Desecration Ruminations
Count me among those who think a ban on flag burning is both un-American and unnecessary, but the thing I find so fascinating is how untenable a ban would be as well. But let’s take a step back for a second here. One thing that is important to keep in mind is that the amendment in question doesn’t actually ban flag burning at all. Supposing that the amendment that made it through the House passes through the Senate and is approved by the state legistlatures of two-thirds of the states, the only change would be the addition of this sentence to the Constitution :
The Congress shall have power to prohibit the physical desecration of the flag of the United States.
So if everything goes as the conservatives plan, the only thing they’ve gained is the ability to pass a law that prevents flag desecration. Once that’s done, they have to go back to square one and define the words “flag” and “desecration”. For example, take this picture that was posted at BoingBoing :
Is this an American flag? Technically, no. The flag above the 49 stars and one circle. It’s a snarky point since we can agree that the American flag has 50 five-sided stars on a blue field with 13 stripes alternating between red and white in color, but even given this rather strict definition, does that make this an American flag?
Well, it’s got the correct number of stars and stripes and it’s got the colors right, but the stars need to be in the upper left of the flag. Perhaps this is a flag then?
Nice try, smartass. That’s a t-shirt with a picture of a flag. Even though we’ve got all the details right, the object in the picture above isn’t a flag because what surrounds the red, white, and blue rectangular image makes it a shirt. How about this then?
There are flags with yellow trim, so I assume that doesn’t disqualify the image above. But if we can conclude that this isn’t a picture of a flag, but a patch, then would that mean the difference would be the material, the size, or the purpose of the object above? If that’s the case, then does this let the President off the hook for this infamous bit of flag desecration?
I would say “no”. Despite all the nitpicking about size, layout, shape, and material, the pictures above meet the common sense definition of flag desecration. Even then, should what the President did be considered a crime? That’s where the two sides differ. Conservatives think that it’s okay to arrest and/or fine someone for being disrespectful to our national symbols. Liberals on the other hand think that just because the President is acting like a jerk doesn’t mean he’s a criminal.
Even if the conservatives get their way with this stupid flag desecration amendment, they have to follow this bit of feel good pandering with the hard work of defining exactly what a flag is, what constitutes desecration, and what the penalties should be. That is, of course, unless Congres decides to punt the issue to the courts by passing a law that’s incredibly vague. This is what they do with abortion laws in order to get some election year kudos without having to worry about crafting a law that actually works, but those of us who actually take this stuff seriously should be asking these questions now.
So for the time being, it’s open season on flag burning. If you burn a flag around me, however, be prepared for a verbal or physical backlash. Unlike the babies in the Republican party, if somebody pisses me off by insulting our country, I’m not gonna go crying to the government for protection.
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Regarding flag desecration.
Perhaps if we all fax an American flag to the White House and each member of the Senate, they would be overwhelmed with flags which they would not be able to dispose of without great difficulty?
Imagine the huge stacks of faxed flags that could fill up their offices. . . .
Comment by Tom Herling — June 24, 2005 @ 4:13 am
People go completely mental over this thing though. I worked for a company that sold as a special promotion american flag towels – within a day of hitting the street, I got a call from the local American Legion who threatened to boycott our company if we didn’t immediately stop selling the flag and pull all the catalogs back (forgetting that none of then did or ever would do any business with us) His concern: That folks would throw the “flag” on the ground and/or “wipe their ass” with it.
I also think burning a flag is inappropriate and unpatriotic, but at the same time, once symbols become so unassailable that they have to be protected by law, then we’re just asking for trouble – it just sets the stage for alot of curtailment – like they like to say about marijuana being a gateway drug, this could end up being a gateway law.
Comment by Rudicus — June 24, 2005 @ 5:08 am
I think you guys are missing the point. From where I sit, this isn’t about being patriotic. It’s about the care and feeding of wedge issues. If they change the constitution so that flag desecration MAY become illegal then they can go state to state trying to pass laws against it and use any civil libertarian objection as a cudgel with which to beat liberals. The Republicans want to keep the battle going. The battle is the point, not victory. Victory would screw them up because it would take away their whole raison d’etre thingy.
Comment by Hieronymus Braintree — June 24, 2005 @ 7:33 am
I think you’re all missing the point. I don’t have hard statistics on this, but I’d wager that 87.45% of all american flag burning (except, of course for the prescribed and legal burning of the flag for disposal purposes) occurs outside the US. A Constitutional amendment to outlaw flag desecration makes it an affront on our entire country, and opens the doors for us to go drill democracy into the fat heads of every overseas flag burner.
yeah, right.
Comment by FreedomByChoice — June 24, 2005 @ 8:06 am
The fun thing here is the word “desecrate,” which is the opposite of “consecrate” — to make something sacred. If Congress is going to declare the flag to be “sacred,” then they will have made a law establishing a religion, and an idolatrous one at that.
What shall we tell the children???
Comment by Roddy McCorley — June 24, 2005 @ 3:47 pm
There are specifications for the United States flag. They are available here. I found it from another blog post similar to yours.
Comment by Matt — June 24, 2005 @ 7:25 pm
If you want to see a tremendous rise in the amount of domestic flag burning, just pass this amendment. That’s the nature of protest but conservatives never seem to get it.
It’s bad enough we have small-time marijuana dealers doing time, now we gotta find beds for flag burners?
Comment by jim marquis — June 25, 2005 @ 8:56 am
This conservative agrees with most posts here, except the gratuitous swipes at Bush and Republicans. I do not favor any law that prohibits the burning of our Flag. What disturbs me is why Dick Durbin and his ilk seem so upset about alleged Koran desecration if flag burning is OK.
Comment by mclaren — July 6, 2005 @ 12:01 pm