For those who haven’t been following the news, an oldie but goodie made it back this summer: a Constitutional amendment to ban burning of the flag!
That’s right.
Now, I’ll say up front that I think the whole conversation is ridiculous. Flags are symbols that stand for ideas, not the instantiation of those ideas. (This is the same reason that I’ve always chosen not to pledge allegiance to the flag, Mr. Tedeschi’s protestations notwithstanding.)
The thing that gets me about the discussion is the fear, maybe, or pessimism, of those who are most vociferous. Those who speak most loudly about banning flag burning have some serious worries about the ability of this country to survive even the most moderate level of protest; it’s public panic at its most horrifying (and I know panic).
I really don’t get it.
Can anyone out there, anyone at all, explain to me why this is A Thing instead of, well, nothing?
(As for why I’m writing about this now, when the proposed amendment was defeated by 1 vote on June 27, it’s because of a pretty funny Doonesbury series that’s been running over the last couple of weeks.)