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Among the freedoms that the flag stands for is our freedom of speech.
Over the weekend, President Trump tweeted his support for a bill proposed by Republican Senator Steve Daines that would outlaw flag burning - overturning a Supreme Court precedent that protects it as free speech.
Here's the tweet:
Many of President Trump's supporters, including prominent ones such as Candace Owens, weighed in to agree that flag burning should indeed be punished:
Now, Daines has claimed that flag-burning must be banned since the "flag is a timeless symbol of liberty . . . the story of our enduring pursuit of freedom." Honestly, though, it seems clear to me that "our enduring pursuit of freedom" is exactly why it should
never be banned.
Let me be clear: It's not that I'm
not a patriot because I want to keep flag-burning legal, it's that I want to keep flag-burning legal
because I
am a patriot.
Is burning an American flag a disgusting, reprehensible act? Yes, it absolutely is, and I would tell that to the face of absolutely anyone who has done so. The flag is a symbol of our freedom, and burning it absolutely is one of the least patriotic things that a person could possibly do. I say "one of the least" because I can think of a few things that would actually be less so - and, as a matter of fact, I think that
banning flag-burning would absolutely be on that list.
Now, I understand that some of you may think that that sounds insane - but, before you tweet at me and tell me that I should be deported, just take a moment and hear me out. Although it may seem counterintuitive, one of the things that our flag stands for is our right to burn it if we choose to do so. Why?
Because among the freedoms that the flag stands for is our freedom of speech.
These days, it seems to me that when most people think about "free speech," they think about it as a protection from our increasingly politically correct culture. This is, of course, true - and it
is important. It's not, however, the most important reason for this freedom. No . . .
the most important role that the First Amendment plays in this country is that it gives us the freedom to speak out against our government, thereby providing a check on its power.Now, I normally hate the "slippery slope" argument, but in this instance, I have to admit that the slope is
exactly what makes me so terrified. Think about it:
If we outlaw flag burning because it is "unpatriotic," what could "because unpatriotic" be used as an excuse to outlaw next? Protesting government decisions? Speaking out against the president? If we start using "lack of patriotism" as a barometer for what speech should and should not be allowed, we could see the tragic loss of the very freedoms that our flag is meant to extoll.
Don't like flag-burning? Fine.
Hate flag-burning? Me too! The thing is, though, hating something doesn't always mean that the answer is to call on government powers to
ban it - and, in fact, I'd say that that is
rarely the best solution,
especially when it comes to speech. To me, a better solution than sliding
even an inch down the slope of fascism would be to encourage people to use their
own rights to free speech to protest the things that they don't like . . . flag-burning included.
So, go ahead:
Tell flag-burners how you really feel. Call them disgusting; call them unpatriotic; hell, call them ***holes. But do not try to use government power to stop them from exercising their First Amendment rights - because doing so is insult to the very symbol that you're claiming to cherish.
Reader Comments
However, the flag should not be looked at as the symbol of the nation, but rather as the symbol of the ideal of liberty, justice, opportunity, etc. that the nation was once intended to be. That we now have a banana-republic gov't infested with evil, self-serving, criminal, wannabe tyrants is no reason to disrespect those ideals.
For those Americans who are disgusted enough with where this nation is today to actually want to go and burn the flag, I would think that a much more constructive expression of disgust with the status quo would be to burn a politician or other high-level gov't official instead. It would certainly reduce the amount of evil/criminality in DC and thereby improve the state of the nation and the world.
One piece of evidence that the ideal has not yet completely died is the fact that you are still free to spout your drivel without getting a bullet in the back of the head, as has been (and still is) the case in many countries/systems throughout history.
lol
That's what your whitewashed history books have told you, anyway. Any chance you've actually looked at the real history of this country? Didn't think so. Just like today, the majority of people in the past wanted to believe what they were told about the reasons they fought and died. It's getting harder to believe that crap, though, isn't it?
I'm spouting my 'drivel', because this country desperately needs people who will do so. Go ahead and believe the lies about 'American ideals' so you can live your pathetic little existence without suffering any cognitive dissonance. However, the fact is that this country is responsible for more suffering and destruction in the name of empire than any other country in the history of this planet. That's the truth, and the truth will out. It has to, or your and my children and grandchildren are going to suffer the consequences of our collective cowardice.
Sure, America does have a high body count, but we are not near the top of nations that roamed around raping and piliging.
Mao, Stalin, the Kahns, Rome, anyone else want to add some.
America is not the good guy by any means, but we are far from the worst.
This is the only
10 million Native Americans slaughtered in blatant genocide (already equaling the numbers attributed to Stalin (10 million)
2.5 million civilians in 60 firebombed Japanese cities plus the nuclear destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
25 million civilians in 37 victim nations just since WWII (includes the 10-15 million slaughtered in Korea, Viet Nam, and the two Iraq wars.)
And that's just the most obvious civilian tolls. It doesn't include deaths from starvation due to US economic policies and actions, which would add a few more million without a doubt. Conservatively, just in war, we're looking at 40 million non-combatants slaughtered due to US policies and actions with the clear motivation being economic or political gain, and that's not even taking into consideration the Civil War (where sentiments against slavery were manipulated by the Northern Industrialists to destroy and appropriate the economic resources of the south) or WWI (after which the US participated in massive resource appropriation in Versailles that didn't take into account the civilian populations of the former Austria-Hungary, Ottoman, or Middle East populations whatsoever.)
Conflicts used to be instigated by goading other countries into action so it could look like we weren't the aggressors (e.g., Pearl Harbor), or by creating false flag events (e.g., Gulf of Tonkin incident). The psychopaths running things in this country now usually don't even bother with that. They just make a statement about 'defending US interests' and bomb away, restrict resource access, or eliminate elected leadership with impunity.
If you want to learn the truth, the information is out there. WE are the monsters we claim to be defending the world against.
That's rich! Speak freely, but expect your freedom to be restricted until you stop doing it. You don't deserve freedom, because you don't understand its value. You want fascism with a smiley face, and that's exactly what you have.
Civilians are never made to take any path, as far as I know.