The 4th & The Flag - This is NOT a speech!

[e_utopia]

My dad was on the "I don't care what you do, as long as you don't cross that barricade; if you do that, I can't be held responsible for the consequences" side of things. Protecting the White House, among other places. Definitely one of the more 'interesting' times in our history.

--JB

------------------
e_utopia@hotmail.com

 

[ohoisin]

flag burning? well i love my country, and am proud to see its symbols, but in retiring a flag it is burned. I believe that if a person felt so strongly that our country was doing somthing that was not representitive of our inheritence from those who have bled, worked and died in the past to give us our nation then they could burn the flag. In fact if I felt we as a nation were to act in such a way as to desicate our constitution, values, and what it means and has meant to be an American i believe that burning the flag is a very good way of showing that the burner no longer feels the country is deserving of its symbol, and its symbols history.

------------------
a man is no fool to give up that which he cannot keep to gain what he cannever lose.

 

[Stiletto Raggio]

Originally posted by eaglehi1:
Blackdog i say amen, if you dont love it leave it. the second amendment only gives you freedom of speech.

EAXCTLY: The Second Amendment is the one that guarantees freedom of speech, not the first. In fact, the Second Amendment is the only one that ultimatley guarantees freedom, the rest merely enumerate the rights which we can defend.

While I don't like flag burning (except in case of retirement), i do respect a person's right to free speech. I will hopefully be attending West Point after one last arduous year of High School, and i personally hold honor to be a very high moral property. If you attack a person who burns a flag, you are giving them what they want. the burn the flag to shock and anger people, and while it works, don't let yourself become a victim of their idiotic means of propaganda.

That doesn't mean you can't spit on them or tell them what you think, though...

 

[Brett Bennett]

I would suggest that many flag burners are not as anti-American as they are portrayed. Many are protesting the actions of the fascists and socialists who destroy our liberty. Don't get me wrong, I have the utmost respect for our veterans, but the flag is a symbol used to promote nationalism. Some call this propaganda. Too often, it is used by governments for political self-interest.
Personally, I think flag burning sends the wrong message (generally speaking) and works against those who choose to exercise their First Amendment rights. Those who protest the destruction of their liberty should, IMO, choose another method since it alienates many potential allies.

Rant over. Let the flaming begin.

------------------
But when the law, by means of its necessary agent, force, imposes upon men a regulation of labor, a method or a subject of education, a religious faith or creed---then the law is no longer negative; it acts positively upon the people. It substitutes the will of the legislator for their own wills; the initiative of the legislator for their own initiatives. When this happens, the people no longer need to discuss, to compare, to plan ahead; the law does all this for them. Intelligence becomes a useless prop for the people; they cease to be men; they lose their personality, their liberty, their property. -Frederick Bastiat