Old Glory

I love the American Flag. I love what it represents even more. That's why I'm glad the Senate proposal to amend the Constitution that would have outlawed its desecration was defeated today.

During our nation's infancy our founding fathers enshrined freedom of speech in the very First Amendment to the Constution. More recently, the Supreme Court ruled in Texas v. Johnson, 491 U.S. 397 (1989) that it is unconstitutional to restrict the public expression of political speech which, in this case, took the form of flag burning (this distinction is important because organizations like the Boy Scouts reguarly dispose of Amercian flags by burning them, as a sign of respect and in accordance with the United States Flag Code). Political dissent lies at the heart of a vibrant democracy and, therefore, is precisely the type of speech that requires protection.

The Amercian flag embodies our great nation and, as such, is revered by the vast majority of Americans, regardless of their political, ethnic, social, or religious persuasion. That's why it is so offensive to see it desecrated.

I hate seeing it desecrated.

But, I think Justice William J. Brennan was correct when he wrote for the majority opinion in Texas v. Johnson:

"We do not consecrate the flag by punishing its desecration, for in doing so we dilute the freedom that this cherished emblem represents."

Also, from Zell Miller's RNC speech (h/t: Michelle Malkin):

Never in the history of the world has any soldier sacrificed more for the freedom and liberty of total strangers than the American soldier.

And, our soldiers don't just give freedom abroad, they preserve it for us here at home.

For it has been said so truthfully that it is the soldier, not the reporter, who has given us the freedom of the press.

It is the soldier, not the poet, who has given us freedom of speech.

It is the soldier, not the agitator, who has given us the freedom to protest.

It is the soldier who salutes the flag, serves beneath the flag, whose coffin is draped by the flag, who gives that protester the freedom he abuses to burn that flag.