My opinion:
The flag is a symbol that represents ideas. Those ideas are held to be valuable by most Americans. Superman pretty much embodies those ideals, and they're deeply embedded in our culture. You'll see people willing to die to defend those ideas.
What you don't often see however, is a burning desire among Americans to KILL for those ideals, and that's the difference between the average American idealist and certain idealistic groups in other parts of the world. See, some cultures not only feel that their ideas are valuable, they feel the need to destroy everything that goes against their ideals. You pretty much have to force that sort of thing down our throats before we board the boats and planes and head off on a crusade. We even had to be forced into WWII by our leaders and an actual attack on our land, because the majority of Americans frankly couldn't care less about what other people do.
What really bothers me is when people take a symbol and idea, and go around forcing it down other people's throats with violence and coercion, regardless of what symbol it is and what ideas it represents.
I've sworn an oath to defend the constitution of the United States, and that means I'll die to defend the IDEAS that the US is based upon. I do not owe anything to the SYMBOLS chosen to represent those ideas, and my loyalty to the PEOPLE is transitory and based on the job title and position, not the person themselves. I defend the constitution, and the person who directs my actions is the President, whoever that may be.
When someone burns the flag, they're destroying a symbol. They may even be trying to make the statement that they disagree with the ideas that the symbol represents. But are they attacking the ideas themselves in a manner that needs my intervention in order to somehow save those ideas outlined in the constitution? I do not think so. Making political or religious statements, as long as they do not cause harm to people or cause damage to our nation, is specifically protected in the US constitution. So unless that burning flag is draped around someone or is used in an otherwise illegal fashion such as destroying property, or if the flag isn't yours to burn, then go ahead and burn the flag.
I reserve my own right to make judgements about the people burning flags and act on those judgements in a legal fashion, but acting like a retard or extroverted ignoramus isn't going to earn any response from me other than scorn or maybe pity. There will always be people who feel the need to protest one thing or another, and they typically have short attention spans. They'll get tired of burning flags when it's not a hot issue any more, and then they'll turn their attention to something else equally retarded. If it makes them feel better, and their actions do not harm anyone or break any laws, then they're free to fully express the full glorious boundaries and limitations of their intellect.
It would mildly upset me if the supreme court upheld any law banning the burning of the flag, because it would set a firm legal precedent that laws may be made to forbid the expression of a challenge to an IDEA or SYMBOL, and in the United States of America, that concept is supposed to be protected.
The ability of the TSA airport screeners to slap large fines and detain passengers who voice ANYTHING critical of the security process without any sort of due process, following a set of laws and regulations which cannot be spoken or released due to "security" concerns, is a much greater threat to American freedoms than any terrorist attack, let alone someone who decides it's time to burn a flag on tv to get some attention. Where are the vocal protests outside airports challenging this greater threat? They're too scared to do it because they know they'll be tossed in jail without legal representation and without being able to read the law they're being held under, so they're at home plotting ways to get their flag burning efforts caught on camera.
Fear dominates our security posture, and that's bad. Why should anyone get upset over a little legal flag burning indended to demonstrate that a symbol is NOT an idea, when there is a real attack against the constitution underway by our own government?
