TIME: As many as a dozen GOP Senators privately opposed flag amendment...

[DeepModem Mom]

and would have voted no if vote was necessary to defeat it.

Why the Flag-burning Ban Failed
Though advocates tried to turn one more senator, Republican Mitch McConnell's side prevailed
By MASSIMO CALABRESI/WASHINGTON
Posted Tuesday, Jun. 27, 2006

One of the last major accomplishments of Randy "Duke" Cunningham before the Republican Congressman was jailed for taking $2.4 million in bribes was to sponsor an amendment to the 217-year-old Constitution of the United States. The amendment, which would have given Congress the power to outlaw "desecration" of the flag, cleared the required two-thirds majority in the House last year and Tuesday evening the Senate put the amendment to a vote. Both sides in the battle said during the run up to the vote that supporters were one vote short of the 67 required for Congressional passage — and despite a late push to flip one more Senator, the Amendment did indeed fail, 66-34.

Of all the 34 Senators the amendment's supporters wish they had had on their side, Mitch McConnell is surely the top of their list. McConnell, the Senate Republican Whip, is normally in charge of herding the GOP agenda through the Senate. On this issue, though, with the thinnest of margins, the conservative Kentuckian has been on the other side of the wire.

McConnell took a classically conservative position on the amendment. He argued that Senators have to make a choice: protect the flag, which is a symbol of freedom, or protect the constitution, which is the literal source of American freedoms. In a recent editorial, McConnell wrote, "The First Amendment, which protects our freedom of speech, is the most precious part of the Bill of Rights. As disgusting as the ideas expressed by those who would burn the flag are, they remain protected by the First Amendment."....

***

...McConnell didn't bend, so amendment supporters were forced to target centrist Democrats in the hope of making up their one-vote deficit. But none of the ones they were eyeing — Mark Pryor of Arkansas, Kent Conrad of North Dakota and Maria Cantwell of Washington — flipped. Even if they could have gotten one of them to change his or her position, it might not have mattered. Senate Republican aides believe that as many as a dozen self-proclaimed amendment supporters privately opposed the flag burning amendment and were only supporting it for political gain. If the Amendment were to have actually passed, the aides predicted, those same politicians would have voted their conscience, dooming the flag-burning amendment on the Senate floor....

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1208509,00.html?cnn=yes

[blm]

1. Repubs do this exact same thing with abortion rights, too. They make SURE

that it becomes a squeaker to the end, but always have a GOP in reserve to make certain their major anti-abortion bills DON'T pass.

[in_cog_ni_to]

2. Nice. Now they're playing political games with our Constitution.

Yellow-bellied rat bastards. I'm still MORE issed off at the freakin' DEMOCRATS who voted for it.

[jsamuel]

3. "dozen self-proclaimed amendment supporters privately opposed the flag

burning amendment and were only supporting it for political gain"

Willing to amend the constitution for political gain? wow... so so so very sad...

[msongs]

4. he says if you burn a flag your views are automatically DISGUSTING??

quote from OP: "...As disgusting as the ideas expressed by those who would burn the flag are, they remain protected by the First Amendment."....

so if you are a christian burning a piece of material, you view is disgusting.

if you are a republican burning the piece of material made in in china....

if you are a (fill in the blank) burning a piece of material your views are disgusting.

Msongs
www.msongs.com/political-shirts.htm

[KurtNYC]

5. Perhaps they dont want to lose this as a political football ?

In effect, this means the GOP could have passed this amendment easily but they didn't. Why? Time will tell but it seems likely they and their comrades in the Republican-dominated news media will spin this as "dems hate the flag."

[madmom]

6. that's exactly what I say to all repukes that talk about these issues

they have had full control for 6 years and they haven't done anything because they don't want to, they need these wedge issues to get the base inflamed!