"Flag amendment itself a desecration "

Rocky Mountain News
June 24, 2005

The House this week approved a proposed constitutional amendment that would allow Congress to outlaw flag burning as a form of political protest. Let's hope that's as far as this attempt to put limits on a certain kind of speech gets.

Ask yourself: To what urgent and pressing national problem is this constitutional amendment a solution?

There is none. There is no epidemic of flag burning in this country. Incidents of flag burning are scattered, infrequent and inevitably associated with political protest. The language of the amendment specifies "desecration" but it is not aimed at ignoble uses of the flag as articles of clothing or sales promotion tools or even, metaphorically, for a member of Congress to wrap himself in. Which is what Colorado's two senators are doing when they endorse this proposal.

The Constitution has been amended only 27 times since 1789 and it would be a desecration itself if the 28th Amendment were a dilution of the First.