You may have seen this news already:
House Approves Move to Outlaw Flag BurningA constitutional amendment to outlaw flag burning cleared the House Wednesday but faced an uphill battle in the Senate. An informal survey by The Associated Press suggested the measure doesn't have enough Senate votes to pass.
As ridiculous and pointless as flag burning is, there should not be a Constitutional amendment against it. The irony is too thick, first of all. But in addition, keeping flag burning legal makes it easier to identify idiots. There should be no law against flag burning for the same reason that there should be no "hate speech" laws.
Think about it. If you see a guy out in the middle of the street yelling "I hate niggers" at the top of his lungs, you know that you should avoid that guy like the plague. Same deal with flag burning. If you see some asshole burning a flag, you probably don't want to associate with said asshole. Laws restricting freedom of expression just make it harder for stupid people to be identified and properly ridiculed.
Flag burning is idiotic, but it should be legal anyway. Stupidity should be exposed and eliminated, not hidden by legislative action.
Posted by CD on June 23, 2005 12:11 AM | TrackBackRight on, CD. As much as I disagree with someone burning the flag, they should be allowed to do it. The minute they can tell you not to burn one flag, they can tell you not to fly another.
Posted by: Crispy23 at June 23, 2005 05:59 PMI also have problems with this sort of amendment, but you've got a better reason. I never thought of something along the lines of "idiot control."
Reminds me of a movie scene I saw once where a black guy said he thought members of the KKK were better than closet racists because at least he could tell where they stood.
Posted by: Alex at June 28, 2005 12:38 AM