So, I guess congress has to do something to warrent their esteemed position. Just doing nothing and NOT spending too much of our money is out of the question. What are they up to? Tinkering with the Constitution.
Led by Senator Orrin Hatch, the House of Representatives is pushing a proposal to make it Unconstitutional to burn Old Glory.
WASHINGTON - The U.S. House on Wednesday passed a constitutional amendment banning flag desecration, advancing the proposal pushed by Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch, who puts the likelihood of Senate approval at "excellent." "This year shows we have the best chance we've ever had," Hatch said Wednesday. While the House has passed the measure five times since 1995 in the run-up to the Fourth of July, the resolution has never received Senate approval. Hatch, who has 53 co-sponsors for his Senate version, will urge a vote later this summer. If passed by two-thirds of the Senate, 38 states must then ratify the amendment. "The flag is our national symbol," Hatch said in an interview. "We have young men dying and young women dying over in Iraq and Afghanistan as we speak. We're fighting for the principles that flag represents. "Secondly, I do not believe that urinating on the flag, defecating on the flag, burning it with contempt constitute free speech. Those are acts of physical desecration." Utah Republican Reps. Chris Cannon and Rob Bishop, who both supported the House proposal that passed 286-130, echoed those comments. The American flag "is our ultimate icon, and when it is attacked, we are all attacked," Cannon said.
What a bad idea. The purpose of the First Amendment is to allow political discorse and free expression of ideas. Even though I really don't appreciate seeing it burned, as prople who want the flag protected admit the flag is a symbol, and symbols can be powerful, and even more powerful when used in a forum that allows protestors to show their disdain for what they believe that symbol represents.
If this Constitutional amendment passes, it may be the first unconstitutional Constitutional amendment. In Texas V. Johnson, Antonin Scalia said that flag burning is protected speech. At is core is that the First Amdendment is all about!!
Posted by psugrad98 at June 23, 2005 10:08 AM | TrackBack
