Flag Burning

File under what the hell? The American congress, in its infinite wisdom, evidently believing that there is nothing more important for it to be concerned with right now, has yet again brought a constitutional amendment against flag burning to the table. Thank goodness those vigilant defenders of democracy haven't let this one slip through the cracks just because we've got a small war going on.

What is with this recurrent obsession about flag "desecration?" First of all, by definition only religious symbols can be desecrated anyway (being sacred and all), and last time I checked the flag was a secular one. Second—for pity's sake, when was the last time you heard about someone burning a flag? I hate to clue these guys, but to the up-and-coming generation such an action is likely to seem anachronistically corny as a form of protest. You might as well burn your lingerie. People would think it was performance art.

On the other hand, pass this amendment and you're going to get a few hundred people on the steps of the Capitol passing the matchbook around. Make an issue out of it and you'll see more of it than you have since Vietnam. People lately don't seem interested in protesting political developments, but do anything that hints on infringing on their ability to protest in any way they darn well please, and they might actually pry themselves out of their recliners and yell at you.

Hm. Maybe passing it would be the best thing they could do....

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