March 29, 2000

5:47 PM

Yay! The flag burning amendment is dead, at least for another year. What offends me most is: why did 63 Senators vote for this? Second most: do these people actually believe themselves when they preach that people have fought and died for the flag? I *hope* that no soldiers have fought for the flag, per se; I would hope that our military fights for the ideals of which the flag is a nice, abstract representation.
I've put up a short page with links to the official Congressional Record transcripts of the debate, for those who are interested. (It gives me reading for my plane ride tomorrow, if I can avoid the calling of my Sims family.)
posted by delfuego (5 comments total)

Ever notice this always comes up in an election year? It's a pure political ploy. If any of the senators that voted against it are up for re-election, their opponent will paint them as unpatriotic.

Where's a benign monarch when you need one.
posted by alan at 5:57 PM on March 29, 2000

One of the times when this came up, Senator Kerry (of Nebraska) stood up and made a speech saying that he thought it was stupid. That basically helped defeat it that time.

You see, Senator Kerry was standing on a wooden leg which replaced the one he lost while he was winning the Medal of Honor in Viet Nam. Anyone accusing him of being "unpatriotic" would have been laughed out of the building.

The problem I have with this is that this is not the kind of thing that constitutional amendments are intended for. Think about the kinds of amendments which have been passed in the past: Women's vote, 18 year old vote, end of slavery, direct election of Senators.

Flag burning? What's that got to do with the Constitution? The other amendments are either significant expansions of rights or they are procedural matters which change the way government operates.
posted by Steven Den Beste at 8:31 PM on March 29, 2000

Taking the right to burn the flag away would take away what the actual flag stands for.
posted by Mark at 3:03 PM on March 30, 2000

amen, brotha
posted by veruca at 4:30 PM on March 30, 2000

The usual excuse is that it hurts veterans' feelings. "I fought for that flag!" I guess veterans aren't as tough as they're supposed to be, the babies. (Except for the ones who realize what they REALLY fought for. Those guys are grown up.)
posted by dhartung at 5:26 AM on March 31, 2000