"The First Amendment exists to insure that freedom of speech and expression applies not just to that with which we agree or disagree, but also that which we find outrageous. ... I would not amend that great shield of democracy to hammer a few miscreants. The flag will be flying proudly long after they have slunk away.”
— Gen. Colin Powell (Ret.), on proposals to ban burning of the American flag.
A proposed “flag-protection” amendment to the U.S. Constitution is a horrible solution to a barely existing problem — the burning of American flags.
But that’s not really what Republicans are trying to address, with the flag amendment, as well as with another proposed amendment to ban same-sex marriage.
The real problem is that without the conservative Americans for whom such measures are litmus tests for their votes, Republicans, for whom not much else is working, could suffer historic defeats at the polls this fall.
That the Republicans would resort to altering the Constitution so that it limits freedom, to win votes indicates how far the GOP has already fallen.
Of the two proposed amendments, prospects are more immediate for the “flag-amendment.” The House has already approved, and a Senate committee signed off earlier this month. Not known is whether backers will be able to get the required two-thirds majority when it is considered by the full Senate in June.
Supporters have been pushing for a flag amendment since 1989, when the Supreme Court ruled that burning the American flag is a form of political expression protected by the free speech clause of the First Amendment to the Constitution.
Amendment supporters reject that conclusion, arguing that burning the flag is not speech, just “offensive conduct” subject to regulation. Banning burning or other desecration, they argue, will not infringe on anyone’s rights.
Using that logic, the American flag is just a piece of multi-colored cloth. It does not represent freedom, liberty and all things American. And when they wave it proudly, all you are getting is exercise. There is no greater meaning.
Of course, they would not say that. They would argue that they are waving the flag to express their views, to express a larger point.
But the flag is not only theirs.
The flag, and the liberty and justice it stands for is for all Americans, even those who might choose to make their point by burning it.
“Flag burning and desecration is offensive because it is political.” the American Civil Liberties Union wrote in its talking points on the amendment. “Experience shows that the way to fight political expression with which one disagrees is not to outlaw it, but to express disapproval.”
Regardless of what you think about flag-burning or same-sex marriage — neither is for me — all Americans ought to be bothered that politicians and some of their backers are so eager to trample on the Constitution to make their point.
The Constitution has been amended 27 times since it was first adopted in 1787. Except for measures changing how the government is formed, i.e. popular election of senators, the amendments have expanded individual Americans’ rights and liberties. (One exception was Prohibition, which was later repealed.)
The more recent trend, however, is to propose Constitutional amendments — like bans on flag burning and same-sex marriage —that would limit or diminish, not expand, Americans’ rights and liberties.
That is un-American, and in a time when there are so many profound challenges to our freedom and liberty, it is dangerous.
To compare the arguments of the opposting sides, visit the Citizens Flag Alliance and the American Civil Liberties Union.
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