Q. How many circles are there on the American Flag?
A. There are no circles on the American flag, so a flag with 49 stars and one circle (or dot) on it is, by definition, NOT an American Flag, no matter how similar it may be to an American Flag.
Q If the Flag Protection Amendment was ratified and thousands of flammable copies of the above flag were made, could they be legally burned in protest?
A. Do we really want to find out the answer to this question? I hope not!
Because Freedom has never been free, nor has preserving it been easy.
Because Eternal Vigilance is the Price of Liberty.
Because Forbidding Unpatriotic Behavior is a form of Tyranny.
Because Men and Women have given up their lives for the Land of the Free so that Freedom should be preserved, not curtailed.
Because more flags will be burned if the Flag Burning Amendment passes than if it doesn't. It's like putting a chip on our shoulders and daring someone to knock it off.
Because those who want to criminalize Flag Burning really want to criminalize dissent. This is just the first step.
Because any politician who would vote to Burn the First Amendment in order to "save" the flag doesn't deserve Your Vote EVER!
Because no American soldiers ever gave up their lives for a piece of cloth; they gave their lives for the freedoms that the flag represents, freedoms that are paradoxically being threatened by this misguided amendment.
Because the average American dog or cat gets better health care than wounded war veterans and yet supporters of the Flag Burning Amendment don't seem to care enough to fix VA healthcare problems. (Ever heard of Agent Orange? Depleted Uranium? Post Traumatic Stress Disorder? The VA is still unsure if they matter.)
Because many if not most of us find Nazis, Neo-Nazis, White Power hate mongers, and KKK rallies to be far more offensive than some deluded, misguided fool burning a flag, so if offensive protests are to be outlawed, then who is next?
Because Republicans may be offended by Democrats and Democrats may be offended by Republicans, and both may be offended by Ralph Nader.
Because 99.99% of Americans have never seen a flag burned EXCEPT ON TELEVISION OR IN PRINT. So why are the media showing this offensive footage and creating this issue?
Because Our Most Basic Freedoms and Rights are being rapidly whittled away and WE ARE NOT PAYING ATTENTION! We have become fat, lazy, self-absorbed, self-righteous and complacent. (OK I could stand to lose a few pounds too... <SIGH> :-)
Because Freedom of Speech is only one of the freedoms under attack by this administration and the phony "patriots" on both sides of the aisle.....
Because Corporations can now take your home away from you without your consent because they "might create jobs."
Because Human Beings are being tortured by Our Government. When did we become a people who condone Torture?
Because as the only military super-power left, when we run roughshod over defenseless countries, and people are denied due process, mistreated, and tortured, anger at the United States grows and we get many more new terrorists not fewer.
Because the Administration does not practice what it preaches. It preaches freedom and democracy to others while strenuously attempting to curtail freedoms and monopolize the press in order to quell any truly dissenting voices in the United States of America.
How to REALLY put an end to flag burning....
If we're really serious about putting a stop to flag burning, then there is a way that is guaranteed to work that will actually prevent flag burning (unlike the amendment which will cause incidents of flag burning to increase dramatically.) We start by asking questions: Why do people burn flags? What is it that they hope to accomplish?
It doesn't require a degree in psychology to figure this one out. Flag burners are angry at the United States, usually the government more than the people. What they want is to make a scene and get their protest covered by the media. They want people to see that they are angry, the more the better. They want publicity, as much as they can get.
To REALLY put an end to flag burning and flag desecration once and for all, we need only support....
The Flag Desecration Prevention Policy
Here's how the FDPP works:
Whenever members of the media are covering a protest, if it should happen that one of the protesters burns the flag or desecrates the flag by stomping on it, spitting on it, or or otherwise intentionally disrespecting the flag, then the reporters will immediately turn off their cameras, put away their notebooks, pack up their gear and move on to the next story. On the newscast or in the newspaper there will be no mention of the flag desecration, and no mention of the protest (unless the flag burner is a disrupter who is thrown out and discredited by the rest of the protesters, in which case the protest can be covered without any mention of there having been a flag desecrater in attendance) This policy shall apply equally to local, national, and international news coverage.
In order to get the FDPP enacted by the media, we need not create laws, nor constitutional amendments. We need only appeal to the newscast's sponsors. If the sponsors threaten to pull their ads unless the news organizations adopt the FDPP, then the stations will happily comply (after all, why make Americans angry at the newscast or newspaper?) As consumers, the sponsors want to please us. If the sponsors push the FDPP, then we will happily buy their products. It's a win-win situation. If the sponsors ignore the FDPP, we'll ignore them and their products.
What's more, the FDPP will work on protests worldwide while a constitutional amendment would have the opposite effect beyond our borders, prompting MANY more flag desecrations outside of the US by protesters only too happy to show us that we cannot stop dissent by outlawing it.
