Blacksheep Speaks

Flag Burning and Freedom of Speech

What does flag burning have to do with freedom of speech? Well.....I dunno. It's not speech. It IS destruction of a national symbol meant to stand for freedom. Now....if a man screams at me that he hates the flag, that it stands for something he doesn't like, and that I can go do physically improbable things to myself if I don't like it, well, I will be REALLY pissed off. I will probably suggest that he find a nation flying a flag he respects and retire there. But I will NOT sue him over it or claim that he has no right to express his opinion, just as I have done here. However, if that same man actually takes that flag and BURNS it, he has effectively insulted the United States, everything it stands for, and every person who doesn't see it his way. He has committed an act. By definition, committing an act is not the same thing as speaking or writing about it. It is illegal to kill our national bird. It SHOULD be illegal to burn our national flag. Now, I have heard the argument that flag burning should not be considered a criminal act if the person having the little fit of pyromania purchased the flag himself. Well...we get a little shaky here, don't we? Let's examine this. If I buy a car, license it, and drive it, I am committing a normal, legal act. However, if I drive that car over, say, the local boy scout troup, I have committed a crime, even if I did not in fact intend to mow down the little cherubs. Or, take something a little less damaging.....say I run a stop sign and get caught. Do I scream that I was "excercizing my freedom of speech by protesting the validity of the need to stop at that particular corner"? Of course not. I paste a sickly smile on my face, take the ticket, and enthusiastically voice foul, unprintable words all the way home. I do NOT burn the cop's ticket book in protest. Yet....this is the reasoning I have heard used by people given to random acts of flag torching. Is it just me, or is something not right here?

Let's look at a partial list of things that the new definition of "freedom of speech" has given us in recent years: Pornography out in the open, where the kiddies can see it.....uncensored. People shouting "b**ch", "sh*t", "b*st*rd", and "wh*re" during late prime time. At least one major-league ball player knee-deep in trouble for expressing an opinion containing racial slurs....which, come to think of it, is material for a whole 'nother article (*note to self*). Anything to do with the Bible pulled from schools and state buildings, because it apparently isn't allowed to count as "freedom of speech".....boy, are WE in trouble.