As a member of the American Legion, I receive their monthly magazine. Over the last several years they have been on a crusade to have the U.S. Constitution amended to protect Our Flag. They have had speakers, pro and con, at their conventions, and their various National Commanders have all been pro-amendment.
The matter is once again befor Congress. As with the previous vote some three years ago, the House overwhelming supported the amendment; the Senate allowed it to fail by TWO VOTES!
This year, when the bill came before the Senate, it was defeated by only ONE VOTE! Obviously there are pros and cons about any amendment to the Constitution. A surprising 'No' vote came from Mitch McConnell, Republican from Kentucky. His vote, on the surface, stunned me. But, his reasoning is, I believe, sound: The Constitution should not be amended short of there being no other way to solve the problem. Senator McConnell believes that the Congress can develop Federal statutes to accomplish the task.
Of Course, when the Congress did that very thing previously, it ended up before our "esteemed" Supreme Court, which ruled that "flag-burning" is protected "speech" under the First Amendment!
Our flag has an illustrious history. It is unique in many ways, principally in that portion displaying the stars: each one representing, a. A colony. b. A commonwealth and c. A state. The stripes are alternating red and white signifying red for blood shed and white for the purity of the American spirit. They add up to thirteen, representative of the thirteen British Colonies, which proclaimed their independence from Great Britain on July 4, 1776. The original "Betsy Ross" flag showed thirteen colonies in a circle. As States and Commonwealths were added, the arrangement of the stars necessarily had to change.
Our flag has several reverential names: Old Glory; The Stars and Stripes; The Star-Spangled Banner; The Red, White and Blue, to name the most popular. The Flag is a feature of our National Anthem. It has always been our battle flag. It as a place in the history of the United States that gives it almost a religious connotation. In fact, Our Flag is so revered by the American people that it causes apoplexy among our European allies?
One cannot attend an Independence Day parade and not see Our Flag displayed among the Marchers; among the spectators, in banners overhead on our bandstand and Town Hall.
Margie and I always displayed the Flag on a pole outside our house. We continue to have a small Flag on our car. It serves mulitiple purposes, not the least of which, is to help us find our car in a crowded parking area. During the Fourth of July holidays, I wear a hat, which has stars ad stripes, in red, white and blue. In short, I'm proud of the comfort it has implied to all freedom-loving peoples. I am disgusted with those would would burn Our flag. They have taken that symbol to impugn, because they are aware of the heat it generates in the Harry-types in our great country. It makes one wonder what their education consisted of; if they look objectively at the sincere efforts of our leaders from the very beginning to put light upon the world. Did they learn their hatred from their parents; their teachers?
But, do you know what? When Our flag is disrespected, in any way: burning it, dropping it on the ground, allowing it to become bedraggled, there is a protocol to follow. That protocol is to burn the Flag. When I see or hear of the disrespector of Our Flag, my heart tells me that the Flag should then be burned. The perpetrator, when he takes into his mind to burn Our Flag, he has disrespected it; it should therefore be burned! While I wouldn't personally select such a bum to burn the disrespected Flag,he is, in fact, doing what protocol and respect requires
BURN IT!!!
Harry T. Spence, Norwood, Maine
