\n\nFlag burning “is obscene, painful and unpatriotic,” Sen. Daniel K. Inouye (D-Hawaii), who lost an arm in World War II, said in a floor speech yesterday. “But I believe Americans gave their lives in the many wars to make certain that all Americans have a right to express themselves — even those who harbor hateful thoughts.”\n<\/p>\n
\nSen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) summarized the proponents’ views. The flag’s special symbolic status, she said, makes its desecration different from holding a sign denouncing the president. Burning an American flag in anger, she said, is “conduct, not speech” because the flag is “the symbol of our democracy, our shared values, our commitment to justice, our remembrance to those who have sacrificed to defend these principles.”\n<\/p>\n
\n[…] The debate divided senators along unusual lines. Opposing the amendment was McConnell, the Senate’s second-ranking GOP leader, and Bennett, a quiet, mainstream Republican. Democratic supporters included Minority Leader Harry M. Reid (Nev.) and Sen. Evan Bayh (Ind.), a presidential hopeful. Maryland’s Democratic senators voted against the amendment and Virginia’s Republican senators voted for it.\n<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
\nI disagree vehemently with Sen. Feinstein on this. Or, rather, I would ask where she would draw the line. Would burning the Great Seal of the United States also count as such? How about an effigy of Uncle Sam? Or a copy of the Bill of Rights? Or a picture of the president, the Lincoln Memorial, or the Iwo Jima memorial?\n<\/p>\n
\nSymbols mean things. But speech is full of symbols, and setting aside one particular (and, so to speak, inflammatory) political expression as being beyond the pale not only makes no sense, but sets a horribly dangerous precedent — one that someone, sooner or later, would latch onto.\n<\/p>\n
\nWrong, wrong, wrong.\n<\/p>\n
\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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