As many of you know, one of my web sites is flagburning.org. So whenever the Republicans pass their annual constitutional amendment to take away flag burning I get some radio interviews. My good buddy Kevin Miller of WPTF Radio Raleigh NC calls me every time the flag burning issue comes up. I'm the guy the love to hate in the south, but this time there was less resistance to the idea of flag burning than there used to be. I think that the Patriot Act and the Bush administration is making people wake up and think twice about the issues of surrendering their freedoms.
This time I made a recording of my interview so that everyone can listen to the debate. The interview was 2 hours but after editing out the comercials it's only 50 minutes long (8.7mb). Several callers brought up important points that are worth thinking about.
One issue that people don't grasp is that once this passes, how will it be abused? For example, once it becomes a crime to desecrate the flag, then all they have to do is print a flag on anything and that becomes protected. So if they want you to carry a mandated ID card that has a tracking microchip in it, that card will have a flag on it. The microchip will also have a flag on it. So destroying the ID card will be construed as desecrating the flag. It is an anti-sedition law and every time we give up our freedoms we become less free. And if we turn this country into a nation that is no longer free then the flag no longer means anything. That to me is the worse form of desecration imaginable.
Posted by marc at June 24, 2005 08:23 AM