(no subject)
So, members of the Republican party are attempting to pass an amendment to make desecrating the American flag illegal.
I have a couple of problems with this. Firstly, the first amendment has been clearly interpreted by the Supreme Court for a very, very long time already to protect this kind of expression, however unpopular. Secondly, if you want to protect the American flag, you should ban the use of the Confederate flag. The south tried to secede, and now they get to fly the flag that...is really treasonous? Do you know anywhere else you could do that?
But my favorite, favorite part comes from the US Code itself, regarding proper display, and use of the American Flag itself. Title 4, Chapter 1, §8(k) says that an American flag no longer fit for display should be destroyed "in a dignified way, preferably by burning."
There's the Cornell site for reference: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode04/usc_sec_04_00000008----000-.html
I have a couple of problems with this. Firstly, the first amendment has been clearly interpreted by the Supreme Court for a very, very long time already to protect this kind of expression, however unpopular. Secondly, if you want to protect the American flag, you should ban the use of the Confederate flag. The south tried to secede, and now they get to fly the flag that...is really treasonous? Do you know anywhere else you could do that?
But my favorite, favorite part comes from the US Code itself, regarding proper display, and use of the American Flag itself. Title 4, Chapter 1, §8(k) says that an American flag no longer fit for display should be destroyed "in a dignified way, preferably by burning."
There's the Cornell site for reference: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode04/usc_sec_04_00000008----000-.html