MB Civic

June 29, 2006
The Failure of the Flag Amendment (5 Letters)

To the Editor:

Re “Flag Amendment Narrowly Fails in Senate Vote” (front page, June 28):

That a flag-burning amendment could be successfully resurrected as an issue worthy of consideration by our elected representatives is sad enough.

That it could capture the attention of politicians who idled as our government contrived a false case for an ill-conceived war that by some estimates has cost at least as many lives — American and Iraqi — as the United States lost in Vietnam is tragic.

That it failed by just one vote is absurd.

Doug Tunnell
Newberg, Ore., June 28, 2006

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To the Editor:

The flag symbolizes the freedom upon which this country was founded — freedom that allows for such protest as flag-burning.

The flag is desecrated not through burning but through the erosion of constitutional liberties. To align oneself with the flag for political gain is just further desecration.

Greg Nichols
Siasconset, Mass., June 28, 2006

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To the Editor:

At the gym today, I saw a guy wearing an American flag as a bandanna. Isn’t this worse than flag-burning? To use our symbol of freedom as a sweat rag?

If our Congress worries about desecration of the flag, it should not only worry about flag-burning but also include bad fashion sense.

How about children who draw the American flag for art class? Should a bully be arrested for destroying a child’s painting because to that kid that drawing is the American flag?

God help America when our congress is wasting time with inane bills while real threats to the American way of life are on the horizon.

David H. Chan
Astoria, Queens, June 28, 2006

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To the Editor:

Re “Burning the Bill of Rights” (editorial, June 27):

During the war in Vietnam, I attended protest demonstrations where the American flag was burned.

I believe that sort of thing angered voters into electing hawks who prolonged the war effort.

Burning the American flag contributes nothing of value to a political message.

It alienates people whom dissidents should try to persuade. The legitimate function of political dissent is not self-expression; it is to change people’s minds.

Burning the American flag is not speech any more than unlimited campaign spending is.

John Engelman
Wilmington, Del.
June 27, 2006

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To the Editor:

Regarding your editorial about the constitutional amendment to ban flag-burning:

The flag stands, among other things, for the Bill of Rights. The idea of changing the Constitution in this way is in itself disrespectful to the flag.

Where are the flag-waving “patriots” when our flag is truly being disrespected — when it is left out in all kinds of weather and at all times of the night until it is little more than a rag?

Where are they when people treat it as if it were mere decoration?

A person who burns the flag at least pays it the respect of believing that it stands for the United States of America, rather than acting as if it were just another piece of cloth.

And how will we now honorably dispose of our flags when they come to the end of their use?

Do these people remember that the respectful way to dispose of a flag is to burn it?

Alice Du Bon
Mahopac, N.Y., June 28, 2006