The ACLU’s Urgent Flag Day Message

Posted on June 14, 2006

Do not let it be said that the ACLU forgot Flag Day! They are honoring our flag in their own special liberal way….by urging you to protect people’s right to burn it. You know, because “Free expression and the right to dissent are core principles that the American flag represents.” After all, “freedom cannot survive” if we don’t allow idiots to burn the very symbol that represents it. Isn’t it ironic?

Seriously this topic is a controversial one that I can see both sides on. It just seemed particularly disrespectful of the ACLU to tout this out on a day set aside to honor the flag, but I guess liberals would think it the most patriotic thing they could have done.

I agree with Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist in his dissenting opinion in Texas v. Johnson:

The American flag, then, throughout more than 200 years of our history, has come to be the visible symbol embodying our Nation. It does not represent the views of any particular political party, and it does not represent any particular political philosophy. The flag is not simply another “idea” or “point of view” competing for recognition in the marketplace of ideas. Millions and millions of Americans regard it with an almost mystical reverence regardless of what sort of social, political, or philosophical beliefs they may have. I cannot agree that the First Amendment invalidates the Act of Congress, and the laws of 48 of the 50 States, which make criminal the public burning of the flag.

Rehnquist also argued that flag burning is “no essential part of any exposition of ideas” but rather “the equivalent of an inarticulate grunt or roar that, it seems fair to say, is most likely to be indulged in not to express any particular idea, but to antagonize others.”

» Filed Under 1st Amendment, ACLU, News

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2 Responses to “The ACLU’s Urgent Flag Day Message”

Angel on June 15th, 2006 9:28 am

Gosh its even difficult to look at that picture…I know what side of the fence I’m on for sure!
kerwin_brown on June 15th, 2006 10:42 am

Hillary supports a law but not an Amendment. I would like to see a law tried first as it may set a precedent where the defense of patriotism is a justification for infringing on rights.