Stars and Stripes

An amendment that would have made burning the U.S. flag illegal recently failed to gather enough support in Congress. Which is strange, since most politicians don't appear to be terribly deep thinkers. I'm quite sure the average person would be for the amendment, so it's curious that the politicians didn't fall on their side of the fence.

What I do know is that I'm sick and tired of people using the flag in ways never imagined. Used car and appliance dealers feel the incessant need to shower their goods in Old Glory, in the hopes that someone passing by will be struck with an incessant fever of capitalistic patriotism. It cheapens the thing that so many have been willing to die for.

(I understand the argument that it's just a piece of cloth, but I like to think that humans can collectively imbue inanimate objects with profound and symbolic meaning. The Mona Lisa, after all, is more than just paint on canvas. Tolstoy's writings are more than just ink on paper. At least, I hope everyone thinks that. By the same token, the American flag is more than just red, white, and blue cloth.)

I don't agree with people who burn flags, but I lump them in with the same group as the aforementioned shysters who drape it over anything and everything in an effort to make a dime. They have no respect for the thing, either- it's just another way to seduce the buying public.

My only beef with flag burners is that they do it so much it loses its power to shock the public. It should be a "nuclear" type protest option, one that is rarely utilized. It shouldn't be done when the Senate passes a bill you don't like, or you disagree with the President. It should only be done when one has a serious belief that the country itself is no longer holding dear to the principles on which it was founded, which is why Jefferson charged us with overthrowing the government if it ceases to meet our needs.

For example, if the government started seizing people's properties and banning religious freedom, I would probably burn a flag in protest. For at that point I would no longer believe in the country the flag represented- meaning the flag would be meaningless to me. Those that burn the flag now do so because they want a war or statute changed- not the country's democratic perspective as a whole. It's like tearing down the entire house, because you just can't agree with the bay window the new project leader had installed.

(That's not to say I wouldn't punch a flag burner in the face- it's only to say that when I did it, I'd realize I was a jackass who was trampling on the rights of others.)