Once again, the
flag burning amendment is being debated in the
American House of Representatives. This is a complete waste of time
for a number of reasons.
- There are more important bills that could be debated.
Healthcare, taxes, handguns, etc. Regardless of what position is
taken regarding these issues, it is obvious that the issues' importance
is greater that whether or not it is ok to burn a flag.
- Who would benefit from a flag burning amendment? The only effect
the amendment would have would be to turn protesters into criminals.
No one would gain from its passage.
- The US Supreme Court would rule the new amendment to be
self-contradictory. Although only laws which are not part of the
Constitution can be ruled unconstitutional, no amendment may ever
take presidence over the Bill of Rights. Thus, it becomes obvious
that the proposed flag burning amendment would contradict freedom of
speech. So, even if the proposed amendment is ratified by the 38
states needed, it would still be overturned.
With that said, I see no need to burn the flag. Most of the time, it is
not truly done as protest against the US, rather it is a protest
against actions or positions of individuals working for the
government. Burn pictures of the individuals, or burn large signs
with their names or likenesses. It can be argued that the flag burning
attracts more attention, but it typically will anger many who might
otherwise agree with the protester's viewpoint.
Just a slight correction is needed. I have been informed (and have
researched to verify that it is correct) that the Bill of Rights can,
theoretically, be changed. This weakens my third point above, but there
could still be a contradiction between the flag burning amendment and
the freedom of speech amendment.
OK, last update (hopefully). Again, it has further been pointed out that there really would be no contradiction. The flag burning ammendment would make burning the flag unconstitutional, while other forms of free speech would still be protected. However, at this date (June 11, 2005) there is no longer any talk about a flag burning ammendment; the new nonsense is talk of an Anti-Gay Marriage Ammendment.