Does the first Amendment gives us the right to desecrate the American flag?
Or is the flag a sacred symbol of our nation, deserving protection by law?
Tough call? “The solution”
For those who want to light Old Glory on fire, stomp all over it, or spit on it to make some sort of “statement,” I say let them do it. But under one condition: they MUST get permission from three sponsors.
First, you need permission of a war veteran. Perhaps a Marine who fought at Iwo Jima? The American flag was raised over Mount Surabachi upon the bodies of thousands of dead buddies. Each night spent on Iwo meant half of everyone you knew would be dead tomorrow, a coin flip away from a bloody end upon a patch of sand your mother couldn’t find on a map.
Or maybe ask a Vietnam vet who spent years tortured in a small, filthy cell unfit for a dog. Or a Korean war solider who helped rescue half a nation from Communism, or a Desert Storm veteran who repulsed a bloody dictator from raping and pillaging an innocent country. That flag represented your mother and father, your sister and brother, your friends, neighbors, and everyone at home. I wonder what they would say if someone asked them permission to burn the American flag?
Next, you need a signature from an immigrant. Their brothers and sister may still languish in their native land often under tyranny, poverty, and misery. Or maybe they died on the way here, never to touch our shores. Some have seen friends and family tortured and murdered by their own government for daring to do things we take for granted every day. For those who risked everything simply for the chance to become an American… What kind of feelings do they have for the flag when they Pledge Allegiance the first time? Go to a naturalization ceremony and see for yourself, the tears of pride, the thanks, the love and respect of this nation, as they finally embrace the American flag as their own. Ask one of them if it would be OK to tear up the flag.
Last, you should get the signature of a mother. Not just any mother. You need a mother of someone who gave their life for America. It doesn’t even have to be from a war. It could be a policeman, a fireman, or maybe a secret service or N.S.A. agent. Then again, it could be a common foot solider as well. When that son or daughter is laid to rest, their family is given one gift by the American people; an American flag. Go on, I dare you. Ask that mother to spit on her flag.
I wonder what the founding fathers thought of the American flag as they drafted the Declaration of Independence? They knew this act would drag young America into war with England, the greatest power on earth. They also knew failure meant more than just a disappointment. It meant they would die if they lost. But they needed a symbol, something to inspire the new nation. Something to represent the seriousness, the purpose and conviction that we held our new idea of individual freedom. Something worth living for. Something worth dying for. I wonder how they’d feel if someone asked them permission to toss their flag in a mud puddle?
Away from family, away from the precious shores of home, in the face of overwhelming odds and often in the face of death, the American flag inspires those who believe in the American dream, the American promise, the American vision… Americans who don’t appreciate the flag don’t appreciate this nation. And those who appreciate this nation appreciate the American flag. Those who fought, fought for that flag. Those who died, died for that flag. And those who love America, love that flag, and defend it.
So if you want to desecrate the American flag, before you spit on it or before you burn it… I have a simple request. Just ask permission. Not from the Constitution, not from some obscure law, not from the politicians or the pundits. Instead, ask those who defended our nation so that we may be free today. Ask those who struggled to reach our shores so that they may join us in the American dream. And ask those who clutch a flag in place of their sacrificed sons and daughters, given to this nation so that others may be free. For we cannot ask permission from those who died wishing they could, just once… or once again… see, touch, or kiss the flag that stands for our nation, the United States of America….me
juast ?
Your perception and realization of the true meaning of this post is with out a doubt on par with the greatness of all….idiots
thanks for the fix Bo I got to get better at useing spell check
Great post, as usual, celtictexan.
In a society like ours, where cultural symbols are considered passé, it’s no wonder why the flag has so little meaning to so many who have taken our precious liberties for granted for so long.
For those of us who have had the honor of serving our country, especially overseas, the flag can never be just a “pretty piece of cloth,” as some would characterize it. These are the same people who mistake viligence for fear, calling patriots cowards, when they themselves would never even consider taking up arms to defend the flag and the republic for which it stands. They believe they are “standing up to terrorism,” as if their feigned resolve keeps the barbarians at bay, rather than the soldier who silently stands watch, and whose efforts they either ignore or loathe.
Immigrants also have a special appreciation of the symbols of freedom. From my Polish immigrant friend, who made it a point of having his picture taken in front of the Statue of Liberty, to the students in Tianamen Square who fashioned their own version of that statue, for people for whom democracy is only a dream and not something taken for granted, symbols have great meaning.
Finally, there was a time when a gold star mother would never use her son’s sacrifice as a platform to denounce the struggle in which he voluntarily gave his last full measure of devotion. Fortunately, there are precious few, even now, who would desecrate the flag that draped their fallen son’s coffin.
One last postscript:
I did a little research on our troll who posted the first comment. Apparently, he’s from Allston, MA, just outside of Boston. If you read his profile and his blog, and consider where he’s had to grow up, it’s no wonder he has such a hopeless, pathetic existence. “idiot kid” is probably more worthy of our pity than our disdain.
Don’t worry about it. – have done similar things many times.
Yeah I looked at his profile also. Sounds like just a 12 year old or something who just wants to say his first dirty words. Then again he may in be the product of a brilliant educator someone like SD perhaps.
How nice of you to come over to my blog and call me an idiot. In general, I don’t pay attention to trolls, but there was something about your post that bothered me….now what was it? Oh yeah, the fact that hundreds of other people have written almost exactly the same post as the one above. There is a certain irony in you demanding flag burners seek permission. Just like you asked permission to copy from all the other people who have written almost exactly the same post? I see you feel that it is okay to steal the work of others without attribution.
But of course, you missed my point entirely. People spent the Fourth of July weekend wiping their faces with flag napkins, putting potato salad on flag plates, and waving plastic flags at parades that ended up being thrown in the garbage. Millions of flags were desecrated in the name of the Fourth of July. Now exactly how many flags were burned last year as a political protest? Does eating potato salad off a plate with a flag on it bother you? Or are you some kind of relativist, willing to accept some desecrations but not others? I think we both know the answer to that.
Get permission? I have my permission from the Constitution of the United States, which is a higher authority than any of those people you mention. In fact, telling a potential flag burner that they have to seek permission shows exactly how much you hate the Constitution and the United States of America. Inside the heart of every conservative apparently lives an authoritarian, just aching to boss people around and tell them what to do.
Get permission? Being an American gives me a permission.
One other thing: in your comment you stated “And you threat of censoring (Comment moderation has been enabled. All comments must be approved by the blog author.)just shows your lack of respect for the first amendment right you espouse.”
Comment moderation allows me to filter out all of the automated comments for gambling sites and other garbage that crops up when you have a site that gets a fair amount of traffic. It is hardly a “threat of censoring”.
You also shouldn’t confuse open comments on someone’s blog with First Amendment issues. Should a newspaper publish every letter to the editor it receives? Would I let you come into my house and start yelling obscenities? Blogs are the property of their owner, not a public forum for you to say whatever pops into your head.
I allow every comment that isn’t potentially libelous and is on topic, even if the writer can only resort to ad hominem attacks and promoting his own blog in the comment.
–Comment moderation allows me to filter out all of the automated comments for gambling sites and other garbage that crops up when you have a site that gets a fair amount of traffic. It is hardly a “threat of censoring”.–
If thats all then my apologies. And I wasn’t gratuiously promoting this blog just taking a shortcut.
And I think I did say that the part about plates and all that are also wrong.
Desecrating the flag to me is only a statement of being against what it stands for. It really can’t mean anything else. Any who believe in the grossly misinterpreted meaning of the 1st amendment should honor the Flag.
And yeah the basic thoughts are lifted but with my own spin. As you say the message in one way or another is everywhere. So who would I ask?
–Inside the heart of every conservative apparently lives an authoritarian–
If you consider strict interpretation of the constitution, original intent, to be authoritarian then I guess your right.