Still a bad idea

The News Leader (Staunton, VA)
EDITORIAL

Once again, the House of Representatives has exhibited its stunning ignorance of the Constitution by voting for an amendment that would make flag desecration illegal.

Correction: Once again, those members of the House of Representatives who voted for the amendment have demonstrated their belief that the freedoms guaranteed Americans under the First Amendment are meaningless in comparison with their personal standings in the popularity polls.

Rather than live up to their oath to support, protect and defend the Constitution, these members of the House have taken the coward's way out. Rather than explain to their constituents why passing an amendment to the Constitution that abridges the First Amendment to the Constitution is wrong, they would rather wrap themselves in the flag. True patriots realize that our freedoms are dearer than the symbol.

Almost every year, this issue is trotted out to perform for the voters back home. Hopefully, the Senate will send the amendment down in flames again.

The mantra chanted by those who attempt to justify their abrogation of the First Amendment goes something like this -- burning the flag isn't speech, it's "action" or "behavior." Therefore it is not protected by the Bill of Rights.

Wrong. Generally, flag-burning as an act of protest has exhibited itself as an extension of two of the rights guaranteed under the First Amendment -- freedom of speech and the right to assemble. It is not normally undertaken as an act of pyromania performed in a vacuum.

What the members of the House who voted for this proposed amendment tend to ignore, or conveniently forget to mention in the heat of wrapping themselves in the flag, is that flag-burning has exhibited itself as a form of protest in only a handful of cases in recent history. Criminalizing it will only serve to give it a cachet that will attract martyrs.

Opinions expressed in this feature represent the collective opinion of the newspaper's editorial board, consisting of: Gary Stout, president and publisher; David Fritz, executive editor; Cindy Corell, city editor; Jim McCloskey, editorial cartoonist; Dennis Neal, opinion page editor; and Macon Rich, production director.