Flag Desecration.....should it be outlawed?

[lazs2]

chair..  did I answer your question?    the flag is just a flag.   the n word is just a word..  a cross is just a cross and a picture of the prophet is just a picture.

Now..  I also realize that to some people these are sacred symbols or taboo things.. you mess with that at your own peril.   I believe that any reasonable man would not be surprised if such shock tactics illicited a violent response.

I would take things case by case but would have to find that a flag burner getting the crap beat out of him got exactly what he asked for and deserved.

Should there be a law?  should there be such a thing as a "hate" crime or taboo words?   no.. of course not..  affirmative action or special treatment by race?  no.. of course not.   Should there be a law against saying your mother is probly a potato?  of course not but..  you do these things at your peril.    There is no law against yelling "fire" in a crowded room or "bomb" at an airport if there really is one..  if there is not and you cause injury.. you should be liable... just as you should be liable for any riot you cause with your "free speech"

It would all go to "reasonable man" defense in my opinion.   An attack on the person burning a flag at an art gallery would be far different than burning it in front of a group of grief stricken mourners at a military funeral for instance.

This is not to be confused with any "gray area" type of reasoning.  there is an absolute right to free speech.. I am merely saying that free speech should come with responsibility for consequence.

lazs

[Chairboy]

Lazs, sounds like we agree, and thanks for clarifying.  You never struck me as a wishy-washy sit on the fence sort, I'm glad this got sorted out.

I believe the 'OUTLAW IT!!!11!1!!eleventy!!' posts indicate a very basic lack of understanding about the Constitution, our nation, and the Bill of Rights.

[lazs2]

well... maybe we might diverge here... There should be no law forbidding it but.

The act is not, in my opinion, "free speech" it is an act devoid of speech.   It should not be protected under any special free speech law.. if there are laws against setting fires in a city then flag burning should not be protected from them.   burning flags are the same as burning anything.  littering is littering.. whatever.

To make special laws to protect flag burning is as abhorent to me as making special laws to protect the right to do so.

lazs

[Chairboy]

Nope, no disagreement that I see.  If setting a flag on fire creates a fire hazard, then it should be treated no differently than a bedsheet or linen being set fire in the same context.  The constitutionally ignorant in this thread are advocating special laws making flag desecration specifically illegal, and that's my objection.

[lazs2]

Do you object to a special law the protects flag burning over say.. linen.  that flag burning is free speech say but burning your jacket is not?

lazs

[Chairboy]

I don't get it.  Can you make it simpler for my weak, commie pinko mind to understand? 

[Shuffler]

Face it some folks here in the US do not care about our Flag or what it stands for. Those types are not to be trusted.

[Airhead]

Face it some folks here in the US do not care about our Flag or what it stands for. Those types are not to be trusted.

I disagree Shuffler- if they didn't care about the flag they wouldn't burn it, would they? As a matter of fact flag burners understand the flag is a symbol of America.

Anyways I've always said "show me someone who has time to protest any cause and I'll show you someone who has way too much time on their hands."

[GtoRA2]

Laz,

You have a little dog humping your leg, I think his name is Mac. Carefull, he may leave a stain. 

[Chairboy]

It seems, Shuffler, that you care only for the flag, at the expense of what it stands for.  If you truly profess to love your country, you may wish to further research what it's made of.  The tactics you keep suggesting of making laws preventing specifically flag burning are better suited for a totalitarian regime with no freedom of speech. 

[DrDea]

It seems, Shuffler, that you care only for the flag, at the expense of what it stands for.  If you truly profess to love your country, you may wish to further research what it's made of.  The tactics you keep suggesting of making laws preventing specifically flag burning are better suited for a totalitarian regime with no freedom of speech. 

Thats a nice avatar.Thinking about steal....er...finding it.

[Shuffler]

It seems, Shuffler, that you care only for the flag, at the expense of what it stands for.  If you truly profess to love your country, you may wish to further research what it's made of.  The tactics you keep suggesting of making laws preventing specifically flag burning are better suited for a totalitarian regime with no freedom of speech. 

I see your still sitting on your unamerican purch. If you condone Flag burning I can guarantee I love this country far more than you.

[GtoRA2]

Thats a nice avatar.Thinking about steal....er...finding it.

Stealing avatars is mean man. MEAN. Only a bunch of real mean type people would do that!

[Chairboy]

I see your still sitting on your unamerican purch. If you condone Flag burning I can guarantee I love this country far more than you.

Hey, if it makes you feel better to believe that, go for it.  You've demonstrated how little you understand about the Bill of Rights, the circumstances surrounding the foundation of our nation, and consequently the exact value of your uninformed input.

Don't let anything like the facts get in the way of...  well, whatever it is you're doing there.

[Hornet33]

I see your still sitting on your unamerican purch. If you condone Flag burning I can guarantee I love this country far more than you.

I haven't seen anything from Chairboy that would make anyone think he condones flag burning. All I see is a very rational thought about why it shouldn't be outlawed and I agree with him.

The founding fathers made it very clear in the Bill of Rights, the Consitution, and the Declaration of Independance, that the one thing we as American citizens should hold most dear to our hearts is that the government was not established to rule over us. Passing a law to make burning the flag a crime denies everyone the right to express their dissatifaction with they government. Political dissent is a right in this country that no other country on the planet can match.

Look at some of the post right here in the O'Club talking about Bush, or Clinton for that matter just to cover all the bases. In many other countries you would find yourself in jail if not shot for talking that way about the political leaders running the country.

I don't like seeing anyone desecrating the flag, but they have the right to express their disproval of this government, and if that's how they choose to do it, well they have to live with themselves.