Burning American Flag....

[Brynmr]

Under the Trump administration, my hope is flag burning will be seen as a seditious act and penalized appropriately.

 

[Ame®icano]

The flag is a symbol and people have the right to deface it.

You sure sound like an expert in doing so.

I don't know, maybe you should try to have an actual conversation about the topic next time.

It seems you're implying that you have one.

 

[Brynmr]

PrProtesting is a form of patriotism in my mind...

True but but the destruction of property isn't. The flag is unique in that it belongs to all of us.

 

[eflatminor]

Well, whenever I'm stuck on a tough political issue, I turn to Hillary. Who doesn't?

Sen. Clinton co-sponsored the Flag Protection Act of 2005, which carried a 12-month jail sentence to anyone who desecrates the American flag.

So, the answer must be flat burning is bad.

Thank goodness we have people like Hillary to tell us what to think...

Sen. Clinton co-sponsored the Flag Protection Act of 2005, which carried a 12-month jail sentence to anyone who desecrates the American flag

 

[Montrovant]

Well, whenever I'm stuck on a tough political issue, I turn to Hillary. Who doesn't?

Sen. Clinton co-sponsored the Flag Protection Act of 2005, which carried a 12-month jail sentence to anyone who desecrates the American flag.

So, the answer must be flat burning is bad.

Thank goodness we have people like Hillary to tell us what to think...

Sen. Clinton co-sponsored the Flag Protection Act of 2005, which carried a 12-month jail sentence to anyone who desecrates the American flag

From your link :

"Flag Protection Act of 2005 - Amends the federal criminal code to revise provisions regarding desecration of the flag to prohibit: (1) destroying or damaging a U.S. flag with the primary purpose and intent to incite or produce imminent violence or a breach of the peace; (2) intentionally threatening or intimidating any person, or group of persons, by burning a U.S. flag; or (3) stealing or knowingly converting the use of a U.S. flag belonging to the United States, or belonging to another person on U.S. lands, and intentionally destroying or damaging that flag."

No, the FPA did not carry a 12 month sentence to anyone who desecrates the flag, not according to the summary from congress.gov. It was only for those who desecrate the flag in an attempt to incite violence or to intimidate. That may seem to be a minor distinction, but it is an important one.

I brought this up earlier in the thread.

 

[Brynmr]

Obama apologized to the Afghan people for a Koran burning but will NEVER apologize to Americans for the burning of our flag.

The message is clear. Ok to burn the American flag but not the Koran.

 

[WinterBorn]

I vote unacceptable. Just because that would mean getting rid of most of society's refuse. 99.99% of the time its a commie doing it. But if a couple libertarians get caught in the crossfire, so be it.

So screw the constitution as long as it gets rid of people you don't like?

 

[Brynmr]

I vote unacceptable. Just because that would mean getting rid of most of society's refuse. 99.99% of the time its a commie doing it. But if a couple libertarians get caught in the crossfire, so be it.

So screw the constitution as long as it gets rid of people you don't like?

Obama's been screwing the Constitution for the past 8 years. Where have you been?

 

[WinterBorn]

I vote unacceptable. Just because that would mean getting rid of most of society's refuse. 99.99% of the time its a commie doing it. But if a couple libertarians get caught in the crossfire, so be it.

So screw the constitution as long as it gets rid of people you don't like?

Obama's been screwing the Constitution for the past 8 years. Where have you been?

Voting against him and making noise about following the US Constitution.

Does the fact that other presidents ignored the constitution make it right?

 

[Asclepias]

unacceptable or acceptable as "freedom of speech"?

SCOTUS say acceptable. So do I. Burning a flag doenst injury or kill anyone. Snowflakes are the only things that get injured when a flag is burned.

 

[WinterBorn]

I saw a meme that fits how I feel about this issue.

"I'd rather have people burn the flag and wrap themselves in the Constitution, than burn the Constitution and wrap themselves in the flag."

 

[Brynmr]

I saw a meme that fits how I feel about this issue.

"I'd rather have people burn the flag and wrap themselves in the Constitution, than burn the Constitution and wrap themselves in the flag."

Oh horse shit. Having a flag desecration law wouldn't violate the Constitution. Our freedom of expression has many many restrictions. Do all of those violate the Constitution? No. And let's be reminded that the Supreme court decision was 5-4, a narrow win.

 

[Brynmr]

Justice Steven's dissent makes an important point:

Justice John Paul Stevens also wrote a dissenting opinion. Stevens argued that the flag "is more than a proud symbol of the courage, the determination, and the gifts of nature that transformed 13 fledgling Colonies into a world power. It is a symbol of freedom, of equal opportunity, of religious tolerance, and of good will for other peoples who share our aspirations. ... The value of the flag as a symbol cannot be measured." Stevens concluded, therefore, that "The case has nothing to do with 'disagreeable ideas.' It involves disagreeable conduct that, in my opinion, diminishes the value of an important national asset," and that Johnson was punished only for the means by which he expressed his opinion, not the opinion itself.

 

[JimBowie1958]

unacceptable or acceptable as "freedom of speech"?

Just because something is legal does not prove it is "acceptable"

One can burn a cross legally, but if one does that makes one a scumbag and the act is morally unacceptable.

Same thing with the bastards that want to burn the American flag, and Democrats should try to reel that shit back because most Americans see that shit and they dont think "Oh, my, some one is expressing the freedom of speech!"

No, most people think something along hte lines of, "Wow, another commie Democratic Party bastard burning my precious flag that my many of my friends and relatives have died for!"

 

[Brynmr]

Protest in America is encouraged. It's very American. But destruction of property violates the law. I see the flag as belonging to every American.

And isn't it a sick irony that people who claim the freedom to desecrate the flag are in fact desecrating a symbol representing freedom.

 

[JimBowie1958]

I saw a meme that fits how I feel about this issue.

"I'd rather have people burn the flag and wrap themselves in the Constitution, than burn the Constitution and wrap themselves in the flag."

Oh horse shit. Having a flag desecration law wouldn't violate the Constitution. Our freedom of expression has many many restrictions. Do all of those violate the Constitution? No. And let's be reminded that the Supreme court decision was 5-4, a narrow win.

The best way to do it is to restrict it by municipal zoning code (no public fires in most areas), anti-riot incitement laws, and public menacing laws.

One might also recruit bikers and vets to do an anti burn patrol on a voluntary basis and their orgs would get a public sign stating something along the lines of "This street is fire patroled by the Hell's Angels", etc.

 

[kiwiman127]

If the Libs don't like the flag, there's an easy solution...

Leave, where you won't be offended... We won't stop you.

And if you don't like and respect the Consitution 100%, leave if your offended. No one is stopping you.

 

[JimBowie1958]

If the Libs don't like the flag, there's an easy solution...

Leave, where you won't be offended... We won't stop you.

And if you don't like and respect the Consitution 100%, leave if your offended. No one is stopping you.

If you are not an American citizen, you do not, in all likelihood, understand the Constitution nor the amendment process.

We can amend it specifically to disallow flag burning, and I would vote for such and to have said idiots locked in stock in the town square for two weeks.

 

[Brynmr]

FYI ownership of an object doesn't necessarily give you the right to destroy it.

Case in point: the Visual Artists Rights Act (Section 106A) gives protection of an artist's painting or other works from being willfully destroyed by a purchaser.

 

[HappyJoy]

The flag is a symbol and people have the right to deface it.

You sure sound like an expert in doing so.

I don't know, maybe you should try to have an actual conversation about the topic next time.

It seems you're implying that you have one.

I'm implying that I have a conversation? That doesn't even make sense.