k wrote:
] ] Amendment supporters contend the flag deserves special
] ] protection as an important national symbol, while
] ] opponents, including Kerry, have argued that flag
] ] desecration can be punished under criminal statutes
] ] without tampering with the Constitution.
]
] [ This is ridiculous. Why should any of this shit be
] *illegal* in the first fucking place? What country is this,
] honestly? Burning a flag is one of the most serious
] commentaries we can make about the activity of our government.
] I thought the ability to stand up and say, categorically, "My
] government is wrong." was somehow important to the American
] ideal.
]
] How is it that people so easily miss the point. These people
] don't respect the ideal the flag represents. It is an
] important symbol, but holding up as something it's not is just
] wrong. It reduces the flag to a marketing tool, a button or a
] poster, a fucking blind to hide all the greed and
] authoritarianism behind. That's a desecration. 150 million
] tattered nylon flags or faded vinyl stickers on SUV's driven
] by thoughtless drones who think patriotism has more to do with
] prominently displaying the symbol than living the ideal.
] That's a desecration. Proposing this measure now,
] purposefully exploiting that false patriotism and jingoistic
] war mentality... unrepentantly using the symbol for private
] gain... it's ugly. It's a desecration.
]
] A certain amount of flag waving is unavoidable, of course, on
] both sides, but this focus on the object itself just continues
] to baffle me. -k]

This is going back quite a ways, but as a Cub Scout I learned the proper way to despose of a damaged or tattered flag was to, well, burn it... So now it's appropriate to send it to the landfill?

RE: Kerry, Edwards and Daschle May Face Vote on Flag (washingtonpost.com)