Don't burn Constitution to save flag

NAT HENTOFF

_A s of this writing, Congress
is on the edge - between
Flag Day, June 14, and the
end of the month - of
passing the first ever con-
stitutional amendment to our glo-
rious Bill of Rights (ratified in
1791), which is unmatched any-
where in the world in its guaran-
tees of fundamental personal lib-
erties against the government.
The Flag Desecration
Amendment authorizes Congress
to prohibit any "physical desecra-
tion" of the American flag -
thereby carving out an exception
to the First Amendment, from
which all our liberties flow.
   Last year, the House passed
this desecration of the First
Amendment by an eight-vote
margin. And on May 4, in a 6-3
vote, the Senate Judiciary
subcommittee on the Constitu-
tion also placed the First Amend-
ment in jeopardy. If approved by
the full Judiciary Committee, it
may be that only one or two votes
on the Senate floor will keep the
First Amendment intact. Other-
wise, this constitutional amend-
ment will go directly to the state
legislatures for ratification.
   The day before Flag Day last
year, the Houston Chronicle un-
derlined what we will lose if this
amendment becomes law:
   "It makes no sense to set fire to
the Bill of Rights to prevent a few
people from protesting in a way
that many find offensive. The
right to speak our minds in public
and engage in protest is at the
core of our system of government.
The only way to effectively dese-
crate the American flag would be
to undercut the freedom for
which it stands."
   And Sen. Robert Byrd, D-

W.Va., - who carries the Consti-
tution in his DNA - speaks for
James Madison across the cen-
turies: "In the final analysis, it is
the Constitution - not the flag -
that is the foundation and guaran-
tor of the people's liberties."
   Among the many veterans op-
posing the Flag Desecration
Amendment is Gary May, who
lost both legs in Vietnam while
serving with K Company, 3rd Bat-
talion, 27 Marines. Last year, he
said: "This amendment would not
honor veterans; it would attack
the very principles that inspired
us to serve our country. ... We
fought for a society free of repres-
sion and filled with open debate."
   This year, on May 6, Gary May
added: "I did not lose my legs, and
nearly my life, to protect a symbol."
   Of all the personal stories by
veterans against this attempt to
__________
The only countries I
know that punish
the desecration of flags are
China, Iran and Cuba.

change the Constitution to limit
open debate in this country, the
most powerful was by James
Warner, who, during a previous
debate, told of his imprisonment
by the North Vietnamese from
1967 to 1973 after volunteering
for duty there and flying more
than 100 missions before being
shot down. Refusing to accede to
his captors' offer to be released if
he admitted this country had
been wrong in Vietnam, Warner
was tortured and spent 13 months
in solitary confinement.
   During one interrogation, an
enemy officer gleefully showed
Warner a photograph of Ameri-
cans protesting the war by burn-
ing the flag.
   "There," the officer crowed,
"people in your country protest
against your cause! That proves
you are wrong!"
   If only Congress and the presi-
dent would listen to Warner's an-
swer to the rejoicing jailer: "No.
That [photograph] proves I am

right. In my country, we are not
afraid of freedom, even if it means
that people disagree with us. The
officer was on his feet in an in-
stant, his face purple with rage.
He smashed his fist on the table
and screamed at me to shut up.
While he was ranting, I was aston-
ished to see pain, confounded by
fear, in his eyes. I have never for-
gotten that look, nor have I for-
gotten the satisfaction I felt at us-
ing his tool - the picture of a
burning flag - against him."
   The much-decorated Warner
went on to serve in the White
House as a domestic policy ad-
viser to President Ronald Reagan
during his second term, and is a
recently retired corporate attor-
ney. He will be one of the speak-
ers on June 6, at a debate on the
Flag Desecration Amendment in
the aptly named First Amend-
ment Room in the National Press
Club in Washington.
   Paul McMasters, First Amend-
ment ombudsman at the First
Amendment center, will be the
moderator - with debaters attor-
ney Robert Corn-Revere (against)
and Adrian Cronauer (for) - the
latter is national director of the
Citizens Flag Alliance.
   During the Vietnam War, my
wife and I protested against it,
but when we saw antiwar activists
burning the flag in protest, we
bought a flag and flew it outside
our home to show those burning
Old Glory that they utterly failed
to understand that the flag speaks
for the right of all Americans to
speak freely. The year before, an
angry Vietnam War veteran was
once about to punch me on the
nose for opposing the amendment
until I quickly asked him:
   "What does the flag mean to
you?" He paused. "Liberty!" he
shouted, and walked away. That di-
mension of our liberty may soon
disappear because, if the amend-
ment becomes law - all 50 state
legislatures have endorsed resolu-
tions in favor of this amendment.
The only countries I know that
punish the desecration of their
flags are China, Iran and Cuba.
   Do we want to join those dicta-
torships?

Also :
http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/commentary.aspx?id=16944
05.30.06