Common Sense

That’s a total inside joke. If you got it, then you should be ashamed at your dorkiness.

The House passed a “flag burning amendment” today. Or I should say, the passed a resolution that would allow for a Constitutional Amendment that would make it possible to pass legislation punishing desecration of the flag.

But however you wanna say it, it’s all about flag burning. Some people want to ban burning because they think it is, I don’t know why exactly, but they are against it. Some people say it’s free speech and we’re free to do it all we want.

The fact that this is the sixth consecutive Congress that has passed this resolution without an actual amendment being produced should tell you that this isn’t really that big of a deal. Only politicians really care about this. And to paraphrase Martin Sheen on an episode of the West Wing, “Is there an epidemic of flag burning?”

I’m only really discussing this right now because Congressman Chet Edwards’ office faxed us in a press release (by us I mean the Trib) a few minutes ago to tell us he favors the amendment. I was very sad to read that, but I understand his concerns with most of his constituency being very ardent Republicans.

But I was sad nonetheless.

The U.S. Supreme Court may equate flag desecration with free speech. I respectfully disagree. The American flag is a symbol of what we are and who we are. It deserves to be honored and protected from desecration.”

The flag is a symbol of our freedoms. I just think we should worry less about protecting symbols and more about the actual freedoms. People don’t fight and die for a symbol of our country; they fight and die for the actual country and the actual freedoms that we all share. Limiting our freedoms to protect an object that in all actuality was probably made in China just seems really superstitious and illogical.

But it’s not something that I’m really passionate about. If I can’t burn the flag in protest, I can still burn other things. I can shoot stuffed bald eagles. I can make a hardcore gay porn movie and have the actors wear Richard Nixon and George W. Bush masks. All I ask is that they extend desecration to include those damn western wear shirts that look like flags and anything Kid Rock does with a flag.

That’s called a compromise.