Flag-Burning Amendment Advancing in U.S. House

Big Brother · Posted: Thu 2005-06-23 16:14

I can't believe I didn't hear about this.

I think an e-mail to my Senator is in order.

The thing that disturbs me is that they call this the "Flag Burning Amendment". But that is not what the amendment says at all...

"The Congress shall have power to prohibit the physical desecration of the flag of the United States" - proposed "flag burning" amendment.

Please observe -- It doesn't have the word "burning" anywhere in there. Instead, it prohibits "physical desecration". Well, what the fuck does that mean? The government's has a history trying to interpret constitutional provisions in ways different from what the writer's original intentions. (i.e. People who claim that the 2nd Amendment protects a state's right to have a militia, but does not protect individual rights.)

"In recent years it has been suggested that the Second Amendment protects the "collective" right of states to maintain militias, while it does not protect the right of "the people" to keep and bear arms. If anyone entertained this notion in the period during which the Constitution and the Bill of Rights were debated and ratified, it remains one of the most closely guarded secrets of the eighteenth century, for no known writing surviving from the period between 1787 and 1791 states such a thesis." - Stephen P. Halbrook, "That Every Man Be Armed", 1984

So I have to wonder how future courts might interpret this provision.

- If somebody leaves their flag out in the rain, will they now face jail time?

- What if you’re marching in a protest carrying a flag, and then you trip and fall – allowing the flag to touch the ground. Will the authorities immediately step in to throw the heretic into prison?

- What if a Marine or a politician is marching a parade and drops a flag on the ground. Will HE be arrested? (I doubt it.)

- Does spitting on a flag count as "desecration"? What about spitting on a person who is wearing a flag (such as a police officer or riot cop)

- Does this include giving the flag the "birdie"? (It is a "physical" act, after all.) What if you flip off a politician standing under a flag? Your “physical desecration” is being aimed in the same direction as the flag, so would that count?

- Does yelling "fuck you" count as physical desecration? If not, what if you accidentally spit while yelling it?

- Are you allowed to burn a virtual flag? Are you allowed to posses a photo of a flag being burned? What if you post the photo on the internet as a form of protest? Will the athorities come and take you away?

This amendment is just absurd and Americans really should be ashamed of themselves for even considering fucking with the 1st amendment in order to protect symbols of the state. It is an extremely dangerous precedent to set.

AFTERTHOUGHT – Actually, this might be a good thing. What if a person was to wrap himself up in a flag like a horror-show mummy? Would that prevent the police from beating you or throwing tear gas at you?

Twisted Evil

Nah… wearing a flag as clothing would probably count as “desecration” as well, so you’d probably just be arrested.

Here's another thought...

APCP · Posted: Thu 2005-06-23 21:58

So far, I've burned 6 U.S. flags, and pissed on one while it was on fire to further disrespect it. The piss put it out and made it stiff and impossible to relight, so I had to throw it away, still...

And BB, I don't think an email to your senator's going to fix anything. I'd say what I'd think would fix it, but until I can be assured that no dickless government assholes visit this site, I'm just going to shut the fuck up. They go after our guns, our movies, our protests, our thoughts, even our own fucking video games. WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON? DOES ANYONE HAVE ANY GOD DAMN BALLS TO STAND UP AND DO SOMETHING? No wonder we're in such a shit hole now, we've spent our whole fucking lives wasting away at the tv, or just too dickless to do anything. Shit doesn't fix itself. I'm fucking sick of seeing these god damn flags every five seconds, or hearing that video games lead to killings. TRAMPING ON OUR FUCKING RIGHTS LEADS TO KILLINGS. Fuck America, fuck the British, fuck these religious backward hillbillies and towel heads, fuck everyone. Pissed

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Big Brother · Posted: Thu 2005-06-23 22:34

Cthulhuvong · Posted: Fri 2005-06-24 04:59

I sent e-mails to my Senators, though it doesn't really matter. I can tell you right now that Illinois' senators Barak Obama and Dick Durbin (who just got in trouble for saying Gitmo was like Nazi death camps) are gonna be against this. So that 2 out of 100 you know are against this. Its not much, but its something.

I've never burned a flag. I still agree people have the right to do so in protest. I may hate some people for doing it (like if they say its because they hate every American and wish they would all die), but I'll still give them the right. Even if this doesn't pass, the police and feds still have ways to get you like "public endangerment" because the flag could start other fires or hurt someone else. And a ton of other laws.

I do like the commercial idea. Get MoveOn.org to do that, they love making commercials.

Fundies are fun to argue with in debates, but hard as hell to fight anywhere else. I'm so happy I live in one of only 3 blue counties in my state (and yet we're a blue state, strange no?).
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Big Brother · Posted: Sat 2005-06-25 04:03

Cthulhuvong · Posted: Sun 2005-06-26 01:00

Tyrant · Posted: Sun 2005-06-26 01:46

While I'm not American, I guess people should be able to burn flags if they'd like. I dont see it as a big priority to crack down on. I think, though, that sometimes police intervention in flag burning is neccesary simply because its a public disturbance. People really shouldn't be burning anything in the streets, for example.

But as Big Brother states, the main issue is what is objectively defined as "desecration".

Big Brother · Posted: Sun 2005-06-26 07:24

minister of love · Posted: Tue 2005-07-05 23:29

Hi, I'm the dickless government asshole who monitors this site, logs IP and e-mail addresses, etc.

BB, I think you went a little off the deep end in your first post in this thread. While I don't have an opinion either way about the whole flag-burning thing, did you ever notice that sand-niggers love to be seen on TV burning an American flag? Did you ever wonder why it's such a big deal to them? Do you remember all the SHIT we got over American prison guards "mistreating" a fucking book that belonged to an enemy combatant of the US? I'd like to flush every koran in the world down a toilet after I shit diarehha on it.

Is symbolism important? Hell, when has it ever NOT been important in the history of humanity? I don't believe in free speach if it is reckless or abused, which it often is in this country. This is also the only large country that allows free speach. Did that fact just escape everyone's attention?

We just celebrated our declaration of independance from Britian. Most people in the world have no real understanding of what it means to be an American. Things that we take for granted are totally foriegn to most people in the world. They tend to be more tied to tradition that we are. Maybe that's why we enjoy hte highest standard of living and the largest economy and most powerful military in the world. Who knows?

Arguing against any laws restricting treatment of our national flag, I believe in the American sentiment, "live free or die". On the other hand, eventhough our society is very prudish in many ways, many people in the world consider Americans to be uncivilized and lacking in refinment. The typical American response to those sentiments is, "Fuck You", so maybe they're right.

I have a towel of the American flag and a pair of swimming trunks made of Flag material also. If I pee in the pool or wipe my ass with the towel after I bathe, am I desicrating the flag?

BB, I guess I agree with you that this is a bad amendment. But I also wanted to point out that desicrating one's national flag or holy book or any other number of objects IS illegal in most countries. So, if we're expected to treat an Afgany's Koran withthe proper respect, isn't it reasonable to expect them to treat our national symbols with equivilant respect? Maybe the wording of the amendment is too vague. I think that only Americans should have hte right to desicrate our Flag and we should seek out and kill any foriegners who do so. Doesn't that sound more reasonable?
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Big Brother · Posted: Wed 2005-07-06 00:48

minister of love · Posted: Thu 2005-07-07 17:37

Of course, I don't REALLY do those things for the government. I was joking. Very Happy

And, I guess that technicly, it's not a nation, but the religion of Islam that forbids mistreatment of their holy book because they consider every copy of it to be a holy relic. How do christians and jews feel about it? I mean, has the pope declared it an offence punishable by death to mistreat a bible? And since bishops are holy relics, are we allowed to burn them?

And, what if you're reading a koran and your bitch needs to have the back of her throat massaged with your shlong, so you fold the corner of the page you were reading and put the book down while she services your manhood? Does folding the corner of the page count as desicration? Can you be killed for that? Or would it be better to just continue to read your holy book while you shoot you wad down your Hoe's throat? It seems to me that if a bitch is sucking your dick, the polite thing to do would be to give her your full attention (unless you're busy watching a porno movie). Now THAT"S a delima!

And here's a REAL delima: Say it becomes illegal to desicrate the US flag. I've still got my US flag towel and what if my bitch is a spitter and after I bust a nut in her mouth, she spits my wad onto the towel? Which one of us is guilty of desicration? I mean, she spit it out, but it was my jism. What if I didn't know that she was a spitter? And we were both on the towel while she was blowing me in the first place. Will performing sex acts on the flag be considered desecration? And what if she's on her period and we're having sex while laying on the towel because we don't want to stain the sheets? Is bleeding on the flag while having sex on it going to be considered desecration?

Okay, I'm finished.
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You know what is in room 101...Everyone knows.

Therapy Needed · Posted: Thu 2005-07-07 18:26

Tyrant · Posted: Thu 2005-07-07 18:27

Hahahaha! That was ridiculous- I almost died laughing. Good stuff.

minister of love · Posted: Sat 2005-07-09 13:54

Saf · Posted: Tue 2005-07-19 01:10

This symbolic act (i.e., flag burning) produces no actual results aside from the destruction of a piece of cloth; the government should have no reason to care about this.
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Therapy Needed · Posted: Tue 2005-07-19 07:43