I'm BaaaaaaaAAAck!

School is out and I am looking forward to 10 weeks of freedom! Don't worry I won't rub it in too much. Just a quick comment about something that happened in Congress today. More posts later!

The House of Representatives today passed a proposed constitutional amendment banning flag burning . It now makes its way to the Senate where it has a pretty good chance of passing (it has failed several times in the past). If it passes, it will go to the States. Ratification requires the approval of 37 of the States, and that is quite likely to happen considering that all 50 States have adopted non-binding resolutions condemning flag burning. I'm not sure how I feel about this. In an ideal world, protesters in this country wouldn't use flag burning as a form of protest. I don't think most of those who do use it really understand the significance of what they are doing. There is a misconception out there that the flag stands for or represents the government of this country. It doesn't. It represents the country itself. And protesters in this country aren't usually trying to make a statement of animosity toward this country, the message is almost always aimed at the government - showing displeasure over some policy or action or law or court ruling or some related thing. But burning the flag just doesn't effectively send that message for the reason I mentioned above - the flag doesn't represent the government. On the other hand, a constitutional amendment concerns me, because our government (particularly the current administration) has already done a lot to try and smudge the line around what constitutes free speech. This amendment would just make that line fuzzier, and I think, make it easier for the government to encroach a little further on this most precious of rights.

I just dont know. I'm going to have to give this one more thought.