The (Flag) Burning Question

I raised this topic several years ago on Facebook, and it created quite a bruhaha. Though it is incendiary — figuratively and quite literally — recent events tell me its time to revisit the subject.

Freedom, protest, and the burning of the American flag.

What is the REAL meaning of the freedom we have here in America? The freedom so many have died to protect. The freedom our forefathers built from scratch by putting forth the then novel and un-heard-of concept that all men are created equal.

It's clear to me, and very sad, that far too many people simply do not really understand American freedom. It has become lost in a rising tide of nationalistic fervor, a fervor that has exactly nothing to do with real patriotism. It is a sham and a show, a contest where you "prove" you are more patriotic than me by singing the national anthem louder, doing the pledge of allegiance repeatedly, or hugging the flag like an idiot. None of those things make you a patriot. Standing up for the rights of ALL Americans, whether you agree with them or not, THAT'S patriotism.

I said this back in the day, and I say it again here: the American flag BEGS you to burn it. The very fact that you are allowed to burn it without legal consequence is the very strength of that flag. Burn it, tear it, pour acid on it, whatever, the promise of freedom that it holds cannot be diminished. And the flag, or more accurately, the IDEAL of the flag, survives.

A flag burning, kneeling at a football game, or any other kind of peaceful protest is the most American of things. It is NOT a protest AGAINST America (or perhaps more accurately, the CONCEPT of America), and it does NOT dishonor the men and women who died defending that flag. That right to peacefully protest is exactly WHAT they were defending. Such actions are (generally speaking) a protest against the current government and (whatever) actions they have taken with which you disagree. As an example, the hippie protests against the Vietnam war were not a protest against the troops out there doing their duty. They were against the government that sent them there to die for no good reason. This does not diminish their service or sacrifice in any way.

When protests such as these are NOT allowed, when you are jailed for expressing such opinions, well, that's the moment Democracy has died. Welcome to Russia.

Now let me be clear: I am NOT in support of burning the flag nor am I suggesting this is something I would EVER do. No. What I am saying is that if YOU want do burn the flag, the flag itself is a symbol of your right to do just that without being punished by the government. Try that it Russia and you will wind up in a jail cell for a very, very long time. That is the opposite of Democracy. This is a concept that even people in Congress (looking at YOU, Marjorie Taylor Green) apparently do not grasp.

Same thing with flying the flag upside down, as so many Trumpsters are wont to do these days. Make no mistake: this is also a desecration of the flag done in protest of a government with whom they disagree. I don't particularly like that, either, but I will defend your right to do it to the death, unless you happen to be a SCOTUS justice, looking at YOU Samuel Alito, in which case you have just tarnished the High Court and your position in it and should be removed.

There you have it. A brief lesson in freedom.