Steyn on Flag Burning

No surprise that Mark Steyn would have the best exegesis on the flag burning amendment.

Unlike Congressman Cunningham, I wouldn't presume to speak for those who died atop the World Trade Center. For one thing, citizens of more than 50 foreign countries, from Argentina to Zimbabwe, were killed on 9/11. Of the remainder, maybe some would be in favor of a flag-burning amendment; and maybe some would think that criminalizing disrespect for national symbols is unworthy of a free society.

"[C]riminalizing disrespect for national symbols is unworthy of a free society" definitely nails it for me. But every Steyn column provides thought, and humor as well as rhetoric. And this does not disappoint. He contends that legal flag burning helps us to see our enemies for what they are. Better still, he shows that the flag is burned because of its power.

Banning flag desecration flatters the desecrators and suggests that the flag of this great republic is a wee delicate bloom that has to be protected. It's not. It gets burned because it's strong. I'm a Canadian and one day, during the Kosovo war, I switched on the TV and there were some fellows jumping up and down in Belgrade burning the Stars and Stripes and the Union Jack. Big deal, seen it a million times. But then to my astonishment, some of those excitable Serbs produced a Maple Leaf from somewhere and started torching that. Don't ask me why -- we had a small contribution to the Kosovo bombing campaign but evidently it was enough to arouse the ire of Slobo's boys. I've never been so proud to be Canadian in years. I turned the sound up to see if they were yelling ''Death to the Little Satan!'' But you can't have everything.

All hail the great Steyn!

Hat-tip: PowerLine Blog

America, F*ck Yeah! Posted by jk at June 26, 2005 11:24 AM