Burning the Flag? Fire Works!

Happy 4th of July!

Freedom lives!!!!

This week the amendment to ban flag burning was defeated in the Senate by 1 vote.

Republicans would like to brand the left as a bunch of cowards who hate America and refuse to fight. Fuck that shit. I will take up arms (thank you 2nd amendment) in defense of the 1st amendment. Hooray for freedom of expression!

I'm expressin' with my full capabilities, And now I'm livin' in correctional facilities
Cause some don't agree with how I do this.

-Dr. Dre, "Express Yourself", 1989

I may be unoriginal in many respects, but one thought I had this week that I have not heard voiced is my opinion that forced reverence for the flag weakens our nation. I was brought up with a healthy dose of American history and I respect America too much to force someone to worship its flag. I rise at baseball games and remove my cap when the national anthem is played because I learned to respect this country through my education. I was fortunate enough to have teachers in elementary and secondary schools who introduced me to American history and civics, and I paid a lot of fucking attention.

Forcing Americans to praise the flag by enacting a new amendment to ban flag desecration is both lazy and fascist. It devalues the flag to force Americans to worship it without question. From the Philadelphia Inquirer on June 25, 2006:

The countries that enacted national bans on flag desecration are Cuba, China, Iran, Nazi Germany, and Iraq under Saddam Hussein.

Hmm. I think I saw at least one of those countries listed in the Axis of Evil. George W. Bush, who dodged the draft in Vietnam, wants to ban flag burning, while John Kerry, a decorated veteran, stands against a constitutional amendment. Who understands the nature of American freedom better? No flip flop here. It’s time to readjust the bell curve for I.Q. based on the results of the 2004 presidential election and the USA Today poll indicating that 56% of Americans approve of an amendment to ban flag burning. The first amendement protects freedom. As much as I hate racists, the 1st Amendment protects their freedom of speech. So when the Republicans want to ban flag burning, I can only agree with Ice Cube: "You can burn your cross, while I burn your flag."

It brings me no pleasure to point out the following similarity:

I'm not buying what you're selling.