The House passes constitutional ammendment banning flag burning
June 4, 2003 9:34 AM   Subscribe

 
What always amazes me about this issue is that, according to flag etiquette, burning is one of the only two acceptable ways of disposing of a flag when it is time to be retired. You can burn an old flag, or you can bury it. A flag is never to be thrown into the trash.

I see tattered rags that were once flags hanging limply from
car doors and antennae. I see flags in fabrics that are in no way weatherproof left to hang out in the rain. I see them discarded by roadways, being run over by passing traffic after they've fallen off someone's antenna or sign. I see ripped paper flags soaking up old food in the garbage.

And these people think burning the flag is disrespectful?
posted by Karmakaze at 9:48 AM on June 4, 2003


Somebody needs to let these goldarned hippie flag-burners know that this is AMERICA. Flag burning and freedom of speech just ain't some things we're a gonna tolerate.

Gawd bless America.
posted by fold_and_mutilate at 9:49 AM on June 4, 2003


People who burn flags hate freedom.

Think about that.
posted by drstrangelove at 9:49 AM on June 4, 2003


I entirely conquer with you're opinnion.
posted by Pretty_Generic at 9:51 AM on June 4, 2003


f & m,

This isn't "America." It's Uh-mur-ka.

Go back to Uzbekistan if you can't make that distinction.
posted by drstrangelove at 9:52 AM on June 4, 2003


Karmakaze, I think your point was the reason this got shot down the last 5 times people tried to pass it. In some circumstances, burning is not only OK it's required. Therefore it isn't the burning that's a problem, it's the message. Which falls under the 1st Amendment. QED.
posted by JoanArkham at 9:54 AM on June 4, 2003


re: what kamikaze said: funnily enough, that's exactly the same way you're supposed to dispose of a koran, from what i've read. the weird-ass jingo fundy idolatry of the flag has always skeezed me deeply for this very reason.
posted by donkeyschlong at 10:23 AM on June 4, 2003


oops, karmakaze. heh.
posted by donkeyschlong at 10:27 AM on June 4, 2003


Also, note that the context of burning has a lot to do with its acceptability. When it's done by the book, the flag is folded (I think the people folding it have to wear gloves?), it's cut into strips, and then those are burned. At least, that's according to my sometimes feeble memory.

So burning doesn't always equal burning. Just wanted to get that out there.
posted by the.omega.concern at 10:34 AM on June 4, 2003


I swear to God the number one cause of flag-burning in this country is flag-burning amendments.

:: stews for a bit ::

There's no surer sign that Republicans are out of ideas than when a flag-burning amendment shows up again.

:: stews a bit more ::

Hey, you know what would go great with this? An anti-cannibalism amendment! 'Cause everybody hates it, and nobody does it! Let's make an amendment! Who's with me?
posted by furiousthought at 10:45 AM on June 4, 2003


Surely the American way is to be the one selling the flags and the lighter fuel at an anti-American rally?
posted by salmacis at 11:01 AM on June 4, 2003


The US Code covers flag etiquette. Notice the "shoulds." These are not laws, per se, but guidelines. The amendment in question seeks to make the guidelines legally enforceable.
posted by MrMoonPie at 11:41 AM on June 4, 2003


People who burn flags hate freedom.
Think about that.


Go back to Uzbekistan if you can't make that distinction.

Paging Dr. Strangelove...
posted by dhoyt at 11:51 AM on June 4, 2003


So, this coloured, patterned fabric... which stands for - but is not - all the competing notions of the nation (btw: any nation - we all have flags), and the feelings we may have about the nation, isn't indestructible? Why can't folk see the distinction between the symbol, and the thing the symbol stands for?
posted by dash_slot- at 11:55 AM on June 4, 2003


To paraphrase the Klan, they're not "burning" the flag, they're "lighting" it. Protestors are symbolically and patriotically causing the flag to illuminate the world with its rays of shining freedom.
posted by George_Spiggott at 11:57 AM on June 4, 2003


So, will there then be a market for big pieces of cloth that say "The American Flag" in red white and blue.
Will it be illegal to burn an effigy of the flag too?
posted by Dillenger69 at 11:58 AM on June 4, 2003


As long as I can burn a cross, then you can burn a flag.
posted by Witty at 12:03 PM on June 4, 2003


dhoyt,

Do you hate freedom?
posted by drstrangelove at 12:11 PM on June 4, 2003


No one's ever left a burning American flag on the lawn of the White House telling its resident to get his children out of their school system.

...but now that you mention it...
posted by Mars Saxman at 12:23 PM on June 4, 2003


Hate Freedom, origin of Freedom Fries, Freedom Toast and Freedom Ticklers? I thought it was patriotic to hate Freedom, with their women who don't shave their armpits and the men who don't do as the U.S. tells them, and their Eiffel Tower which is a mockery of our decent and prayerful oil derricks. I'm so confused. Just tell me who to hate, and don't use too many big words.
posted by George_Spiggott at 12:26 PM on June 4, 2003


Flag-burning amendment passes the House? Yeah it's highly unlikley this will pass the Senate which is good. I can't say the same for are friends the French who's government just passed a law to jail or fine anyone who insults the flag let alone burn it.

Damn, gotta love "are" friends the french, perhaps they can spell better too?
posted by chl at 12:35 PM on June 4, 2003


Are the French really are friends? Huh, ZupanGOD? Are they approving of are amendments?



in case you didn't get it, you have poor English skills and I hate you for it.
posted by ac at 12:41 PM on June 4, 2003


chl beat me to it. nice fpp, z.
posted by ac at 12:44 PM on June 4, 2003


Chi, ac, it''s not uncommon for a touch-typist to inadvertently type a homonym for the word they intend -- I suspect that for fast, experienced typists, typing involves the speech centers. It has nothing to do with not knowing grammar.
posted by George_Spiggott at 12:46 PM on June 4, 2003


There is no edit button.. get over it.
posted by ZupanGOD at 1:06 PM on June 4, 2003


From this site burning the flag in protest is about the least seen thing.
Examples:
The flag should never be carried flat or horizontally, but always aloft and free.
The flag should never be used as wearing apparel, bedding, or drapery.
The flag should never be used as a covering for a ceiling.
The flag should never be used for advertising purposes in any manner whatsoever.
posted by thomcatspike at 2:23 PM on June 4, 2003


That's funny, George Spiggott; my completely uninformed opinion is exactly the opposite. I've been touch-typing since I was ten and practically never substitute homonyms. I would have explained that as an error made primarily by people who do little reading or writing, since I imagine they would think of language in terms of sounds rather than strings of symbols. Now you've made me curious - I wonder how it really works? Any Metafilterian psychologists want to point me in the direction of some research on the subject?
(Sorry about the thread derailment; I'll go back to work now...)
posted by Mars Saxman at 2:29 PM on June 4, 2003


I'm just a carpy typist...
posted by i_cola at 2:58 PM on June 4, 2003


To perpetuate the egregious derailment: Mars, my opinion is as uninformed as yours, I'm just speaking from my own experience as well. I've touch-typed most of my life and I never look at the keyboard, and I've noticed that the more hurriedly I type the more likely I am to type a homophone (which is actually the correct term a homonym is one that is spelled as well as pronounced the same as another). I've assumed that this is because I'm subvocalizing as I type and my brain is producing the first match for the sound. (I'm also more likely to type the dreaded "your" for "you're" when writing very quickly -- a source of deep shame for anyone who trades in words.)

Ahem. Hope others will forgive the aside.
posted by George_Spiggott at 3:01 PM on June 4, 2003


Flag-burning pigs. I fart in your general direction. Idea--let the French burn the US Flag and Americans burn the Tricolor...
posted by newlydead at 3:07 PM on June 4, 2003


I swear to God the number one cause of flag-burning in this country is flag-burning amendments.

True. I've never really felt any urge to burn the flag, as much as I have diagreed with some of our nation's policies. However, if they actually outlaw it, I'm grabbing my zippo.
posted by kayjay at 4:36 PM on June 4, 2003


However, if they actually outlaw it, I'm grabbing my zippo.

Yea, right.
posted by Witty at 7:27 PM on June 4, 2003


Yea, right.

You don't believe this?
posted by Space Coyote at 11:08 PM on June 4, 2003


I, too, will (harmlessly) burn anything inanimate that the government tells me not to burn. I have empirical data to prove this.

And burn all the crosses you want, I'm sure they'll throw you in an all-white jail.
posted by Ignatius J. Reilly at 2:04 AM on June 5, 2003


No, I don't believe it. And I don't believe ANYthing IJR has to say.
posted by Witty at 11:38 AM on June 9, 2003


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