Of all the inane legislation spewed out by the 109th Congress, anti-flag burning has got to be one of the stupidest. Does every little thing need to be subject to the meddling of Congress? Back when the Republicans were more talk than power, they claimed to be for 'less governmental intrusion'. Of course, we all know that was just a talking point without basis in reality, but still: please keep your zarking nose out of the Bill of Rights!
Editorial: Burning the Bill of Rights :
Senate Republicans are trying to torch a hole in the First Amendment's free speech guarantee by passing an amendment to the Constitution that would allow federal and state authorities to punish flag-burning.
And note to any fledgling Presidential candidates, if you support this bill, or worse, propose your own variant (Hillary Clinton for example), don't bother asking me for my support, because it will most certainly not be forthcoming. I want leaders, not panderers.
As an alternative to the amendment, two of its opponents, Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton, Democrat of New York, and Robert Bennett, Republican of Utah, have proposed a statute against flag-burning instead. Unquestionably, passing a law to address this nonproblem is preferable to rewriting the Constitution. But in crafting a bill with a comparatively narrow reach, its sponsors have not cured the affront to free speech. For that reason, it deserves to be defeated.
Raw Story says Hillary is against the Republican ammendment, for what that's worth (not much if she is proposing her own variant!!)
The vote will likely be the closest it has ever been. High profile Democrats Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NV), Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) and Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) all oppose the amendment. Fourteen Democrats support it, according to the Associated Press.A Kerry spokesman called the vote a “Republican tar baby.”
“Democrats shouldn’t take the bait and go into the fetal position trying to have it both ways,” Kerry spokesman David Wade told RAW STORY. “Our job is to put the GOP on the defensive. Period.”
“American soldiers being killed in Iraq, record gas prices, health care costs soaring, and this is how they choose to consume the peoples’ time?” Wade added. “Flogging an amendment opposed by generals like Colin Powell and Medal of Honor winners like Bob Kerrey? Bring it on.”
At least one prominent Republican opposes the amendment. Speaking Sunday on ABC's “This Week,” Senate Majority Whip Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said the first amendment -- protecting the freedom of speech -- takes precedence.
“I think the First Amendment has served us well for over 200 years,” McConnell said. “I don't think it needs to be altered.”
Technorati Tags: politics, propaganda, Rethuglicans
When I lived in Brazil, sometimes I would pass by the Embassy, still in Rio, and look at the Marines take down and fold the US flag. It took me some maturing to understand why it is important to guarantee the right to burn the flag even if I love it.
Ou flag must be what it stands for: the rights of our republic and its dwellers. Peace, the blod shed to guarantee democracy, not bogus democracy, and our fifty states.
When I lived in Brazil, sometimes I would pass by the Embassy, still in Rio, and look at the Marines take down and fold the US flag. It took me some maturing to understand why it is important to guarantee the right to burn the flag even if I love it.
Ou flag must be what it stands for: the rights of our republic and its dwellers. Peace, the blod shed to guarantee democracy, not bogus democracy, and our fifty states.
The flag is just a symbol, vested with significance because we let it. I am agnostic re Nationalism, but am a strong believer in free speech, whatever form it takes.