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May 20, 2006

Editorials/Op-Ed=20

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Letters to the editor

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
May 20, = 2006

Protect the flag
    Retired Maj. Gen. = Patrick H.=20 Brady supports the flag amendment to the Constitution that will come up = for a=20 vote in the week of June 26. I oppose it and I believe that Gen. Brady's = arguments in his letter to Sgt. Shaft, while sincere, are flawed ("One = more=20 senator needed for Old Glory's protection," Sgt. Shaft, April 10).=20
    In his letter he says the following:=20
    "As we near the vote, we can expect the long = knives=20 in the media to begin a rabid disinformation campaign. In their passion = to=20 protect flag burners, they rant that the flag amendment will violate the = free=20 speech of flag burners and will amend for the first time the Bill of = Rights. Had=20 they read the amendment, they would realize it does neither, and this is = a very=20 important point."
    I have read the amendment, = and it=20 seeks to do both. The general quotes the proposed amendment: "The = Congress shall=20 have power to prohibit the physical desecration of the flag of the = United=20 States." The use of the term "desecration" is telling. This term = necessarily=20 implies intent. I have a flag, ragged and faded, which was recently = brought down=20 by a lightening strike. I will dispose of it by privately burning it. = This is=20 not the "desecration" that the amendment seeks to stop. The purpose of = the=20 amendment is to give government the power to punish the unwashed and = unhinged=20 protesters who hate America. Is it not that very hatred that they seek = to convey=20 by burning the flag?
    What, after all, is = "speech"?=20 Could a gesture be speech? Ask the students at Gallaudet University, = where deaf=20 students and faculty communicate by gestures. Clearly, the power to = prevent the=20 physical desecration of the flag is the power to prevent the expression = of=20 opinions that ordinary Americans find distasteful.=20
    The Bill of Rights was added to the = Constitution as=20 an incomplete listing of those rights of individuals upon which no = government=20 has the moral authority to infringe. It expresses adherence to a law = higher than=20 the Constitution. In the Declaration of Independence, this was = recognized as the=20 authority for our independence from the British crown and identified as = the=20 "Laws of Nature and of Nature's God." This law grants to every human = being at=20 birth the right to "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." This = means that=20 everyone, including the deranged protester, has the right to do as he = pleases so=20 long as he does not infringe upon the rights of others. The physical = desecration=20 of the flag, however offensive, infringes the rights of no one unless = the flag=20 has been stolen. The Constitution already permits government to punish = theft.=20 The flag amendment would be an offense against the very law upon which = our=20 country was founded, the "... Laws of Nature and of Nature's God."=20
    I do not speak on behalf of the "long knives = of the=20 press" nor do I spread "disinformation." I speak as a Marine Corps = Vietnam=20 veteran with two Purple Hearts, who spent 51/2 years in a communist = P.O.W. camp=20 and who has permanent disabilities resulting from my service. I say that = instead=20 of persuading the government to pass oppressive laws to prevent the = physical=20 desecration of the flag, our time would be better spent preventing the = spiritual=20 desecration of the flag by persuading our benighted countrymen to love = the flag=20 because it represents the country that respects their liberty.=20

    JAMES H. WARNER =
    Rohrersville, Md. =
    =20