Why are we getting all of these posts from DUers wanting to burn the flag?

[cboy4]

I could not be more opposed to this ridiculous notion of a flag burning constitutional amendment.

It's just another wedge issue diversion by the repukes, just as is the gay marriage amendment.

Hilary should be ashamed. Flag burning is not a problem in this country, and if people want to burn the flag in protest or whatever, I say go for it.....it's a free country.

However, I want nothing to do with any of the numerous posts I've read over the past 24 from DUers encouraging all of us to burn as many flags as possible to piss off the pukes.

There's even one post advocating burning the flags of all 50 states. :wtf:

Hey, I'm all in favor of pissing off the pukes, but with all due respect, burning the flag intentionally for this purpose is a bad idea.

(1) You're going to have a bunch of people jumping out of the wood work saying, "see, see, this is why you need a ban." and you will keep the issue/controversy alive for years and years to come.

(2) You're going to piss off a lot of veterans....including those who are democrats. They might be pissed off enough to vote republican and challenge Chris Matthews to a duel. In their eyes, when they fight for our country, they're literally fighting for that piece of red white and blue cloth.

I'm telling you, I've spoken to enough liberal veterans of wars who feel very strongly about the flag. Not necessarily for a constitutional amendment, but they're on the fence enough to turn on the democrats if they start seeing videotape on the news of DUers and activists torching the flag.

Please everyone think about this.

[LaPera]

1. Yeah, I responded to one(with no response back)but it does seem strange,

never seen it before...who wants or cares to burn a flag, silly!

Setup? Who really gives a fuck....I don't plan on burning a flag, nor does anyone else...

[kentjay44]

2. the way our flag is retired is by burning it,

that said,i`m no fan of flag burning,having spent 26 years serving that flag,however,if one is sitting in his back yard bbquing,and drinking a couple of cold ones and all of a sudden he becomes enraged over some bush policy,throws the flag on the grill and it burns,well its his flag his backyard and his frustration,have at it,but watch out for the flag squad.peace

[cboy4]

3. I said that if someone wants to burn a flag in protest, that's fine.

If someone wants to retire a flag by burning it, that's also fine.

I'm talking about burning a flag in public for the sole reason of pissing off the people who are in favor of a constitutional amendment.

I believe it could backfire, especially in the eyes of veterans -- both democrats and republicans.

[kentjay44]

4. i agree with you 1000%

public burnings will turn the tide against the dems,at people will see it as a dem thing,keep it out of the public.

[bowens43]

7. It IS a Dem thing.

FREEDOM and the protection of our rights has always been a Dem thing.

[MADem]

8. Well, I'm a veteran, a career one

And I always felt my service was in the oath I took to support, defend and protect the Constitution-- nothing in that oath at all about a bit of cloth. Protest is part and parcel of our American tradition. It doesn't piss me off at all, in fact, I'm glad to have served and done my small bit to ensure people have that right.

It is a fake GOP issue, but it's just not playing too well. People are seeing through their faux outrage. Kids are dying in Iraq, and they're squawking about flag-burning. Hell, there haven't been many flag burnings since Vietnam, when kids were dying left and right in a bullshit war that the French WARNED us about.

This high dudgeon on their part says to me that the only reason they wanna raise the issue is because they don't want the practice to pick up again as thousands continue to die in the Bush War for Oil. They're trying to rally their base on the one hand, and nip a future problem in the bud on the other.

[charlie]

5. Wouldn't worry about it

Those threads sprout every time the Republicans get their flag burning mojo on. No one's ever burned one. There's only been something like 3 publicized instances of flag burning in the country in the last year. They're just blowing off a bit of steam.

[bowens43]

6. It's not to 'piss of the pukes'.

It's to make a point.

I have thought about this long and hard. There is a time when burning a flag is necessary , that time is when it becomes it illegal.

THe flag is nothing but a piece of cloth. If they can make it illegal to burn a piece of cloth that you own then the country isn't worth defending.

If the amendment passes , I want to see vast fields of burning American flags.

[cboy4]

9. But see, I think people are advocating burning the flag right now.

There's no constitutional amendment and they'll certainly never get the 3/4 votes in congress to approve this.

Burning the flag now to make a point about something that certainly is not going to occur is a bad idea in my opinion.

Hypothetically if the constitution is eventually amended, which I doubt, then fine....burn your fields of flags. I don't care.

[Guaranteed]

12. Just renounce your citizenship, like I would. nt

[RagingInMiami]

10. That is like saying

That if you have nothing to hide, then it doesn't matter if they're eavesdropping on us.

IT'S THE CONSTITUTION, GODDAMN IT.

And I really don't give a shit if I piss off liberal veterans because my loyalty is towards the constitution. Not towards the flag.

If they can't understand that part of the deal of "protecting our freedoms" includes the freedom to burn the flag if we do desire, then they are just as ignorant as the right-wingers.

If these "liberal" veterans are still on the fence after everything we've been through, I'm sure as hell am not going to give up my constitutional rights to try to win them over to my side.

And a post like yours just makes me even more certain that I will burn a goddamn flag on the Fourth of July. Not just because of the proposed amendment, but because of everything else that has been going on since 2000.

It's about fucking time we all start burning the goddamn flag. Either that, or hang it upside down outside our houses.

Peace.

[cboy4]

13. I'm sure Karl Rove is thrilled to hear you're going to burn the flag, even

though there's currently no constitutional amendment against doing so, nor will there be one.

I would argue you're hurting democrats.

You're playing right into the hands of the diabolical republicans who will use you and your flag burning videotape (if it makes the local news) as a wedge issue for 2008, if not in November as well.

Can't you just see the commercials of people like yourself burning the flag, angering the fundies, angering the liberal veterans, and angering people who would otherwise not vote enough to head straight to the polls to elect republicans?

What happened when all of the gay people got married in San Francisco and it was on the news again and again and again? It became a wedge issue in 2004, and in most expert's opinion, was the difference in the republicans winning. (even though they cheated in Ohio)

So if the meaningless, silly burning of the flag is more important to you than electing democrats, oh well.

I just don't understand why you can't at least wait until after the mid-terms.

[noneofmybusiness]

11. Lets burn this flag instead

[cboy4]

14. That is a terrific idea

:applause:

[Rosemary2205]

15. school's out

there's just something about telling a teenager than can't do something....... it'll pass when the novelty wears off.

Those of us with with mileage learned the hard way that flag burning in protest never, ever, wins the people over that we actually want to reach.

[cboy4]

17. It's too bad some people who are 50 years old still act like

teenagers, although one can argue teenagers are more intelligent in some cases than people two or three times their age. :eyes:

[H2O Man]

16. Nominated.

Let's keep our eyes on the prize. We have elections to win. "Flag burning" is a non-issue. Keep it that way.

Dick Cheney lied our country into a terrible war. He said there were WMD. We are there for oil. That is the issue we should be pushing.

Our petroleum-based culture is doing serious damage to the environment. That's another serious issue.

"Try to learn instead of burn." -- Jimi Hendrix

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

18. I don't plan on burning a flag

unless it is to dispose of it in a respectful manner, as per the flag code. (Is this an exception in the amendment, or are we now to throw old flags into trash cans?) What I worry about is that this is the first step to stop all protests of any kind. To burn flags just to make conservatives angry would make an excellent argument for them to use to ban all forms of protest.