George W. Bush is a fucking idiot. The U.S. government is run by a bunch of money-grubbing ass-hats who couldn’t find their diminutive dicks with a map, both hands and a flashlight. Speaking of dicks, Cheney is a scary, evil white man hell-bent on destroying this nation.
I just love doing that.
What? Creative cursing? Lambasting our leaders? Nipping at the neo-cons?
Nope.
Exercising my constitutional rights. What, you don’t respect me for what I said? That’s okay. But ya gotta respect the fact that I can say it.
Free speech, baby. It’s what made the U.S. great.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Attention all you Christian types. Here’s an important question: If crosses were outlawed tomorrow, would it have an impact on your faith? If you couldn’t have a cross or wear a cross, would it change your belief in Jesus Christ?
No? I didn’t think so.
Because the cross is a symbol of the Christian faith.
If they all went away tomorrow, the powerful message behind the cross would still be there. I’m guessing stronger than ever.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
So if the U.S. flag – or say, a giant pile of U.S. flags – was burned tomorrow, would it take away your profound and heartfelt belief in your country?
Probably not.
The U.S. flag is a symbol for something far greater. And that symbol could disappear forever, but it wouldn’t change the profound and enlightened intellectual concepts upon which this nation was founded.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
But it’s a matter of respect, Mrs. Liberal-SmartyPants-Pottymouth. Crosses and flags are sacred.
Maybe to you, but not to everyone in this country.
And that’s the point: In the U.S. we’re free to worship or burn as we see fit.
Well, at least until recently.
Plenty of witches were actually burned for worshipping early on. Thank the gods that hasn’t happened in a while.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Here’s the amendment: "The Congress shall have power to prohibit the physical desecration of the flag of the United States."
Remember those strange days right after 9/11? I was part of the crowd sporting a miniature American flag in my car’s rear window.
They were everywhere.
Then, as with everything that spends too much time in the sun, my little flag became faded. The stars and stripes were no longer proud and bright but sad and gray.
So I threw it away. Tossed it in the garbage can unceremoniously, like a used paper towel.
If that flag amendment had passed, what I did would’ve been a crime.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
But burning the flag isn’t free speech! It’s an act! An act of treason in my book!
Books, crosses, flags. They’re all material things that represent higher concepts.
Revere the concept, not the physical embodiment of it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From Salon.com: "Countless men and women have died defending that flag," said Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., closing two days of debate.
Excuse me? Defending the flag? No. Not so much.
They’re defending the ideals behind the flag. They’re defending the freedoms granted by the U.S. Constitution – freedoms that are more sacred than a stack of Bibles or a freight train full of flags.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
One vote. We were just one vote away from altering the Constitution to ban flag desecration – something that, according to CNN, has happened just four times so far this year.
That’s right. We’ve got 11 million illegal immigrants living in this country. Our national debt is $8 trillion.
And our legislators are wasting time on four flag burners?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I can tell some of you are about to resort to a little bumper sticker wisdom. Let me help.
“My country: Love it or leave it.”
“No Christ, No Peace. Know Christ, Know Peace.”
I know Christ. And I love, love, love this country.
My faith is stronger than any man-made symbol or any misguided efforts to destroy it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I am listening to: The Battle Hymn of the Republic
I am reading: The U.S. Constitution
And I am: Patriotic
3 weeks ago
3 comments:
I don't know whether to get furious about your comments, OR, say to myself, "yeah...she's right!"...Must be the American in me.
"sacred to you maybe, but not to everyone in the county".... therein lies the problem:
I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands.....
Every legal card-carrying immigrant memorized and recited these words the day they were granted citizenship here. So while the immigrants made a conscious decision to pledge their allegiance to this flag and this county, maybe the same can't be said for those of us lucky enough to have been born here. Any sense of allegiance and/or patriotism was ingrained in us since in early childhood as we held our hands over our hearts and recited the pledge of allegiance each morning in elementary school. But it's a free county and a free world (for the most part) and our conscious decision to stay here kinda puts us back in the same category as those who made the decision to come here.
Virtually no one ever leaves here and abandons their U.S. citizenship in favor of a new flag, and new county, or a new government. Sure a select few choose to live abroad, but you can bet your ass that they maintain official U.S. citizenship as a security blanket. And no other county on earth hosts as many legal and/or illegal immigrants. According to your stats, there are 11 million illegal immigrants here right now who want us to just wave a big-ole magic wand and make them U.S. Citizens. Must be a pretty damn fine place to live. But you can't please everyone. There will always be a small handful of ignorant shit-bricks who want to rally together and burn the flag and preach about how fucked up this county is, and the media just eats it up and puts these shit-stains on the front page of the paper and the ten- o'clock news.
I do think the constitution needs a little work. I don't think it's been adequately maintained or modified over the years to keep up with an ever changing world. So practice your right of free speech. Protest abortion, gay marriage, immigration or the 2nd amendment as much as you'd like. It is after all, a free country. But according to the pledge you made when you got here, or the pledge you assumed by staying here, desecrating the American flag is in fact desecrating the republic for which it stands, which in my opinion is a rather all-encompassing protest. Just guessing that mr-flag-burning-fuck-wad really doesn't want to let go of ALL the protective laws, rights and liberties he enjoys here ( e.g. - the protective laws that prevent a guy like me from hunting him for sport and displaying his taxidermy-ed carcass in my trophy room).
My advice to these ignorant unappreciative irreverent flag- burning meat-sticks:
You don't like it here? Then get the fuck out. There are planes and ships leaving 24 hours a day.
You like setting small fires while you protest the greatest county on this planet? Then set fire to your fucking passport after you leave.
Well said by all. Many who burn the flag simply want the attention. If they truly hate being here and think our country is so bad - they should have the guts to leave. But there lies the problem... nobody would really care after a few days that they were gone... there would be no more stage for their protests and they would be stuck with their miserable selves.
Our country is not perfect - but it still is by far the best. All of us need to keep working towards bettering ourselves, our nation and helping others; not with handouts but with hand-ups. As a friend always says "When things happen to you, you can get bitter about it or you can get better".
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