm elections; might people get mad over the disrespect for the flag and take votes away from the Democrats, or will this energize the Democratic base to vote out Republicans? Only time will tell.