[Teacher317]

There's this funny little legal concept called "extenuating circumstances"... the nation is at war, protestors are getting more and more violent across the nation, the desecration of the flag could very easily be considered to meet the "fighting words" factor, and the "attack" was hardly life-threatening or brutal. While the nation is certainly becoming rather effiminate (recall that "gouging" was a "sport" in America... a contest where two consenting men tried to take out the eye of their opponent first), I don't think we're quite at the point where a brief impassioned scuffle over politics merits jail time.

[Dimensio]

I don't think we're quite at the point where a brief impassioned scuffle over politics merits jail time.

A "scuffle" would have occured if the man who was punched had been arguing back and forth with the man who punched him until tension rose enough to drive one of them to violence. That did not happen in this case. The attacker saw someone holding something that he didn't like, so he got out of his car and threw a punch. I might have a different opinion of the matter if it comes to light that the man holding the defaced flag said anything directly to the man who attacked him, but nothing in the article suggests as much.

[Search4Truth]

You make a good point. However, the laws have to apply to everyone equally or they are not laws at all.

Our patriot should accept responsibility for breaking the law and pay the fine for this assualt charge. It is what I would expect if I were on the receiving end of an assault. Justice will then have been served.