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Protect freedoms, not symbols

By Times editorial
Published June 25, 2006

The nation faces many challenges at home and abroad - a war in Iraq and Afghanistan, a ballooning national debt, our oil dependency, the lack of universal health insurance and illegal immigration, to name a few. But instead of focusing on these problems, Congress has decided that the American flag is in urgent need of protection from protesters. So once again, lawmakers are trying to pass a constitutional amendment to make desecration of the flag a crime. This time, they are dangerously close to succeeding.

A true patriot is one who values freedom itself more than a symbol of freedom. Any member of Congress who has or will vote for an amendment to erode the Bill of Rights for the first time in history makes a mockery out of his or her oath of office. That includes Florida's two senators, Republican Mel Martinez and Democrat Bill Nelson. Martinez is a co-sponsor of the amendment, and Nelson has voted for it in the past and intends to do so this time.

These men swore an oath to uphold the Constitution, not a piece of cloth. Our flag is worthy of reverence only because it represents a nation that protects the liberty of its citizens, including the right to express criticism of the government. There have been very few incidents of flag burning in the United States in recent decades. The U.S. Supreme Court has held that flag burning, as repugnant as it may be, is just the kind of political expression the First Amendment was designed to protect.

Vote counters say that supporters are one vote away from obtaining the two-thirds needed to pass the amendment in the Senate, with a vote expected sometime this week. The House has already passed the measure by the needed margins and final ratification would come from state legislatures, where 38 are needed. But since all 50 states have already passed supportive resolutions, there isn't much hope of stopping it there.

The Senate is the only body that can keep this blot on our historical commitment to free speech from becoming enshrined in the Constitution, and it appears it might come down to one courageous senator. Since Martinez is a lost cause, maybe Nelson will have the backbone to put the Bill of Rights above cheap politics. But don't count on it.

[Last modified June 25, 2006, 05:44:46]