PROTECT THE FLAG
The flag protection amendment
is necessary because of
the Supreme Court�s surprising decision
in Texas v. Johnson 1989.
By a bare 5 to 4 majority,
the court declared that
flag burning was speech
protected by the First Amendment
and therefore could not be banned!
This decision outraged four justices
and many other Americans,
who thought the defendant,
Gregory Johnson�s conduct
in incinerating the flag
after repeatedly chanting
Red white and blue, we spit on you!
was an outlandish act
of malicious arson.
It was most emphatically
not the kind of speech
that James Madison had in mind
when he and his colleagues
were drafting what was to become
the First Amendment.
Chief Justice William Rehnquist,
writing for the dissenters
in Texas v. Johnson,
wondered how legislation
prohibiting flag desecration
that had been on the books
in most states for decades
without objection,
could have suddenly
become impermissible.
Rehnquist observed
that several of the high court�s
greatest champions
of the First Amendment
thought that the flag
should be protected from desecration.
He noted that the protection
of the national symbol
ought to be entitled to
constitutionality
as a matter of common sense,
rather than as a matter of sophisticated
First Amendment jurisprudence.
In Texas v. Johnson
the majority even declared
that the only permissible
symbolic value of the Flag
was that it stood for
the right to express oneself
in opposition to the Flag
and that desecrating the Flag
was simply a manifestation
of that right and that preserving
this sort of license was
the only symbolic value of the Flag.
Patriots of our country
have been struggling for nine years
to amend the Constitution
to restore to the American people
the right to protect the Flag.
Americans have enjoyed this right
for 200 years before
the Supreme Court
took it away in 1989.
In 1989 it ruled 5 to 4
that flag burning
is protected speech
under the First Amendment
of the Constitution.
Most Americans support
the flag protection amendment
and 49 states
have adopted resolutions
urging Congress to pass
the proposed amendment.
My first thought is that
if you do not like it in America
and cannot respect her Flag,
go live somewhere else
and good riddance.
However, we are free to disagree,
but we must do it as civilized,
responsible citizens
with grace and dignity.
The proposed amendment
will not protect our Flag,
but it will empower
Congress to pass legislation
to outlaw desecration of the Flag
if it chooses to do so.
Senate Joint Resolution 40
is waiting now for debate and a vote
and that could happen any time.
SJR40 needs
a minimum of 67 votes
of our representatives
in Washington.
Free speech
is one of the four freedoms
protected by the First Amendment,
but it cannot be applied
in any way
to flag burning.
Flag burning is different from speech
in that no words are spoken
and no words are written.
Flag burning
is a destructive act of disloyalty
and must never
be protected as a right.
No part of the Constitution,
however loosely interpreted,
can be used to defend
such malicious conduct.
Timothy McVeigh blew up
a federal building in Oklahoma City
murdering many innocent victims
because of cold decisive anger
to protest the government action
that was taken against
The Davidians Cult in Waco Texas.
Ted Kaczynski felt threatened by
the unregulated power of technology
and using technology he acquired
acted violently sending bomb letters
to those unfortunate victims
he felt symbolized what he feared.
Any act of destruction
must never be protected
as a natural and legal right.
An Constitutional Amendment
to protect our national symbol
~ The American Flag ~
is an increasingly necessary
and highly moral endeavor.
True Americans
must not stand idly by and allow
the desecration of our Flag.
We must not tolerate
such unspeakable behavior.
The elitists who oppose the amendment
do not want open debate about this issue.
We must prove to them beyond all doubt
that we are the ones who truly support
the First Amendment
against their repressive action.
Kelly Jaramillo of Belen High School writes:
Cannonballs sear the ominous heavens
as hell unfurls its fury.
The battle rages on with falling sparks
illuminating the battlefields
of land and sea.
Darkness shrouds the combatants,
and yet the conflict rages
with a newfound ferocity
and undying determination.
Morning unveils a wasteland,
punctuated with craters, bodies
and sinking ships.
Morning reveals
the destruction of Fort McHenry.
One symbol stands
proud and tall
upon the bank of desolation
~ withered by persevering.
One symbol advocates
liberty and independence.
This symbol,
this Flag of the United States of America,
boldly defied the British onslaught
during the War of 1812
and simultaneously exemplified
the very soul of America,
her tenacity and her hunger
for justice and freedom.
Although America�s Flag
may have withstood the enemy in 1812,
now near the turn of the 21st century,
it lies vulnerable to another attack,
an attack on its physical integrity,
an attack of legalized desecration,
an attack in which the factors
of political legitimacy, tradition,
ideas and effectiveness
are endangered and susceptible
to extinction.
Camille Edmison of Perryville, Arkansas, writes:
Twenty-six million Americans
fought for the Flag
to fly in the name of freedom.
Why nullify what they
fought so hard to protect?
Disgracing the flag does just that.
It makes a mockery of death, toil, anguish
and the pain of families everywhere
who sacrificed lives, money and time
to preserve democracy for us
and for others around the world.
It casts a haze
over the light of democracy
those lives helped build and preserve.
It makes hypocrites of those
who would send Americans
to fight for a noble cause
but at the same time
protect the dubious ~right~
of anyone to desecrate the Flag.
Flag desecration
serves no purpose to the protester.
The disgust and outrage
produced by passersby viewing
~a peaceful flag burning protest~
far outweighs the message
the protester is trying to convey.
The attention
is on the action of the protester,
not the message,
no matter how important
or relevant the message may be.
It is in the protester�s best interest
to use productive means of protest
because his safety
and the potency of his message
are at risk when burning
or otherwise desecrating
the Flag of the Untied States of America.
Are we grateful
to live in a land of freedom?
Do we appreciate
the security and opportunities
to flourish as individuals
and as a nation?
If we are proud to be Americans,
we must support the amendment
that will forever guarantee
the complete and absolute protection
of the noble symbol of our country
~ our American Flag.
Reference appreciation to
Anthony Jordan ~ Stephen Presser ~ Armstrong Williams ~ Richard Parker
the court declared that
flag burning was speech
protected by the First Amendment
and therefore could not be banned!
and many other Americans,
who thought the defendant,
Gregory Johnson�s conduct
in incinerating the flag
after repeatedly chanting
of malicious arson.
not the kind of speech
that James Madison had in mind
when he and his colleagues
were drafting what was to become
the First Amendment.
writing for the dissenters
in Texas v. Johnson,
wondered how legislation
prohibiting flag desecration
that had been on the books
in most states for decades
without objection,
could have suddenly
become impermissible.
that several of the high court�s
greatest champions
of the First Amendment
thought that the flag
should be protected from desecration.
of the national symbol
ought to be entitled to
constitutionality
as a matter of common sense,
rather than as a matter of sophisticated
First Amendment jurisprudence.
the majority even declared
that the only permissible
symbolic value of the Flag
was that it stood for
the right to express oneself
in opposition to the Flag
and that desecrating the Flag
was simply a manifestation
of that right and that preserving
this sort of license was
the only symbolic value of the Flag.
have been struggling for nine years
to amend the Constitution
to restore to the American people
the right to protect the Flag.
for 200 years before
the Supreme Court
took it away in 1989.
that flag burning
is protected speech
under the First Amendment
of the Constitution.
the flag protection amendment
and 49 states
have adopted resolutions
urging Congress to pass
the proposed amendment.
if you do not like it in America
and cannot respect her Flag,
go live somewhere else
and good riddance.
but we must do it as civilized,
responsible citizens
with grace and dignity.
will not protect our Flag,
but it will empower
Congress to pass legislation
to outlaw desecration of the Flag
if it chooses to do so.
is waiting now for debate and a vote
and that could happen any time.
a minimum of 67 votes
of our representatives
in Washington.
is one of the four freedoms
protected by the First Amendment,
but it cannot be applied
in any way
to flag burning.
in that no words are spoken
and no words are written.
is a destructive act of disloyalty
and must never
be protected as a right.
however loosely interpreted,
can be used to defend
such malicious conduct.
a federal building in Oklahoma City
murdering many innocent victims
because of cold decisive anger
to protest the government action
that was taken against
The Davidians Cult in Waco Texas.
the unregulated power of technology
and using technology he acquired
acted violently sending bomb letters
to those unfortunate victims
he felt symbolized what he feared.
must never be protected
as a natural and legal right.
to protect our national symbol
~ The American Flag ~
is an increasingly necessary
and highly moral endeavor.
must not stand idly by and allow
the desecration of our Flag.
such unspeakable behavior.
do not want open debate about this issue.
that we are the ones who truly support
the First Amendment
against their repressive action.
as hell unfurls its fury.
illuminating the battlefields
of land and sea.
and yet the conflict rages
with a newfound ferocity
and undying determination.
punctuated with craters, bodies
and sinking ships.
the destruction of Fort McHenry.
proud and tall
upon the bank of desolation
~ withered by persevering.
liberty and independence.
this Flag of the United States of America,
boldly defied the British onslaught
during the War of 1812
and simultaneously exemplified
the very soul of America,
her tenacity and her hunger
for justice and freedom.
may have withstood the enemy in 1812,
now near the turn of the 21st century,
it lies vulnerable to another attack,
an attack on its physical integrity,
an attack of legalized desecration,
an attack in which the factors
of political legitimacy, tradition,
ideas and effectiveness
are endangered and susceptible
to extinction.
fought for the Flag
to fly in the name of freedom.
fought so hard to protect?
and the pain of families everywhere
who sacrificed lives, money and time
to preserve democracy for us
and for others around the world.
over the light of democracy
those lives helped build and preserve.
who would send Americans
to fight for a noble cause
but at the same time
protect the dubious ~right~
of anyone to desecrate the Flag.
serves no purpose to the protester.
produced by passersby viewing
~a peaceful flag burning protest~
far outweighs the message
the protester is trying to convey.
is on the action of the protester,
not the message,
no matter how important
or relevant the message may be.
to use productive means of protest
because his safety
and the potency of his message
are at risk when burning
or otherwise desecrating
the Flag of the Untied States of America.
to live in a land of freedom?
the security and opportunities
to flourish as individuals
and as a nation?
we must support the amendment
that will forever guarantee
the complete and absolute protection
of the noble symbol of our country
~ our American Flag.
Anthony Jordan ~ Stephen Presser ~ Armstrong Williams ~ Richard Parker