St. Petersburg Times
Copyright Times Publishing Co. Sep 12, 2004

There are some votes in Congress that separate truly courageous leaders from spineless politicians, and one of those is coming up.

Sometime within the next few weeks, the Senate is expected to vote on a constitutional amendment that would give government the power to bar acts of physical desecration to the American flag. For more than a decade, this amendment has been repeatedly brought up and supported by members of Congress who either have very little understanding of the meaning of the First Amendment or are willing to diminish the Bill of Rights in an act of political pandering. Unfortunately, Florida's Democratic senators, Bob Graham and Bill Nelson, are among those supporters.

It is with the thinnest reed of hope that we urge both men, but particularly Graham, to change their vote. Graham is ending his Senate career and can now enjoy the freedom of a public official who can do what is right rather than what is popular.

In his final bow, the senator has distinguished himself as a man willing to take lonely but principled stances. Graham voted against giving President Bush the authority to take the nation to war in Iraq, even when a majority of his Democratic colleagues went along. Graham understood how attacking Iraq would divert vital resources from the real war on terrorism and our efforts in Afghanistan. His long-standing role on the Senate Intelligence Committee has given Graham the information and insights to be an effective critic of Bush's strategies on the war on terrorism, and he has been prescient at times.

The vote on the flag amendment is expected to be razor thin. A two-thirds vote of those present is required, which translates into 67 votes if the Senate is at full attendance. Vote-counters say there are probably at least 64 votes in favor. While support comes primarily from Republicans, a handful of Democrats also regularly join them. The worry this year is that the Republican leaders will schedule a vote when they know there will be absent senators, thereby ensuring passage.

The American flag is used to sell cars and decorate cupcakes. It is not some sacrosanct object, but a living symbol of this nation that is often mishandled, exploited for commercial gains, wrapped around political scoundrels, and sometimes, though rarely, burned by someone making an angry political point. All these uses should be beyond the reach of government to control. When respect for the flag becomes a legislated order, it is a sign that we are drifting from the founding principles of this nation. Our right to dissent from government, including the right to engage in symbolic speech by burning the flag, is what separates this nation from nearly every other on earth. The reason the American flag is worth defending - worth dying for - is that it represents the very freedoms the flag amendment would abrogate.

When Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.V., changed his stance to vote against the flag amendment in 2000, he quoted James Russell Lowell who said "The foolish and dead alone never change their opinion." Sen. Richard Bryan, D-Nevada, also changed his vote to oppose the amendment shortly before he retired in 2000. Graham now has a chance to stand up like these men, and leave the Senate having cast a vote to protect the Constitution. It would be one of his greatest legacies.