“Good patriots may be setting bad precedent”
By Wayne L. Parker
Published in the Sun Herald, July 5, 1999.
As the “flag-burning” amendment to the Constitution makes its way to the Senate, I’m sure its supporters are ecstatic. I wonder if these good patriots realize that they are setting a precedent for the next phase of this nation’s demise.
The flag-burning amendment is nothing if not an emotional issue. Supporters of protections against “flag desecration” call attention to the outrage felt by people who have “fought for the flag.” In short, they want to amend the greatest system of government in the history of humanity, in order to save people from getting their feelings hurt.
It’s ironic, but I’d bet good money that these conscientious people would be the first to decry the sad state of our nation’s affairs brought about by all the touchy-feely, feel-good legislation foisted upon us by those do-gooder liberals.
And it’s true. We’ve caused ourselves a great loss of our liberties by passing laws based solely upon emotion.
So now we’re going to subject the constitutional amendment process to the same emotionalism. We’re going to establish the precedent of amending the Constitution in order to protect people’s sensitive emotions. With such a precedent set, how long will the Bill of Rights last? How long will it be before we hear calls for abolishing the Second Amendment “for the sake of the children,” or the Fifth Amendment in the name of the “drug war”?
A related item of concern is the ease with which our “leaders” call for amendments to the Constitution. I remember George Bush calling for amendments to ban abortion, to prohibit flag-burning, and to require a balanced budget. This poses the very real danger of making the act of amending the Constitution commonplace.
The mainstream media judge the success of each congressional session by the number of laws that were passed. The more laws, the greater the success. Once we pass this misguided amendment, we can be certain that future Congresses will feel pressure to introduce even more amendments, in order to show they’re “doing something.” Granted, three quarters of the states must still approve any amendment, but is this how we want to spend our time?
Our laws also protect private property
Another problem is how the issue of private property will be handled.
If I buy a flag, do I not own it? And, being the owner, do I not have the right to dispose of it as I see fit? Will government agents stage surprise inspections of my home, in order to verify that I’m treating my flag properly? What if I burn the flag privately, where nobody can see? Have I committed the sin of “flag desecration”? Perhaps the government won’t allow us to own a flag at all, but only rent it after first signing a contract promising not to desecrate it.
Of course, this amendment will also stand the Constitution on its head, using it to restrict the actions of the citizenry instead of those of the government. I wonder how conservatives feel about that!
Finally, I’d like to put the flag-burning amendment in its proper historical perspective.
Let’s imagine, for a moment, that we have the ability to transport ourselves across time, and we use this power to go back and attend the original Constitutional Convention. We see a group of solemn men engaged in animated intellectual debate. We hear Benjamin Franklin state, “They that can give up essential liberties to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.”
Someone echoes the words of Thomas Jefferson by stating that “Timid men prefer the calm of despotism, to the boisterous sea of liberty.”
Then someone from the 1999 delegation pipes up and says, “Hey! We gotta have an amendment that bans flag-burning! Otherwise people might get their feelings hurt!”
The room falls silent. Franklin, Washington and the rest of the Founding Fathers turn and face the 1999 delegation. They have looks of shock and bewilderment on their faces. But their expressions quickly fade to looks of patient indulgence, as the 1999 delegation is quietly ushered from the room.
And as each delegate makes his exit, he is handed a giant lollipop, and given a kick in the seat of his pants!
Come on, people. This nation has serious philosophical problems. Flag-burning isn’t one of them. And if our senators and representatives had any guts, they’d tell you that themselves.