Trump and the Flag
Every now and again, our nation seems to go crazy over the issue of burning the American flag. Burning the flag just enrages some people – to the point where they seem to lose their minds.
The latest example of this came a few days ago when President-elect Trump went on Twitter again and stupidly said that flag-burners should face consequences such as being thrown in jail or maybe even lose their American citizenship.
Well, now – where to begin? How about this – the Supreme Court has long-ago ruled that flag-desecration is considered free speech – and that it is unconstitutional to punish someone by stripping their citizenship.
That seems clear enough to me. Now, I’m not a big fan of burning flags – or of those who do it — but I am a big fan of the First Amendment in our Constitution. That’s the one that mentions freedom of speech.
It’s funny. Those who love Trump have no problem having their favorite right-wing radio talk-show host make personal, vicious, often factually wrong attacks against Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton or any Democrat.
That’s okay to them – and after all, that’s protected by the First Amendment. But have some stupid college student or protester torch a flag – and oh, no, the world is coming to an end! Let’s ban that – let’s throw the flag-burner in prison – let’s strip them of their citizenship!
Sorry, Charlie or Sam or Dave. That won’t fly. Whether you or I like it or not – flag-burners have rights, too. And that’s what makes our country great – because you know what? The flag is not our country – it’s a piece of cloth that symbolizes it.
Our country is our values and our respect for the rights of all of us – even those we disagree with. I suggest we — and Mister Trump — focus on more important issues and problems than flag-burning. Lord knows – we have far more important troubles than debating whether someone who burns a cloth should cease being an American citizen.