by Jerry Burke
But since then it been seen more often than "The Sound of Music." It's everywhere: on cars, on dogs, waving in the corners of screens on cable news broadcasts, even tattooed on my Uncle Johnny's chest.
Now, I love the flag. It's got a simple, solid design which for me evokes the history of our country, the sacrifices made for our freedom. The last place I want to be reminded of those feelings, however, is when I'm standing at the urinal of a Manhattan dive bar, with a flag hanging over my head between the phrases "Love
it or leave it!" and "For a good time, call Jenny at 867-5309."
And with Flag Day comes the heating up of the debate over flag burning. In 1990, the Supreme Court said once and for all that the practice, however ultimately hollow it may be, is protected as a form of free speech. Justice William Brennan wrote the opinion in the case Texas v. Johnson, saying, "If there is a bedrock principle underlying the First Amendment, it is that Government may not prohibit the expression of an idea simply because society finds the idea itself offensive or disagreeable."
Fair enough, methinks. But since then, Congress has thrice debated and rejected a constitutional amendment making flag desecration a crime. And now they're going for number four with a recent approval of the measure by the House. It now goes to the Senate, where it will probably once again meet its demise.
And why will it fail? Because as much as some politicians would like to believe this is a hot issue, the evidence just isn't there. Even with protests on the rise across the nation, the average number of flag-burning incidents since 1972 is less than five per year. To put that in perspective, more than 300 people every year are struck by lightning.
While I have never witnessed a live flag burning, every day I see torn flags with faded colors and bird dung all over them. I see the flag being used to advertise used-car dealerships, which to me is a lot worse then burning it.
Time, money and resources are being spent to debate what essentially is a non-issue. Granted, in some countries the American flag is burned more often than the Washington Generals were by the Harlem Globetrotters. But here, the main cause of flag burnings since the end of the Vietnam War have been in protest of flag-burning laws. Holy cause and effect, Batman!
Listen, flag burning is dumb, but for it to have its own amendment is also pretty lame. Nobody ever died for the flag, literally; they died for the freedoms it represents, which, oddly enough, includes the right to burn the flag. The flag is a piece of cloth for which each citizen has the right to set their own value. Don't let the government decide that for you.
