Letter to editor
Boulder Daily Camera 6-24-06

FLAG BURNING—Vote, leave Old Glory alone

Columnist Nat Hentoff and former Nebraska U.S. Sen. Bob Kerrey think it is perfectly all right to burn or desecrate our flag to show disdain for our country ("Our flag and our freedom," op-ed, June 21) and they downplay those of us who seek to overturn the wrongheaded 1989, 5-4 Supreme Court decision that forces acceptance of this violent form of protest. I reject the idea that to democratically pursue steps to protect the flag from abuse is tantamount to being against the Constitution.

The flag cannot speak — it is inert, harmless and incapable of causing disillusionment, treachery, betrayal or disgust. It poses no threat. To the contrary, it is the proud symbol of the most successful form of government on planet Earth, and just as our system of government deserves respect from all of us, so does its symbol. Nobody can be forced to respect the flag, yet those who do not respect it should be restrained by law from maliciously burning or physically attacking it, no matter their station in life. This has nothing to do with satire or calm rejection.

It's time to get back to our country's normalcy, the two centuries preceding 1989, by again denying a privileged few the right to abuse the flag to bring attention to themselves.

People whose uncontrollable anger drives them to act out their childish tantrums by physically attacking the flag are the ones who are sullying our First Amendment rights through their excess. People make policy, flags don't. Go vote, work to change policy, and leave Old Glory alone.

There are limits to free speech. Try libeling someone or making a politically incorrect remark and see how far your First Amendment rights go.

The flag is my flag, too, and if ever I get the chance to vote against this political mischief of flag desecration cloaked as a free-speech issue, I will do so.

PERCY CONARROE

Longmont