Cason Point

By Richard Cason

"Flag Burning and Why It Should Be Illegal" was the topic of a recent speech for college that my girlfriend had to give. Her objective was to convince the rest of her class that intentional flag desecration should be punishable with jail time.

So she asks for my help.

I tell her that since I was an "A" student in speech (the only subject that I ever had respectable marks in), I would be happy to help her outline it, word it, etc.

As we researched the topic I noticed that I was debating with her about it more than I was helping her. I wasn't just playing Devil's Advocate, either; I genuinely disagreed with her about this particular issue.

Think about it: Why should someone go to jail over burning a flag? In my opinion, only when the flag doesn't belong to that person.

If somebody goes to the store and plunks down their own money for an American flag, and immediately after making the purchase, feels the need to set it afire, I ask, "What business is it of yours?" You're not out any money! Other than upsetting your narrow-minded belief system that you most likely learned from your folks yet cannot back-up with any substance, the fact of the matter is that someone who burns a flag doesn't hurt you at all.

I'll admit that when I see news footage of someone holding a Bic lighter to the Stars and Stripes, yes, it does irk me.

I don't have such a problem with this country that I feel I have to burn a flag to make my point. The column that you're reading takes the place of me having to hold up signs and march and chant things and blah, blah, blah. However, if "this" guy's life experiences have helped him to form certain opinions that I personally know nothing of and has brought him to the point where he feels that the only way he can make his case is to burn a flag, whether I like it or not, that IS his right to do.

"But, Cason! My daddy and his daddy and two of his uncles and three of his cousins died defending that flag"! They went into combat and got killed over some cloth? Hardly seems worth dying for to me, but I've never been in the service, so...

Seriously, though, we all have relatives who have served in the Armed Forces and some of us have relatives who have even died for this nation; yet you would dare to dishonor their memory by squashing a fundamental freedom that your relatives, my relatives, and 200-plus years' worth of Americans have died for.

Even though you and I hate the neo-Nazi who is on the street corner preaching hate and spewing bile, his or her freedom of speech is guaranteed by the First Amendment. Whether you and I agree with or even like what they have to say is irrelevant. Same goes for the very words that you are reading now; if you don't like the opinion that I am expounding upon, don't read it.

"Oh, so's ah suppose ah gots me the right to knock a bag a groceries outta yer hands 'cause I'm protesting plastic bags! It's muh freedom of speech; you gots ta live with it! That's whut yer sayin'"! Not exactly, Clem, but thanks for participating.

What I am saying is that this is America. In America, you can say or do whatever you want so long as it does not directly interfere with me, my family or my property. That's not MY interpretation of the First Amendment - it's exactly what the Founding Fathers had in mind in the first place and if they were still alive they'd tell you the same damn thing.

Most people think that your average protester is just some tree-hugging-spotted-owl-spotting-pinko-commie-ex-hippie who has run out of both causes to rail against and pot; names like Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin spring to mind. But when I think of protesters, I think of names like James Madison, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Samuel Adams, George Washington, Benjamin Franklin. In their day, they were known as traitors surely to be hanged should they lose their war for independence. Today, we call them patriots; the architects of nation that we live in today.

After independence had been secured, one of the first objectives was to make sure that within the new nation, there existed tolerance among those with different opinions. The Founders wanted to ensure that 50 or 100 years down the road, should someone feel the need to protest, they wouldn't be given that whole "love it or leave it" trip.

Instead, their right to protest whatever they choose regardless of whether you like it or not, is guaranteed.

That is to say, it was.

As of this writing, the U.S. House passed a bill making it a crime to deface an American flag. The bill has been passed to the Senate and is awaiting a vote. Should the Senate pass it and should the president sign it into law, you can consider the first 10 amendments, the Bill of Rights, whittled down to nine.

The bottom line is this: Is it nice to burn our nation's flag? No. Should someone have the right to at least choose if they want to without facing criminal prosecution? Absolutely.

That's the price we pay for living in a republic with such rights as freedom of speech, freedom to keep and bear arms, freedom of religion. The price we pay is having to tolerate someone whose thoughts and beliefs are just a little bit different than yours.

This country was founded on protest; burning the flag of your homeland is as American as apple pie.

One more thing: Does anyone realize that a significant number of American flags are manufactured in the good ol' U.S. of Taiwan? What about Korea? You don't think that there are a few million American flags that are manufactured in Korea!? So what do you say we compromise? Ban the burning of American-made flags and actually encourage the destruction of foreign-made ones because, let's face it: Is a communist-stitched American flag really an American flag at all? America, the land that I love; a land that guarantees you the right to be a dumbass and where I am guaranteed the right to make fun of you for it.

America. A land where you can bitch about why you hate living here yet a land which grants you all of the perks of being one of her citizens.

A land where you can worship whatever, say whatever, or be whatever you want. Do I have to like what your choices will be? Nope. I can even hate them if I want. But do I have to listen to your garbage or look at your crew-cut and jackboots? Only if I want to, and that, my friends, is the American way.

Richard Cason is NOT a communist or a Nazi sympathizer; he can be heard from Monday through Friday from 7 p.m to midnight on 100.7 KGMO