Yeah, I know, yesterday I said I'd be discussing DUI procedures, but this topic popped up and caught my attention, so here it is. I'll talk about DUI processing tomorrow, I promise!
My feelings on burning the American flag are simple. Burning the American flag in protest of whatever it is you're protesting is not "freedom of speech" and should be illegal. The ONLY time the American flag should be burned is when it has reached the end of its serviceable life. Other than that, nope. I don't give a damn what you're 'protesting,' or what 'message' you're trying to convey - you DO NOT burn the American flag. Make a sign, march in protest, shout until you're hoarse, but don't burn the flag.
Before someone says it (and I'm sure they will), no, I don't claim to know more than the SCOTUS. But then again, the Constitution and Bill of Rights were written in language that is designed to be understood by the average citizen, and as I understand the Bill of Rights, nowhere in the First Amendment is burning the American flag covered or deemed to be okay. I have no idea where the Justices got their reasoning from, but I vehemently disagree.
For those of you who have never read it, here's what it says.
Amendment I
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances."
To me, the average American, 'abridging the freedom of speech' covers placards and signs, because written words are a manner of speech. Instead of vocalizing it you're writing it down, and that's fine. But IMHO nowhere in the realm of realism and common sense can ANYONE construe this as meaning that it's OK to burn the American flag. NOWHERE. Again, IMHO when the SCOTUS delivered this opinion they fucked up. And to me this is rather incredulous considering that in 1989 when this decision was published 6 of the 9 justices were Republicans.
Now for the elephant in the room.
While it is my opinion that burning the American flag should be illegal, the President of the United States does not have the power to make it illegal or order the prosecution of those who burn an American flag. Regardless of who he/she is or what good he/she has done, they don't have the authority to make laws. Only Congress can do that. So yes, while I agree with his feelings on this, President Trump does not have the authority to make this act illegal, and I'm not surprised to see that he's getting backlash from conservatives on this. We love what he's doing for the country, but we love our Constitution more, and that document says that only the Congress can make laws. So no matter what the topic is, the President doesn't have that authority. End of discussion.
But I will say this: burn an American flag in my presence, and there's gonna be trouble. I'll gladly go to jail over this and will laugh all the way to lockup while you're on your way to the hospital in an ambulance.
And now it's time for someone in Congress to introduce a bill making the burning of an American flag for any reason other than its disposal when it reaches the end of its life illegal. Considering that the President has already made his feelings on this known and that the Republicans control both houses of Congress, any bill such as this could become the law of the land in a very short period of time.
The only question now is will someone in Congress have the balls to stand up and do this? Judging from their dismal performance so far this year, I'd say no.
And that's a shame.
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