Posted on 06/27/2006 5:12:13 PM PDT by Aussie Dasher
THE Republican majority in the US Senate has failed by just one vote to amend the constitution to ban desecration of the national flag.
The motion was backed by 66 votes, one short of the two thirds majority need to get a constitutional amendment passed.
Thirty-four senators voted against.
The measure, backed by President George W. Bush, had been promoted by the Republican majority as it tries to rally its conservative base ahead of key congressional elections in November.
To burn the American flag is to burn the freedom of speech.
Please explain how one implies the other.
Good. Now get back to work on real issues.
The Senate did its job for a change and buffered the populist leanings of the House.
Flag protection is a very poor amedment.
Yelling "fire" and actually lighting one are different things...
Arson is not speech...
Not if it burns down your house next to mine, my business OR THE CITY I PAID TAXES TO BUILD AND THE FIRE DEPARTMENT I PAID WITH TAXES TO RESPOND!
Public safety is a real issue if we are talking about fires...
Would you like to see the government limit political satire in the form of cartoons or theater?
But since you draw the line at fire, I'm willing to bet that there are all kinds of items or symbols that you'd be willing to see burn as a sign of protest...islamic flags or pictures; KKK robes or flags; anything French; Dixie Chick items...as long as it isn't something YOU like and find precious.
And now for the obligatory disclaimer: Yes, I find flag burning offensive and distasteful, especially since most who do so have never done anything to promote liberty and freedom. Yet we loose a measure of freeedom when distasteful political protest is banned by the government.
Do you think that a faithful German or Russian could have burned their flags in protest over what their governments were doing to their countries? WE both know the answer to that one, don't we?
I do not care about what is being burned, open fires in public is a threat to public safety... it is not speech...
Fire is not speech, never has been, never will be...
Whoda thunk that Sir Francis was on the side of the Muslims?
Fires are not speech, you are correct.
Are drawings speech? No. Should a drawing of a fat-assed hillary or a Pinochio-nosed bill clinton be protected or should they be regulated by the federal government?
Is mime or silent theater speech? No. Should the fedgov regulate political satire done in mime or silent theater?
If you cannot object to burning a Koran or Nazi in protest, then you can't object to burning a US flag without abandoning principle. No, I wouldn't do anything to stop someone from burning a Koran or Nazi flag but I probably would if I saw someone doing the same to a US flag. Just because the feds don't regulate something doesn't mean there won't be repercussions for such activity done in public.
And we both know that the public safety aspect is hogwash and need not be mentioned any more. Too many ways exist to satisfy safety issues for that to be anything more than verbal static.
It is funny how issues like this reveal totalitarian leanings in so called freepers.
No I am not. I think I'd made that clear. Those who'd burn the flag in protest of those freedoms you enjoy are the selfsame ones who'd as soon see your loss of them in favor of their own Utopia. In your opinion, is their position "protected speech"? or do you see it as a potential threat to your freedom? If not, then why not? You'd not so readily afford an avowed enemy of the US the same latitude, would you? Or is the willingness to grant "freedom of speech" protection to burning the flag as protest of America's freedoms a guise for a measure of cowardice to protect them? Exactly how much protection should we offer those who would use our rights and freedoms as tools to attack and destroy us? IMO, I'd say we give them exactly what they wish - we should offer them NONE of the protected freedoms they so sorely hate.
Persons of greater courage than we have and do expend extreme sacrifice to preserve those freedoms represented by the Stars and Bars and those willing to burn her in protest of what she represents does so in contempt of those who have paid and will pay the price necessary to preserve her. Some would claim those freedoms also envelope that of burning the flag. I simply disagree. I believe coverage under those freedoms should end with the ignition of the match.
Lighting the fire isn't the threshold of contempt, the mindset behind it is. Lighting the fire is just a manifestation of the "heart". Although I don't think an amendment is necessary, I think lawfully banning the burning just drives an enemy underground whereas otherwise they could be publicly marked where appropriate measures could possibly be taken.
The real remedy for issues such as flag burning and "gay" marriage may be found in limiting the power of the Federal courts to rule in these matters. To do so does not require a Constitutional amendment, but it would mean that Congress must use its authority, granted in the Constitution, to establish Federal courts as well as the range of their jurisdiction. The judicial branch has been expanding its authority against the executive and legislative branches since the days of John Marshall and has become the most powerful of the three branches. This power is far beyond that exercised by courts in other Anglosphere nations, not to mention the other Western democracies. It is past time that Congress reined in the judiciary.
So I propose that if you decide to exercise your right to free speech and want to burn the American Flag. You have to burn it in a close container where it will not be a fire hazard and no one is in danger.
Now, if others can't see you are burning a flag because it is in a closed container, you might want to think of another way to express your sentiments.
Also, if you fail to comply with the close container law. You should be jailed for 5 years and fined $50,000.
Just my feelings on Flag burning.
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.