When a flag is burned nothing happens other than the flag being burnt. There seems to be a reaction based on the belief that America is somehow harmed or disrespected by such an action. I can understand that interpretation even as I reject it.
I reject it because I see flagburning for what it really is, trolling America. The only way to handle trolling is to ignore it and therefore starve the troll. I personally don't feel any need to waste my time or energy rallying against flagburning. I will likely never own a T-shirt with an American flag and the words 'try to burn this one' on it.
You may think this makes me unpatriotic or lazy in my defense of America, but I see the much greater threats to America in the country I love. Things like cutting the snap program, cutting funding to music and art departments in schools, enslaving college students with egregious amounts of debt, cutting medical benefits for seniors, not giving our veterans the help and treatment they need in a timely manner, lack of infrastructure funding, wasteful spending on war machines we don't need, the Koch brothers, The citizens United decision, fracking, black men being killed by police, irresponsible banking practices, climate change, and that is just the things I can think of off the top of my head that I give more shit about then whether or not some dumbass burns an American flag.
So like I said before, flagburning is a shrug worthy offence.
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ReplyDeleteYou are so right about this. As you know I am about as flag waving as anyone. I fly one where ever I live and even have one attached to my trike. I personally don't like it when someone burns our flag but it is not going to cause me to castigate someone for it.
DeleteWhat those who object to flag burning forget is this....our country is practically the ONLY one where a person can burn the national flag and incur absolutely no legal penalty for it. Why is that? Because the First Ammendment to our Constitution guarantees our ability to do so.
The First Amendment (Amendment I) to the United States Constitution prohibits the making of any law respecting an establishment of religion, impeding the free exercise of religion, abridging the freedom of speech, infringing on the freedom of the press, interfering with the right to peaceably assemble or prohibiting the petitioning for a governmental redress of grievances. It was adopted on December 15, 1791, as one of the ten amendments that constitute the Bill of Rights.
So you are correct in that flag burning barely deserves a shrug.