I am going to try to explain one more time for the thick-skulled among us a fundamental truth about the democratic republic we all call home … and are proud to do so.
It is that burning Old Glory, the Stars and Stripes, Betsy Ross’s most famous piece of stitchery is protected political speech. The protection lies in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, in the clause that declares that citizens have the right to “petition the government for a redress of grievances.”
Donald Trump, the guy masquerading as POTUS, has issued an executive order that would sentence a flag-burner to a year in jail.
How can I say this diplomatically? No … can … do!
The nation’s highest court has ruled that the First Amendment’s protection makes flag-burning a legitimate way to speak out politically. It’s done so repeatedly. One ruling involved a flag-burning case out of Dallas when someone burned Old Glory in a public square. Someone filed suit. It found its way to the high court. Justices ruled the moron who burned the flag didn’t break any law.
I also want to stipulate one other point. No one ever should burn Old Glory in my presence if they intend to make a political point. I hate the notion of burning a flag I have served and honored for my entire life. I wore an Army uniform for a couple of years in the late 1960s and went to war in service to the Red, White and Blue. No one who has a noble political cause can persuade me of the validity of that cause by burning a flag. I am likely to turn against the cause simply by witnessing that act.
However, I know that the flag itself is not the issue. The flag is a symbol of what we value as a nation, as Americans. One of the valued aspects of being an American is the ability to protest government policy.
Even if that protest involves lighting a match to the cherished symbol of our freedom!
I cannot possibly pretend to know what kind of rationale Trump is using to sign that executive order. The man has rocks in his noggin.