The First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States says:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
Freedom of speech—one of the key tenets of the Bill of Rights, a right that was so important to our founding fathers that it was put in the First Amendment to the Constitution. It is literally a part of the foundation of the laws that make up this country. Now, there are some caveats to this law: You cannot use your speech to endanger others, like yelling fire in a crowded room, and you cannot threaten harm to someone. But other than that the government cannot restrict your speech. That does not mean you have a right to go on my Facebook page or Twitter feed and call me nine kinds of an asshole—I can block you, and Twitter can delete your account, as can Facebook. And free speech is not without consequences. The government cannot censor you, but the public and public entities can and will make sure you know of their displeasure.
Which brings me to the Republican National Convention. If you watched, like I did, you heard some pretty awful things being said. And it’s a good thing they had the right to say them, as it brought the sheer ugliness and hate of the Republican Party out into the open.
There were some people in Cleveland who wholeheartedly disagreed with the Republican message. One of them decided to burn an American flag. (For whatever reason Fox News will not allow me to embed the video, but you can see it here). I am only aware that this video exists because a friend of mine posted it on Facebook. Let’s be clear here: I hate flag burning. As a veteran, I feel it is the most disrespectful form of protest there is. That being said, I would lay my life down to defend her First Amendment right to protest in the this manner. Why would I do this if I find this to be a disrespectful act?
When joining the Army, I took an oath of enlistment that specifically states that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic. At no point does the oath of enlistment mention protecting the flag. That phrasing has been a part of the oath of enlistment since 1789.
I posted a reply to my friend’s Facebook post that said, While this form of protest is distasteful, I would lay my life down to defend her 1st amendment right to protest in this manner. I took a lot of heat for saying that—especially from another veteran who had this to say to me.
I served many years in the Army myself defending this flag and it boils my blood to see some dumbass liberal dipstick burn my flag. I would have broken her damned wrists if I had seen that. Anderson, you are a disgrace to the uniform by defending people like her. That is MY opinion, popular or not.
What many people do not realize is that the right to free speech includes speech that may not be popular. I don’t like what the Ku Klux Klan says, but they do have the right to say it, as ugly and heinous as it may be. My response to the gentleman who called me a dumbass liberal dipstick and a disgrace to the uniform was this:
I am not a disgrace to my uniform. I proudly served my country and would do it again in a heartbeat. My oath, and yours was to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States of America. The flag is not the Constitution, nor is it mentioned in the Constitution.
Does flag burning piss me off, yes. But, disregarding the laws that make up the foundation of this nation pisses me off even more. By saying this woman should be jailed, killed, beaten up, or any other threat would make the United States no better than some two bit banana republic. Because that is what dictators do - they do not allow dissent, at all. Imagine living in a country where if you called someone a dumbass liberal dipstick - you went to jail, or worse in front of a firing squad.
That is exactly what you are asking for when you demand someone should be jailed, etc...for flag burning. It may be distasteful, but it is Constitutionally protected free speech - whether you or I like it or agree with it. You want that changed - then you are asking for a Constitutional amendment, and a fundamental change to our country's values.
You want to call me some dumbass liberal dipstick and a disgrace to my uniform, that is your right - but name calling of that nature says far more about you than it does me.
This gentleman’s opinion is the opinion of many people in this country on both the left and the right of the political spectrum. They would rip out one of the founding tenets of our nation, the very foundation of our laws, in the name of protecting the flag. But that leads to a slippery slope. Other speech could also be restricted and it starts us down a fairly dark path—one which our nation should never go toward.
Free speech means that the government cannot censor you. It does not mean you are free from consequences. But to state that a person burning the flag should be kicked out of the country, have her wrists broken, face other threats of violence or even death—that is not only irresponsible to say, it is sick and disgusting.
If you feel there should be a Constitutional amendment to protect the flag, ask yourself this: Would you want to live in a country where the government can imprison you for protesting the government? First it is the flag, then it is voicing displeasure for a president (and you have already seen what Trump would do with the press if he were president).
The funny thing about this is if you want to stop flag burning, there is a far easier way to do it. Ignore it. If there is no more shock value to it, then people will stop doing it. By making a scene and demanding that it should be illegal, guess what? You are just encouraging people to burn the flag as a form of protest.