Apparently this is the month for stupid amendments. After the defeat of the Marriage Protection Amendment (thank goodness) we’re now faced with the frighteningly real prospect that the Flag Desecration Amendment will be approved by the Senate– it’s currently only a single vote shy of passage– and sent to the states to be ratified.
In one pundit’s words, this is “the dumbest law ever”. It boggles the mind that people want an amendment to the Constitution that specifically takes away one of the rights protected under the First Amendment. Burning a flag is, at its core, free speech. Sure, it makes some people angry. Voltaire once said, “I may not agree with your opinion, but I will fight to the death to defend your right to have it.” Apparently his words fall on deaf ears these days, because politicians seem more intent on taking away freedoms than protecting them.
I think it’s more “un-American” to prohibit flag burning than it is to actually perform the act. And if this atrocity comes to pass, I may very well burn a flag to protest it.