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You are here: Home / Politics / Just In Time for the Election We Get…

Just In Time for the Election We Get…

by John Cole|  June 27, 200612:14 pm| 39 Comments

This post is in: Politics, General Stupidity

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A debate on a Flag Burning Amendment. Fortunately, Dana Milbank gives this issue the respect it deserves:

The Citizens Flag Alliance, a group pushing for the Senate this week to pass a flag-burning amendment to the Constitution, just reported an alarming, 33 percent increase in the number of flag-desecration incidents this year.

The number has increased to four, from three.

The naive among us may have trouble appreciating how four flag-burning episodes would constitute a constitutional crisis. But the men and women of the Senate, ever alert to emerging threats, are on the case.

“I think of the flag as a symbol of what veterans fought for,” Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) said as he opened the debate yesterday, “what they sustained wounds for, what they sustained loss of limbs for and what they sustained loss of life for.”

***

Fortunately, the Senate will have plenty of time to discuss that matter. The chamber has scheduled up to four days of debate on the flag-burning amendment this week. If that formula — one day of Senate debate for each incident of flag burning this year — were to be applied to other matters, the Senate would need to schedule 12 days of debate to contemplate the number of years before Medicare goes broke, 335 days of debate for each service member killed in Iraq this year and 11 million days of debate on the estimated number of illegal immigrants in the country.

Remember this the next time you think the House and the Senate are underpaid. I sure will.

Read the whole column, btw.

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Reader Interactions

39Comments

  1. 1.

    Andrew

    June 27, 2006 at 12:18 pm

    Why do you hate the flag, John? Wouldn’t it just be easier for you to go to a veterans’ cemetary and sing the Communist national anthem and read the New York Times?

  2. 2.

    Marcus Wellby

    June 27, 2006 at 12:23 pm

    But wait just one g-damn minute there Mr. Cole. Dana Milbank went on Countdown wearing an orange hunting vest just days after our glorious and VERY sober VP accidently shot a hunting companion.

    An ORANGE HUNTING VEST!!!! To mock our Vice Commander in Chief????? Ofcourse this commie liberal traitor mocks the heroic fight against the onslaught of Flag burning.

  3. 3.

    jg

    June 27, 2006 at 12:29 pm

    Unfortunately I know many people who feel this debate is far overdue.

  4. 4.

    Ancient Purple

    June 27, 2006 at 12:32 pm

    “I think of the flag as a symbol of what veterans fought for,” Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) said as he opened the debate yesterday…

    Geez, and I thought they fought and died for the liberties and priciples laid out in our Constitution.

    But, since the GOP treats that document like toilet paper, I can’t say I am too surprised by Specter’s comments.

  5. 5.

    Ancient Purple

    June 27, 2006 at 12:34 pm

    Crud. Sorry for the blockquote mishap.

  6. 6.

    VidaLoca

    June 27, 2006 at 12:36 pm

    Look! Over there! It’s something … shiny!

  7. 7.

    Perry Como

    June 27, 2006 at 12:41 pm

    “My government spent $8.5 trillion and all I got was this lousy flag burning amendment”

  8. 8.

    Ryan S.

    June 27, 2006 at 12:56 pm

    All I gotta say is Congress…. STFU no really STFU until after the elections and you can get you minds out of you political shorts. Or talk about something thats kinda important… Oh like the National Debt, or maybe property rights.

  9. 9.

    Blue Neponset

    June 27, 2006 at 12:56 pm

    I hate to be practical here, but how are the Federal flag police going to prosecute anyone for burning the flag if the evidence is burned beyond recognition? Also, would it be illegal to burn a flag that looks like the US flag but has 51 stars instead of 50 or purple stripes instead of red ones?

  10. 10.

    John S.

    June 27, 2006 at 12:56 pm

    “My government spent $8.5 trillion and all I got was this lousy flag burning amendment”

    Right now it’s just a bill, up on Capitol Hill…

  11. 11.

    John S.

    June 27, 2006 at 1:06 pm

    Maybe they should start with enforcing existing flag laws:

    any person who shall…decorate, mark, or distinguish the article or substance on which so placed shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be punished by a fine not exceeding $100 or by imprisonment for not more than thirty days

    Someone should tell our President that he has broken another law. Not that he or anyone else will care.

  12. 12.

    RSA

    June 27, 2006 at 1:40 pm

    Huh. I was surprised to find, in Wikipedia, the exact text of past flag burning amendments:

    The Congress shall have power to prohibit the physical desecration of the flag of the United States.

    So then it does come down to other laws. I thus have no idea what the big deal is. Recalling all the mockery of Guantanamo prisoners and their reverence for the Koran, I wonder how rightwingers can argue for exactly the same thing–promotion of a physical symbol to the level of a worshipped object.

  13. 13.

    Steve

    June 27, 2006 at 1:50 pm

    Conservatives elect a Republican President, a Republican House, a Republican Senate, and what do they get? A four-day debate on the flag-burning amendment, fresh on the heels of the all-important gay marriage amendment. Will this be the year the voters finally declare they’ve had enough of this kind of childish pandering? History suggests we shouldn’t hold our breath.

  14. 14.

    Punchy

    June 27, 2006 at 2:05 pm

    And there’s an Amendment currently working its way through the House to ban burning jackalopes as well…

  15. 15.

    Tsulagi

    June 27, 2006 at 2:23 pm

    Ahh, smell the election in the air. Time to wakeup the stalwart base reminding them again to be very, very afraid. Identify those that would do us evil! Now it’s the hordes of subversive gay cut-and-running flag burners. Why are we always under withering attack from godless creatures every few years as fall approaches?

    While the faithful are innocently attending church-filled NASCAR weekends, the evildoers are now tirelessly working to tear apart your marriage, burn your flag, and not give your official Iraq War cheerleader outfit the respect it’s due. Damn them to hell!

    Can’t wait to see which way our Uniter decides to lead the party in the coming months. Our glorious Grand Old Party that unequivocally supports straight, married troops in the GSAVE. Well, unless they’re killed and can no longer vote for us or be used in vital photo ops. Then we support amnesty for the terrorist killers. It’s a big tent. Yep, it’s going to be a double.spin.good second half of the year.

  16. 16.

    nyrev

    June 27, 2006 at 2:29 pm

    Right now it’s just a bill, up on Capitol Hill…

    http://www.croftononline.com/flagamendment.mov

  17. 17.

    jg

    June 27, 2006 at 2:30 pm

    Its hard to believe this is really happening. They really are bringing out the GOP Election Strategy greatest hits. I thought it was just a joke among those of us not in the 30% base that they would bring out all the wedge issues this summer but its actually happening. You want to ask the question, do they really think we’re that stupid, but I think after all these years of this happening the question should be, are we that stupid?

  18. 18.

    srv

    June 27, 2006 at 3:01 pm

    I know this is heresy, but this issue really reflects most poorly on the vets and not Darrells jackalopes. They’ve been using this issue since I was a kid, and it apparently keeps working.

    As my uncle said when I was a kid: “Let them burn all the flags they want, as long as they wrap themselves in it”.

  19. 19.

    Richard 23

    June 27, 2006 at 3:20 pm

    Why four days of debate? This has been argued again and again to the point the idiots on the hill already know why they should vote against an anti-Flag Burning Amendment.

    What is a flag? A cake with a flag on it? A shirt with a flag on it? A paper flag made in China? A toothpick with a flag on it? A painting with a flag on it?

    Didn’t Larry Flynt get in trouble for his flag diaper that he wore in court? Maybe he’ll have to pull that stunt again.

    Are Flag Day ceremonies going to be banned? Is the proper disposal of retired flags (by burning, naturally) going to be banned? Is the desecration of flags by attaching them to one’s car going to be banned?

    If not, why not? Isn’t this then an anti-thoughtcrime amendment?

    I wonder how many flags are disposed of by fire per year versus how many flags are “desecrated” each year. (?/4)

    I’d rather angry people be able to protest by burning flags rather than burning or blowing up bigger and more tangible things.

    If it does pass this time around, how many states will actually support it? And how many flags will be burned immediately following its passage?

  20. 20.

    Sstarr

    June 27, 2006 at 3:22 pm

    I personally worship the flag like a God and pray to it nightly. Truly, without the flag, this country would be a worthless pile of dung. I hope this amendment will also ban:

    1. Flying flags that are ripped, stained or faded.
    2. Flag Shirts with food spilled on them.
    3. Wiping your mouth with a flag themed napkin.
    4. Shredding a credit card offer with a flag on it.
    5. Flag shorts.
    6. Recycling newspapers containing 4th of July sale advertisements, which frequently feature flags.
    7. Taking a picture of a flag, then burning the picture.
    8. Fantasising about burning flags.
    9. Electing non-Republicans to public office, which endangers the flag in inexplicable, yet very real ways.

  21. 21.

    jg

    June 27, 2006 at 3:24 pm

    Flag burning and state sponsored news. Two freedoms, speech and press, are being attacked by our gov’t and part of the citizenry is standing in support of it. Do they know this? Are they fully informed on these issues?

  22. 22.

    SeesThroughIt

    June 27, 2006 at 3:53 pm

    Soooooo…what are calling this? The War on the War on the Flag (WotWotF)? The Flag Hag amendment? And does this mean no more flag patterns on condoms?

  23. 23.

    RSA

    June 27, 2006 at 4:28 pm

    Remember this the next time you think the House and the Senate are underpaid.

    Speaking of which, Steve Benen reports that Democrats are promising to tie current plans for Congressional pay raises to a rise in the minimum wage.

  24. 24.

    Richard 23

    June 27, 2006 at 5:03 pm

    Yes RSA I have heard that. I believe Harry Reid, who plans to support the [anti-] Flag Burning Amendment, announced it.

    Good idea vs stupid idea.

  25. 25.

    Edmund Dantes

    June 27, 2006 at 5:11 pm

    The best part is that the ones arguing so much for protecting what the flag stands for by supporting this amendment are actually the ones destroying what the flag stands for.

    Oh well.

  26. 26.

    Punchy

    June 27, 2006 at 5:40 pm

    Hatch’s little bitch just got bounced…by 1 vote.

  27. 27.

    Richard 23

    June 27, 2006 at 6:04 pm

    Linky linky:

    To become the Constitution’s 28th amendment, the language must be approved by two-thirds of those present in each chamber (67 votes in the Senate), then ratified within seven years by at least 38 state legislatures.

    66-34. And down it goes. Hooray!

  28. 28.

    Steve

    June 27, 2006 at 6:08 pm

    The silliness never ends:

    The House also got into the July Fourth spirit Tuesday by passing on a voice vote a measure that would bar condominium and homeowner associations from restricting how the flag can be displayed.

    Sponsored by Rep. Roscoe Bartlett, R-Maryland, the resolution would prohibit those groups from preventing residents from displaying an American flag on their own property. The Senate is considering whether to bring up the measure this year.

    Now, I’m no fan of homeowner associations and their jackbooted ways, but still, is this really the urgent business of America?

  29. 29.

    Andrei

    June 27, 2006 at 6:40 pm

    You guys are happy such an idiot ammendment got shot down by ONE vote? I mean… there were SIXTY SIX idiot senators who voted for something that is so obviously unconstitutional it boggles the mind.

    The fact that the vote was not overwhelmingly against is truly alarming.

  30. 30.

    Punchy

    June 27, 2006 at 6:54 pm

    The fact that the vote was not overwhelmingly against is truly alarming.

    Politics, my friend. Those who voted “no” are going to be facing commericials in September saying “X supports the right to insult our troops, our country, and really just wants to move to Canada”, or something equally hyperbolic, ascerbic, and full of asshattery.

    Thus, the Democrats perfectly minimized the number of commercials that can have that tagline. Brilliant, actually.

  31. 31.

    CaseyL

    June 27, 2006 at 8:20 pm

    I swear to god, I wish I could just hibernate until Election Day.

    The More or Less 30% who support this shit should really be shipped off to a melting ice floe. They’re nincompoops who would be an embarrassment to a troop of feces-flinging gibbons. I can’t tell you how completely, totally, up-to-here sick of them I am.

  32. 32.

    Vladi G

    June 27, 2006 at 8:28 pm

    so obviously unconstitutional

    Well, I’m certainly not defending the amendment, nor am I defending those who voted for it, but the fact that it’s unconstitutional is kinda why they were trying to amend the constitution. That’s sorta the whole point of an amendment.

  33. 33.

    The Other Steve

    June 27, 2006 at 8:57 pm

    The Republican motto is…

    Save a Flag!

    Burn the Constitution.

  34. 34.

    The Other Steve

    June 27, 2006 at 9:00 pm

    Now, I’m no fan of homeowner associations and their jackbooted ways, but still, is this really the urgent business of America?

    Actually I’d support that one. HOAs are evil beasts, kicking them in the nuts a few itmes is good for the community.

  35. 35.

    Perry Como

    June 27, 2006 at 10:10 pm

    The Daily Show is brilliant. PDF = Public Display of Freedom.

    I hope all the nannystatists will help ban this gross display of disloyalty to the the government. The Daily Show should be tried for treasonous acts.

  36. 36.

    Richard 23

    June 27, 2006 at 10:21 pm

    Not that George Bush defacing the flag is important or anything, but here is the President desecrating the flag….

    This is apparently a picture from 2003. AmericaBlog reported that he had done the same thing last week in Austria.

  37. 37.

    elledblu

    June 28, 2006 at 1:30 am

    Remember this the next time you think the House and the Senate are underpaid. I sure will.

    Who in the hell thinks this?

  38. 38.

    Digital Amish

    June 28, 2006 at 7:59 am

    —one day of Senate debate for each incident of flag burning this year—

    Using this formula applied to ‘traditional’ marriages destroyed by gay marraige, how long will that debate last?

  39. 39.

    Jon Meltzer

    July 1, 2006 at 9:57 am

    I guess the Chinese are getting upset because Americans aren’t showing proper respect to fine Eastern craftmanship.

    Snark aside, just go to Wal-Mart and try to find an American flag made in America. One would think that our wingnut friends might take some offense at that.

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