Playing Politics With the Flag

In the October/November issue of the Free State Warrior, the American Legion periodical for the state of Maryland, there is a piece about the long delayed Flag Amendment. The writer states that nearly 80% of the American people and 50% of the legislatures have asked the US Senate to pass SJR 4, the flag protection amendment and send it to the states for ratification.
It was overwhelmingly passed in the House five consecutive times. Yet the Senate will not vote on it.
The amendment is a common sense approach that RESTORES the right to protect the flag to the Congress. The author, Thomas P. Cadmus, makes a salient point.

As senators travel around the country urging constituents to exercise their right to vote, back on Capitol Hill some of them are blocking the right of their constituents to amend the constitution to protect the flag.

Flag protection has been debated before. There have been multiple hearings. Yet the measure languishes in limbo because some Senators choose not to vote before Election Day on an amendment that might just cause voters to wonder where their Senator’s values lie.

Mr. Cadmus goes on to describe how the Constitution gives people the right to petition the government for a redress of grievances through the amendment process. He points out that when a supermajority of Americans all agree, no elected member of the Senate should stand in the way, regardless of their personal position on the issue.

He also discusses that in 1989, five judges ruled that 48 state legislatures and the Federal Government did not understand that urinating, defecating, defiling, and other wanton acts of physical desecration of the flag of the United States was a protected right. They maintained that the Flag Code was incorrect.

Here we have another instance where activist judges enact laws from the bench. Instead of interpreting what the law says, they have decided on their own that the laws of the US do not count and that people have a right to do what they want to the flag. The Senate, by failing to vote, has upheld the actions of the activist judges.

Regardless of your personal opinion about flag desecration, the matter should be voted upon and placed in the hands of the people to decide. To do anything less allows the Senate to deny you the right to decide. They are denying you your right to free expression in your vote.

John Kerry will use a litmus test to put more of these activist judges on the bench. We need to keep this from happening. By the way, if Kerry showed up, how do you suppose he would vote on the issue, especially considering he was once a flag desecrater?

If you enjoy what you read consider signing up to receive email notification of new posts. There are several options in the sidebar and I am sure you can find one that suits you. If you prefer, consider adding this site to your favorite feed reader. If you receive emails and wish to stop them follow the instructions included in the email.

Comments are closed.