Let's see, I'm your representative in Congress. What can I find to do today? Well, I could cut some government pork and reduce the huge and growing deficit - maybe by cutting that $1.5 million bus stop in Alaska. Or perhaps I could look into ways to secure the borders so terrorists crossing over at high speed from Canada don't crash into the ones running north from Mexico. Hey, I could spend some time thinking about preserving US sovereignty once the CAFTA pseudo-government gets set up. Wait, I could work on ways to make sure the DEA can't bust down the doors of medical marijuana users, guns blazing. Or I could really knuckle down and come up with a good, viable plan to privatize and stabilize Social Security. Then again, maybe today is the day to figure out a way to hold down medical costs and provide a system to subsidize private gap insurance for the 35 million uninsured. I've got a staff, I've got resources, I've got think tanks which will just about write these bills for me. I could be a dynamo of legislative productivity, advance my career and make the people glad they voted for me. This is the day!
Oh no, wait. Hold everything! Today I have to do some really important work. I have to make sure I get my vote in on the amendment to ban flag burning. What could be more important than that?
Well, there's another day of hard work. I'll get to all that other stuff tomorrow, unless something critical comes up - like passing a bill to keep one human vegetable alive for another week, or maybe a bill to preserve the word 'God' in the Pledge of Allegiance, or perhaps an extended debate on the meaning of the word 'fixed', or a mock impeachment hearing, or making a heartfelt apology for a crime committed three generations ago in some other state, or taking an all expense paid trip to play golf in Bali, or passing a law to preserve the right to wear a judicial robe embroidered with the Ten Commandments. Forget all that stuff I talked about earlier. What we really need is a Constitutional amendment recognizing June 23rd as 'National Kill a Flag Burner for Jesus Day'!
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Al Barger
And yet if I scratched a copy of the First Amendment onto a 2x4 and smacked a couple of frickin' congressmen upside the head with it, they'd make it out as if I was the bad guy.
2 - Dave Nalle
Maybe next we need an amendment to make it illegal to play George M. Cohan songs backwards...
Dave
3 - Patriot
Good ole Dave -- he just had to get a lick in for Jesus --
'National Kill a Flag Burner for Jesus Day'!
Dave is not prejudiced -- he’s just ignorant.
4 - Bennett
Good one Dave. Personally, I think Al's suggestion is a damned fine one.
5 - Shark
Jeez, while reading this, Nalle's and Big Al's political party is lookin' kinda attractive;
ie. the far right and far left might eventually circle around to meet on far side of the dark planet [earth] -- ...Shark says while loading his Manlicher-Carcano...
PS: (As I've said before) ...At THIS VERY MOMENT, I'm lighting a joint with a burning American flag.
~ Next on the Congressional Agenda: an amendment to ban nose-picking in public.
6 - Mark Schannon
But, Dave, the flag is the only symbol of America left that has any meaning. The Constitution, Declaration of Independence, and Bill of Rights have been voted unconstitutional--or will be. "Citizenship" is a word from another language. "Civility" means never having to apologize. And people like the Patriot are from another planet.
We have to protect the flag. How else will we know we're Americans? You must be a Commie. That's it.
Commitatus Possetus Erasmus
7 - Nancy
LOL - good one, Dave. You & I actually agree on quite a few issues - oh, wait; I forgot, I AM you - or you're me. Whatever. Yeah, so many really, really vital issues, so little time. Congress has got to keep their priorities straight; after all, grandstanding and junkets to "study" the crisis afflicting the Hawaiian nene goose close up & personal in the Islands for 2 weeks at some lobbyists' expense takes precedence over mundane crap like the budget, the deficit, unemployment, health care or anything else. I like Al's solution...but I think we should put nails in it, to make our point a little more pointed, so to speak.
8 - Dave Nalle
Maybe next we need an amendment to make it illegal to play George M. Cohan songs backwards...
Dave
9 - Dave Nalle
William Lloyd Garrison used to burn copies of the Constitution every time he made a speech about slavery and no one passed an anti-Constitution burning amendment, and the Constitution is a hell of a lot more important than the flag is.
I'll have to get hold of the text of this amendment. I wonder if it covers other forms of desecration, such as dipping the flag in urine or wearing it as clothing.
Dave
10 - Ed P.
My god some clarity finally. I love the jesus bit at the end. One thing to add. If we begin to utilize the constitution to restrict rights we will slowly allow more such amendments to happen. I imagine this clears the way for a Marriage Amendment and who knows maybe a kill all nihlists and agnostics amendment. Maybe an amendment specifiying a national religion....ie grotesqly oversimplified christianity....
peace
ed
11 - Patriot
Let’s see -- Dave, the “slur and smear” man, likes to call others “anti-Semitic“.
But now I see that he also likes to poke fun at Jesus and Jesus is a Jew -- OOPS -- I forgot.. Jesus converted and became the First Christian...
So does that make Dave “anti-Semitic” or “anti-Christian” -- or both?
Quite a conundrum, eh?
12 - Silas Kain
Jesus was a Jew. Peter was the first Christian. Paul was the founder of Amway. But enough about religion, this is about the flag...
The guarantee of my individual liberty with regard to the manner in which I revere the American Flag is what is at stake here. We are already seeing an erosion of individual rights in the name of national security. This is an issue that, to me, should be debated in every representative district in the land. Once you start chipping away at liberty's foundation, it will only get worse.
Let me worship who I want without interference or judgement from the state. Let me treat the flag in the manner which I choose for it is the right of every American to exercise their individual freedom. Let me make my life with a partner of my choosing whereby we are guaranteed that the state will in no way interfere with our right as a couple to seek life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Let me be able to dispute the views of Patriot in an open forum rather than allow him to impose his dogma upon me as law. This is what American soldiers are fighting for every day - letting me be free!
13 - Dave Nalle
Well put, Silas.
And Patriot, I'm against everyone who's bigoted including both Christian extremists and weasely little brown shirts like you.
But I'll stand up for your right to carry an American flag with a swastika where the stars should be all day long.
Dave
14 - Patriot
And Dave is against everyone who's bigoted?
Dave’s irreligious, gratuitous inclusion of Jesus in this piece shows him for what he is -- a hypocrite and a weasel…
And there Dave goes again -- he just loves those “brown shirts” -- can’t get them out of his little Nazi mind.
But I can’t stand brown -- I like black…
Nuff said?
15 - Patriot
RE: Comment 12
I see that Silas is confused. He must also believe that Mohammed was not the first Muslim.
But this is about more than just the flag -- which simply represents the freedom we have to be free from hypocrites like Dave Nalle -- who hide behind their slurs and innuendo -- pretending to be pure and holy disciples of “freedom” while playing little games like throwing around the name of “Jesus” as though it was trash (which to them it is) -- but a name which is revered by millions of Christian Americans.
And I see that Silas has followed my posts in some detail…
Is it Herr Silas of the Gestapo -- or Comrade Silas of the NKVD?
This is what American soldiers are fighting for?
I know what I fought for -- and it wasn’t being followed around by those who don’t like my words.
And then Herr Silas says, “Once you start chipping away at liberty's foundation, it will only get worse.’
Yawohl, Herr Silas…
16 - ClubhouseCancer
Anyone see this?
"Ask the men and women who stood on top of the Trade Center," said Rep. Randy ("Duke") Cunningham, R-Calif. "Ask them and they will tell you: pass this amendment."
Uh, you can't ask them, "Duke."
Exploiting 9/11 to get a fucking FLAG-BURNING AMENDMENT has to be about the most cynical thing I've heard lately.
Have nice day, "Duke."
17 - gonzo marx
well, i say, nice Work, Mr Nalle
this is a straightforward civil liberties bit on the surface
but Mr Nalle actually scores a few points with me for showing just how silly the Congressional "leadership" has been for the past few years when it comes to certain matters...
would that more folks in the rank and file of the GOP were as reasonable and principled, and stood up to the bully's that are shafting the citizens without the courtesy of a reach around, much less some lube...
objects in mirror may be closer than they appear...
Excelsior!
18 - Nancy
Dave - hang in there, baby. It's a blue moon I agree with you, but I do, for what it's worth, this time.
Silas - Comment #12 - brilliantly put. Better than I could do. Thanks. Loved the historical info on Paul, very spot-on.
Patriot - you are one weirdo. And you're getting weirder. But fortunately for you, the Constitution & B or R still guarantee your freedom of expression...for the moment, until the flacks in congress get to work on the next piece of PR-oriented, gratuitous crap they can find.
19 - alpha
It is now time for all good men to kill some kids on college campuses, maybe Kent State, lock up all the commies and actors who fought Hitler, blacklist all who disagree.
Or it is the 1960's again and no one noticed that time is irredeemable.
Since the 21st c is starting off so badly; let us call it off and go on to another where there is freedom, a constitution, and, Jesus forgive me, a Bill of Rights. Or maybe back and make a new Magna Carta where the king gets all the power. That'll show those dissidents.
I had, in years past, a whold different view of "patriots"; they loved freedom, justice, liberty, and "the American way."
What happened?
20 - Mark Schannon
Silas, great comment on #12, which makes Patriot's furor all the more incomprehensible. I would think he'd be the first to defend America's basic freedoms--maybe it's just the freedoms he admires.
And when it comes to throwing around slurs and insults, oh great Patriot, you are one of the biggest offenders on this site. But I'd fight to the death to defend your right to be a moron. Would you do the same for me?
In Jameson's Veritas
21 - Nancy
Mark, I hope you're not holding your breath waiting for an answer to that?
22 - Silas Kain
Patriot, I'm not supposed to flame but you have crossed the line:
Is it Herr Silas of the Gestapo -- or Comrade Silas of the NKVD?
Patriot, anyone who has cared to take the time to read anything I have written would know that when it comes to the Nazis and Communists I am keenly aware of how cruel those kinds of politically oppressive systems are. My paternal family lost much at the hands of the Germans, the Gestapo in particular. No, my family wasn't Jewish, but they were Poles of distinction and status in their community. Once the Russians came in, they finished my family off in ways that are not worth my time to explain to the likes of you.
Your rants and raves against me and others on this board clearly indicate that you, sir, are the one who insults the foundations which Jesus laid down. You hide in the shadow of the cross spewing your self hatred and self-righteousness as if Jesus Himself conferred His Church upon your shoulders. Buddy, you do more to desecrate and insult Jesus Christ than me or anyone else here who loves freedom.
Do you honestly know what it is that you fought for, Patriot? I think not because you strive to supress the very foundations of liberty that we all hold dear and you claim to love so well. Sir, your insults and diatribe only prove that the American flag means as much to you as the brand of toilet paper you utilize to cleanse yourself of the feces you spew on a daily basis. We don't need enemies outside our borders, Patriot, because you have proven very effectively that you, sir, are the real enemy of this state.
Patriot, people of every color and nationality have been slaughtered since the beginniung of civilization in the name of some religion. Jews, Christians, Muslims, Buddhists and millions have died all for a God they believed in. Wrap yourself in the flag, Patriot. Stand high holding the cross of Christ as your weapon of choice. Use your obvious self-loathing to propagate racism, bigotry and hatred. I, sir, hold freedom in the highest esteem and will not allow people like you to tear away at that which millions have sacrificed their lives for. I'll die for your right to spread your hate. Somehow, I am confident that you are too cowardly to do the same.
If this post throws me off this blog, so be it. At least I will have had the last word.
23 - Mark Schannon
Go for it Silas. If that comment gets you thrown off the site, there won't be any of us left. Well said, oh true patriot & American. T'wasn't flaming at all. Simply the truth.
And Nancy, of course I expect a response. Not just one I'll like, lol.
24 - El Bicho
"We do not consecrate the flag by punishing its desecration, for in doing so, we dilute the freedom this cherished emblem represents."
-William J. Brennan
25 - adam
Why burning? What about blowing your nose with the flag? Or pissing on it? Or wiping your ass with it? Or feeding it to a goat? Or masturbating with it, and splooging all over it? There are worse things than burning that can happen to a flag. How would you like to be a flag, and have someone puke a fat fried egg and bacon vomit all over you?