Flag Burning

Why would someone who loves America burn an American flag? Ask Graeme Zielinski, who was a senior at the University of Wisconsin in 1995. That year, he burned a flag on the campus square in Madison."

AGAIN, CONGRESS is moving toward a constitutional ban on desecration of the U.S. flag.Not a burning issue, you say?Perhaps that's because instances of flag desecration are so rare -- fewer than 50 since 1777, by one count.Yet, to outlaw so uncommon an offense, proponents of a constitutional amendment would place limits on the First Amendment -- a very bad idea that has a troubling amount of support in the 106th Congress.On an emotional level, it's easy to understand why so many lawmakers have lined up to be co-sponsors of the proposed amendment.

MEMBERS of the U.S. Senate who may be wavering on whether to vote for the proposed flag-burning amendment would be well advised to remember what that flag symbolizes.Freedom of speech -- even objectionable and obnoxious expression, to be sure. So, to pass the amendment would be to agree to place limits on the First Amendment.The flag also represents acceptance of certain other values. Among those is respect for a Constitution that has served this country well and, therefore, should not be amended any and every time there's a Supreme Court decision that's unpopular in some circles.

TODAY is Flag Day, and the American Legion will be celebrating the occasion by burning flags -- old ones, put to death respectfully, of course. Still, it's more than a little ironic that the organization spearheading the movement for a constitutional amendment to prohibit flag burning marks Flag Day with a bonfire.The proposed Flag Protection Amendment is just a few votes shy of the necessary two-thirds majority in the Senate -- the stumbling block in past attempts, not an easy rollover like the House.

WASHINGTON -- For the second time in two years, the House approved by a lopsided margin a popular but controversial proposal that would amend the Constitution to outlaw burning of the American flag.Despite the 310-114 vote, comfortably more than the two-thirds required for constitutional amendments, proponents of the measure acknowledged that they face an uphill struggle against Americans who consider burning Old Glory a form of protected speech."If we can just pick up three extra votes in the Senate, then we'll be on our way," Republican Rep. Gerald B. H. Solomon of New York told a group of veterans and other amendment supporters.

"Desecration,'' sure. But what about ''digestion''?You've got to admire the way the political classes organize their lives. Just when you think they're so busy balancing budgets and valuing families and contracting America and the like that they haven't a moment to spare, they somehow find the time to stand up for Old Glory, too.Hats off to the U.S. House of Representatives (a.k.a. ''Flags R Us, Especially Around Major National Holidays'') for summoning up the courage, not to mention the 312 votes, to pass a constitutional amendment keeping the Stars and Stripes out of harm's way.Assuming the Senate goes along (assume -- they like being re-elected as much as the next guy)

ALL OF those folks in Washington who are eager to adopt a constitutional amendment on flag desecration run into problems defining what such an amendment would cover. For example, would bathing suits featuring the stars and stripes be considered a desecration of the country's symbol?They should have lived in Baltimore in the 1930s when a certain no-nonsense, respect-for-the-flag zealot was very much a public figure.Her name was Ella Virginia Houck Holloway. She was born at 10 Front St. in 1862 (next door to the Shot Tower)

If we ranked national problems on a scale of 1 to 10,000, flag burning would be about a 2.It's a bit more serious than the high cost of beluga caviar or the growing practice of putting ketchup on hot dogs. But it isn't quite as troubling as dope smuggling, street crime, cancer, rising health costs, the tax laws, or even mosquito bites, double parking, cat-hair allergies and post-nasal drip.However, it is the nature of many politicians to seek the approval of those who believe our stability and greatness as a nation is threatened if some geek with skinny arms and a jiggly Adam's apple phones a TV station to announce that he will flick his Bic lighter at a Taiwan-made banner.

ONE FINE summer morning the guy next door cut down his ponderosa pine tree, our neighborhood symbol, flag and flagpole in one God-given weld.As stumped as the tree, neighbors raged and pouted. Others didn't notice or didn't care. After a few days, everyone forgot the tree had ever sprouted there. We went back to tending the trees in our own yards.About the same time, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a constitutional amendment banning flag burning. The measure must hurdle the Senate with a two-thirds vote to succeed, plus legislatures in 38 states within seven years.

Washington -- Watching the Fourth of July festivities here (and around the country on television) showed the depth of love most Americans have for this country. That is why a constitutional amendment to ban the burning of the American flag is so silly, stupid and unnecessary.No one forced the millions of people waving flags to love America, and to respect and honor the republic for which it stands. They exhibited a spontaneity no law can impose.When the House last month passed a constitutional amendment that would, should the Senate and states concur, outlaw flag burning, it continued a game politicians have been playing with public-school prayer.

In a speech before more than 1,000 law students and attorneys at Baltimore's Lyric Opera House yesterday, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia set out to dispel the notion that his judicial philosophy always leads him to ultra-conservative opinions. He pointed to an instance where he agreed that flag burning was a form of protected and legal speech. Scalia said the morning after the court's opinion was announced, his "very conservative" wife began humming You're a Grand Old Flag over breakfast as a form of protest.

About two in three Americans fly the flag. Nearly three in four say flag burning should be illegal. Roughly half say it should be unconstitutional. But despite these protective instincts, there's been no public clamor demanding that Congress take steps to defend Old Glory against desecrators. These mixed feelings were reflected in the U.S. Senate's defeat last week of a proposed constitutional amendment barring the desecration of the American flag, the latest chapter in a decades-old legal and political debate over the flag.

WASHINGTON -- Conservative Republicans in the Senate overwhelmingly failed in their effort yesterday to amend the Constitution to ban gay marriage and require all states to recognize the institution solely as the union between a man and a woman. The vote was the first in a set designed to fire up the party's conservative base in advance of the November congressional elections. Senators immediately turned to a debate over eliminating the estate tax and plan to move shortly after that to a proposed constitutional amendment prohibiting flag burning.

ATLANTA - Just as you might expect, a group of finger-to-the-wind conservative congressmen have pledged to fight for legislation that would allow the Ten Commandments to be posted in courthouses around the country. Two recent Supreme Court decisions - one of which struck down such displays - has handed them a chance to seize the low ground on yet another controversial issue. These are the same congressmen, no doubt, who roar with approval every time President Bush pledges that the United States will help Iraqis install their own version of Jeffersonian democracy - one that protects government critics, religious minorities and criminal defendants.

THE IMAGE of an American flag burned in protest is deeply offensive to many in this country. The Stars and Stripes carries too much meaning for its desecration not to cause that reaction; that's why protestors burn it. It's a questionable tactic (and so standard a practice in some parts of the world, one wonders why they bother). Who is persuaded by such lunacy? It's a sign of fanaticism, and its practitioners gain little from the exercise. But Congress seems intent on making matters far worse.

FRISCO, Colo. - Ask people here about the flag on the mountain and they may shake their heads, grimace or just walk away. But they all want to know why. "No one can believe it," said Wayne Sharrar, owner of Ol' Time Barber Shop on Main Street. "Whoever did it was a coward." His client Gary Severson frowned. "It's deplorable," he said. Last weekend, the enormous American flag, fluttering atop a local mountain to commemorate the victims of the Sept. 11 terror attacks, was slashed with knives and torched.

School reforms shouldn't curtail access to arts While we applaud the decision to strengthen academic rigor in the middle grades, we hope that the arts are not shortchanged in the process ("Middle schools reform planned," June 2). Both research and experience, especially in poor urban schools, show that art, dance, music and drama actually enhance student motivation and achievement when integrated into the academic program. In addition, the arts teach students important concepts such as hard work, continuous improvement and respect for diversity.

WASHINGTON - A constitutional amendment that would allow Congress to ban flag-burning sailed through the House of Representatives for the fifth time yesterday and now moves to the Senate where supporters say a national wave of patriotism gives the measure a fighting chance. The House voted 300-125 to approve the flag amendment, and supporters, mostly Republicans and veterans groups, are mobilizing to push it through the Senate before Flag Day on June 14, or the Fourth of July. President Bush has endorsed the amendment.

MEMBERS of the U.S. Senate who may be wavering on whether to vote for the proposed flag-burning amendment would be well advised to remember what that flag symbolizes.Freedom of speech -- even objectionable and obnoxious expression, to be sure. So, to pass the amendment would be to agree to place limits on the First Amendment.The flag also represents acceptance of certain other values. Among those is respect for a Constitution that has served this country well and, therefore, should not be amended any and every time there's a Supreme Court decision that's unpopular in some circles.

TODAY is Flag Day, and the American Legion will be celebrating the occasion by burning flags -- old ones, put to death respectfully, of course. Still, it's more than a little ironic that the organization spearheading the movement for a constitutional amendment to prohibit flag burning marks Flag Day with a bonfire.The proposed Flag Protection Amendment is just a few votes shy of the necessary two-thirds majority in the Senate -- the stumbling block in past attempts, not an easy rollover like the House.