Posted on 06/22/2006 9:34:21 AM PDT by IrishMike
If anyone needs further proof - not that anyone does these days - that the Republican leadership in Congress is both desperate and clueless, it's the election-year revival of that mother of all non-issues: flag desecration.
The U.S. House passed this tread-worn measure last year, and the Senate Judiciary Committee approved it last week. Even though Congress has no shortage of real issues, ranging from the war in Iraq to global warming, clamoring for its attention, the full Senate will begin debate next week on a proposed constitutional amendment to solve a problem that doesn't exist.
As if that weren't dismaying enough, here's worse news: Even though the proposal has repeatedly been defeated in the past, supporters are within just a vote or two of passing this great flapping albatross of an amendment. If that happens, it would go to the states for ratification, and it's unnerving to remember that legislatures in all 50 have adopted resolutions in support.
So, once more we rise wearily to point out the obvious - a constitutional amendment allowing Congress to criminally punish the "physical desecration" of the American flag isn't needed because no one is out there burning flags. Even if they were, the First Amendment states with unmistakable clarity that Congress shall "make no law ... abridging the freedom of speech." That applies to everything from Ku Klux Klan marchers to federal lawmakers who wear stars-and-stripes neckties.
(Excerpt) Read more at registerguard.com ...
It's my flag and you will please forebear from giving it away to pigs and sluts.
Bunch of WATBs who want to amend our Constitution so we can join the ranks of authoritarian governments that criminally punish flag-burning. Great - let's be like Iran, Iraq, China, Cuba, the former USSR, etc.
As Boortz says, so well: My default position is freedom. Before you move to restrict that freedom, you better be able to demonstrate a damn good reason to do so. And playing pure politics with something that almost never occurs and which, when it does occur in any fashion covered by this legislation, is only punishable because of the INTENT involved does not even approach being a good reason.
My property rights combined with my second amendment rights gives me a larger bore and greater range. So, keep your s--hooks off my stuff.
Voltair was a foreigner ~ a Frenchman to be exact. He had no property right in the American flag to protect.
My understanding is that most flag burners buy them from the store.
So it is normally their flag that they burn.
Er... a couple guys in dark sunglasses just dropped by wanting to have a chat with you....
As for the war in Iraq, apparently Republicans think it works for them - see the recent House and Senate votes. It's probably a lot like Nixon and 'Nam, a decent percentage of the sour people are probably upset that we ain't blowing enough stuff up. Most Americans, except the granola munching Left, hate losing more than they hate war.
Based on the CA-50 results among other things, I've rejected 1994 as a template and moved on to 1998 as my template.
Plus the Dems have offered no alternative. I did an experiment on a middle of the road voter, I said Speaker Nancy Pelosi and it scared her half to death.
Lastly the gerrymandering of the House and the fact that that GOP only has to defend 15 seats in the Senate, to the Dims 18 are structural GOP advantages.
You don't own my flag. You don't own my neighbor's flag. Your idiotic statements about property rights would indicate that you think you own everyone's flag. What are you - some kind of communist?
First off, it's my flag, not yours, and I inherited it. It's simply not yours to give away. Not everybody in this country "owns" that flag either because it's not a case of simple presence or attendance that allows the claim of ownership.
You don't own the flag. People now and in the past have defended what the flag represents not the flag itself!
If it were a vote loser, Hillary (and a few other Dems) wouldn't cross party lines to vote for it. If I were the Dems, I'd pass the thing to get it out off the table. If it's a bad idea, leave that to the states.
The USSC doesn't particularly care how you came by a flag ~ they despise it nonetheless.
I am sure "W" can be satisfactory counseled. You, on the other hand, would appear to be a lost cause. I'd suggest you depart immediately for a country where the standards live up to your expectations ~ maybe Italy or something.
If by 'inherited' you are referring to having ancestors fighting under that flag in times of war, mine did the same, all the way back to the first war (and they also fought against those carrying it, in one war). So what makes it "yours" and not any other American's?
It's my flag punk. I own it. You will respect my property.
You have a very narrow interpretation of things. It's my flag. It's existence precedes the authority of the current government that claims to operate the United states.
The flag that I bought, that I fly from my house, that my ancestors fought under, is mine. It is not yours. You couldn't articulate a claim to it if an adult did it for you. And if I want to burn it in grand celebration of the freedom to do so that we have in this great nation, I'll damn well do it.
I also have an American flag. It's not "the" American flag. It's my American flag. It's my property. I bought it 2 years ago.
If it was "our" American flag, I guess the money I paid for it was only rent. Hmmm...but they never asked me to sign a rental agreement.
Once when I was carrying it, one corner touched my driveway. I've heard it's a very bad thing to let "the" American flag touch the "ground". But I say my driveway is not the "ground". It's a masonry slab set on top of the ground.
My wife washes my flag in the washing machine when needed. Am I guilty of an act of war?
btw, lugsoul, when you are in a business partnership, and have joint ownership of property, you must respect the other partner's property rights anyway ~ you can't just start dragging off the contents of the stockroom and tossing them in the trash.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.