I had this one coming.
John Heller, a reader from Stanwood, recently took me to task for something I’d written in an earlier column. That column was about Sen. Richard Durbin’s use of certain inappropriate terms while referring to the detention camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
I ended that column with a quote from Will Rogers. It had to do with his wish that there be a one-day open season on senators. Truth be told, I wasn’t happy with it when I wrote it, but I plowed on. Never said I was smart.
Mr. Heller had it right. I could’ve done better.
Such exchanges are a small part of who we are as a nation. We read something that sets us off and we fire off a letter to the editor. We hear something we don’t like and we say, “Wait a minute, where did that bit of nonsense come from?” We see something wrong and a whole bunch of us will stand up and say: “Knock it the hell off.”
It’s called free speech and we’re good at it. We based an entire system of government on it and other such ideas.
Which brings us to the following:
Recently, the Associated Press reported that the House of Representatives had “approved a constitutional amendment that would give Congress the power to ban desecration of the American flag, a measure that for the first time stands a chance of passing the Senate as well.”
We don’t need this. Not now. Not ever.
I don’t like flag burning and, for sure, I don’t like flag burners.
These are people who don’t seem to understand that the government they’re trying to insult is the same government that ensures their freedom to spout off without the fear of some goon squad coming around at 2 in the morning for a head-thumping session of “re-education.”
These are people who don’t seem to understand we’re still one of the best things going in terms of a philosophy of governance and that such a philosophy sure seems to attract others. Witness the simple facts that every floating truck on the ocean seems to be headed this way and many cargo containers seem to hold people hell-bent on getting here.
That’s not to say that we don’t make mistakes, blunders and missteps. We do. More often than we should. In fact, there are times when our actions can best be described as “Ready, fire, aim.”
That’s where free speech and protest become necessary. We need loud, raucous and strident voices speaking up whenever they think our policies are boneheaded or just flat wrong.
Burning the flag, however, goes one step too far. It goes beyond protest. It’s basically an insult to those who have fought and died to ensure that, among other things, free speech and protest remain tools available to us all.
Still, we don’t need a constitutional amendment to protect us from insulting behavior. We’re tougher than that. We should see those who do such things for what they really are: overgrown miscreants throwing temper tantrums to see if they can get our goat. We should consider the source, shake our heads and move on.
We have a raft of problems facing us. We’re at war with an enemy that wants nothing more than to return the entire world to the riotous and rocking good times of the Dark Ages. We have a budget deficit that’s outrageous, a tax code that’s disgraceful, an immigration problem that’s scandalous, a Social Security program based on the “Three Card Monty” principle, and a health-care system that no one can afford – to name but a few.
We need Congress to turn its attention to solving these problems rather than passing an amendment that would do nothing more than restrict free (though, admittedly, abhorrent) speech.
Now, with that said, I’d like to offer the following to those of you who think that burning the flag is an altogether righteous way to “protest” something or other.
Before you start that fire, you might want to take a look around.
Amidst the people standing nearby, there might be someone who’s actually worn a uniform to protect your right to protest and who’s stared down things a lot more frightening than you and your little butane lighter.
Free speech has a price tag and there are individuals who’ve paid the fare that allows you to carry out your little shenanigans. Do understand that such individuals may not react either quietly or politely to what you’re doing.
Larry Simoneaux lives in Edmonds. Comments can be sent to larrysim@att.net.
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