Flag-burning amendment goes to the House floor

June 22, 2005

Update: As of 2:41pm, the House approved the measure — 286 to 130, which easily meets the two-thirds threshold. A total of 12 Republicans voted against it, while 77 Dems voted for it.

Today’s the day.

With the public image of Congress in the tank, House Republicans have vowed to focus on legislation that affects people’s everyday lives, especially energy, tax and highway bills. But today the House will take up more red meat for the red states — a bill “proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States authorizing the Congress to prohibit the physical desecration of the flag of the United States.”

As of this morning, the amendment (H.J.RES.10) has 196 co-sponsors, including 27 lawmakers who’ve just signed on in the last week. Will it get the two-thirds it needs in the House this afternoon? It’s a safe bet.

If you check the debate, pay careful attention to who’s leading the way on the proposal: Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham (R-Calif.). Yes, that Cunningham. The idea may be to help the beleaguered congressman distract attention away from his corruption scandals and towards his role in changing the Constitution, so the exploitation levels should be running pretty high. It’s hard to believe anyone could be that gullible, but I’ve been surprised before.

I should also note that the New York Times took a look at the amendment today and raised an important point: support for the amendment in Republican circles is strong, but not unanimous.

Like most Democrats, two Republican senators, Robert F. Bennett of Utah and Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, have consistently opposed the measure.

“I don’t want to amend the Constitution to solve a nonproblem,” Mr. Bennett said. “People are not burning the flag. The only time they start is when this amendment gets offered.”

Indeed, one of the nation’s more popular Republicans has already explained quite well why this amendment is a terrible mistake.

“The First Amendment exists to ensure that freedom of speech and expression applies not just to that with which we agree or disagree, but also that which we find outrageous. I would not amend that great shield of democracy to hammer a few miscreants. The flag will still be flying proudly long after they have slunk away.” — Colin Powell, May 1999

Now, I’m afraid, the miscreants are in Congress.

The floor debate is already underway. I’ll let you know what happens.

Republicans can’t get anything else done. The economy is moving to Wal-Mart wages, corporations are abandoning their pension responsibilities to workers, GM and Ford are laying off workers, GM is closing plants, and all the republicans can find to do is a flag desecration amendment.

And you’re right about efforts to detract from republican’s scandals.

Republicans are despicable.

  • If you make an Flag Burning Amendment and you start arresting people what do you have? Political prisoners. Won’t that be lovely.

  • Maybe Congress plans to make the punishment for flag burning a hefty fine. With Republican attempts to repeal the estate tax and plans on making the Bush tax cuts permanent, on top of record budget deficits, Congress will need to find a new source of revenue. Just think, if we could have fined the person (or group) for the one recorded incident (according to Citizens Flag Alliance) of flag burning this year $500 billion the government would have been in the black.

  • This amendment passed in the House in several past Congresses. How quickly will it end up on the Senate’s calendar? That will tell you whether or not the leadership-that-is-labeled-Republican is, well, wrapping itself in the flag.

  • Does the House version of the amendment define flag desecration broadly so as to include all those right wing, GOP voting, Iraq war supporting but won’t send their kids to fight it, gay marriage hating, abortion clinic torching, SUV drivers who have flags on their antennas that flap until they are tattered to shreds? And what about making a flag into a window or bumper sticker? Isn’t that “desecration” under a strict definition? Or only when you scrape it off your car? It’s the GOP that has tried to co-opt the American Flag as their symbol, to desrecrate as they please. I like the big fine idea. The Dems out to go “strict constructionist” on this and show that the GOP has been desecrating the flag for years and it’s time to stop, the fines will be hefty.

  • so as to include all those … drivers who have flags on their antennas that flap until they are tattered to shreds?

    So I’m not the only one who thinks that is a disrepectful way to treat our flag? Whew! I was starting to get depressed. (please note, although I am serious when I say that that kind of treatment of our flag is disresptectful, I do *not* support the anti-flag buring ammendment and would not support any similar attemept to limit our constitutionally enumerated freedoms)

  • Every time this issue comes up I’m dumbfounded. Don’t these guys get it? Adding an amendment like this to the Constitution is completely antithetical to the principles upon which this country was founded. America is supposed to be a place where we are able to voice our disagreement or dissatisfaction with our leaders without fear of reprisal or recrimination. The only reason I would ever want to burn the flag is if they made it illegal to do so. The flag is a symbol of our democracy. Making it illegal to burn the flag is tantamount to making it illegal to disagree with our government. And then what would our flag stand for?

    By the way, I like the big fine idea, too.

  • This amendment desecrates the constitution. Too bad the House can’t be punished for that.

    Will it be too far off that the president is declared a national symbol that can’t be desecrated either? Will torching an effigy of Bush be the next political crime prohibited by the Constitution?

  • Would I be allowed to burn American flags made in China in protest to the outsourcing of flag making jobs?

  • What if you burn a computer monitor while it’s displaying a flag? Is that different than smashing it, or just turning it off?

    How ridiculous will the challenges have to get before they realize that it’s not the colored cloth that matters, but the ideas it stands for?

  • Is there a list somewhere where I can see how each Congressperson voted on the legislation?

  • This is generations of our idiotic media and horrific education system at work– or actually *not* at work. 77 Democrats looked at the TV, imagined the sound-bite (or the attack ad), and said, “HOLY SHIT! If I vote against this, the only thing anyone in my district is going to know about me is that I voted for burning the flag! I can’t survive that; I’m fucked.”

    77 Democrats watched a genuine war hero get skewered by the Swifties last year, and quaked in fear. They know the same is waiting for them.

    This whole thing is a Rove trap. We used to say in sales: “If you’re explaining, then you’ve already lost”. All any Repug needs to do is say “my opponent voted in favour of flag-burning!” and then the poor schmuck Democrat is stuck hem-hawing around, or, worse, blathering on through a long-winded primer on the First Amendment and Constitutional Rights and such…. by that time 99.999% of the voters have tuned him out and decided to throw his sorry ass to the curb. It’s the frightening reality of America in 2005.

    I think it should be obvious that our Republic cannot survive in this climate. The combination of a mindless, useless propagandist media that cares only about selling shit, and an under-educated, uninformed, ignorant electorate, is fatal to Democracy. Fatal.

    If this turd makes its way past the Senate, this country is toast. Not because a flag-burning amendment actually would change anything, but specifically because it wouldn’t: if the process is that broken then it’s all over for this country.

  • If anyone can add to this list feel free:

    Countries where burning the national flag is illegal:
    China
    Cuba
    Iraq (before US occupation)

    Countries where burning the national flag is not illegal:
    United Kingdom
    Australia

    Which group do you want to be associated with?

  • They burned a flag on The Daily Show on Tuesday and nobody seems to notice.

    George W. Bush and Donald Rumsfeld bring more desecration, dishonor and shame on the Flag than could a thousand burnings every time an under-equipped, under-supported, under-trained soldier dies or gets wounded in Iraq. Men of honor have been dying for that flag for 230 years. We are now led by cowards who refused to fight in their turn. This war that has no real purpose other than some spoiled rich brat trying to show his daddy that he has the bigger penis.

  • The Boy Scouts burn flags — it’s the only way to respectfully retire them.

    So when a protestor gets arrested for it, it’s not the BURNING that they’re being arrested for.

    It’s the thoughts in their minds at the time. In America, we shouldn’t arrest people for their thoughts.

  • It’s wonderful to read political comments and laugh for a change! The idea of fining the flag burners to cover the deficit, and the ridiculous image of being arrested for turning off your computer while it’s showing a flag were actually hilarious! Unfortunately, the sad part is thinking that the Congress of the once greatest free nation in the world would spend it’s time, thoughts, and political capital earnestly trying to dismantle freedom, and apparently many cannot even comprehend that that’s what they are doing.

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