It would seem that the US House has again approved a proposed Constitutional amendment which would add a single sentence:
"The Congress shall have power to prohibit the physical desecration of the flag of the United States."
Republican representatives are quoted as evoking images of the WTC disaster while it was under debate. The Senate, which has quashed similar amendments in the past, will take it under consideration after July 4.
Personally, I think this amendment flies against the face of everything that America stands for -- especially that first amendment which our younger generations now hold in disdain. Seriously, what is the harm of burning a piece of cloth? The flag certainly is a powerful symbol -- but it represents the freedom to dissent as well.
If the Congress can Constitutionally ban a form of currently protected free speech, what's to stop them from adding additional one-liners that will enable them to censor which political topics we may discuss without risk of jail? (Hell, let's get rid of that whole "due process" thing and protections against "cruel and unusual punishment" while we're at it, since we're already making a mockery of the Justice system with our base in Guantanamo -- never mind the policy of flying high level prisoners out of the US to torture them.)
Seriously, why throw people in jail for burning the flag when Congress and the President are willing to shred the Constitution already?
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