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Skriven 2006-06-25 17:01:18 av Alan Hess
Ärende: Feinstein's illogic
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http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bal-op.pitts25jun25,0,2658495.st
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From the Baltimore Sun
Senator Feinstein's flag protection missive: illogic for all


By Leonard Pitts Jr.

June 25, 2006

WASHINGTON -- Thank you, Dianne Feinstein.

Composition teachers all over the country are indebted to the Democratic
senator from California for an editorial published Tuesday in USA Today.
Instead of tearing their hair out trying to instruct students in the finer
points of logic, rhetoric and critical thinking, teachers will henceforth be
able to simply pull out Ms. Feinstein's piece and say, "Don't do this." They
will never find a better illustration of a bad argument badly made.

Ms. Feinstein is co-sponsor of something called the Flag Protection Amendment,
the latest congressional effort to amend the Constitution to protect the U.S.
flag from "desecration" - an interesting word, given its connotations of
religious devotion.

Her editorial in support of the amendment certainly hits all the patriotic
sweet spots, invoking the image of Marines raising the flag on Iwo Jima,
reminding us that the flag is a symbol of "our democracy, our shared values,
our commitment to justice, and our eternal memory of those who have sacrificed
to defend these principles."

But there's more. Ms. Feinstein notes that Congress has power to protect the
Lincoln Memorial from defilement, so surely it should have similar power to
protect the flag, "our monument in cloth." She denies the amendment would
infringe on free speech because, she says, "there is no idea or thought
expressed by the burning of the American flag that cannot be expressed equally
well in another manner."

As arguments go, this one has it all - pathos, tears, drama. Everything except
logic.

The comparison to the Lincoln Memorial, for example, might make sense if the
flag were a single iconic structure housed on federal land instead of a banner
that shows up on fanny packs, T-shirts, used-car lots and suburban mailboxes.

As for the idea that anyone who wants to express an idea by burning the flag
can express the same idea equally well through other means, that's not her
call. Who is she to tell me - or you, or anyone - what means we may or may not
use to express a political opinion? If someone loathes their country and wants
to express that opinion, who is she to decide what words, methods or approach
that person is allowed to use? If free speech means anything, it means that she
doesn't have that right.

Ms. Feinstein, by the way, is reacting to a crisis that does not exist. You
know how many flag "desecrations" there have been this year? Twenty-five, you
think? A dozen?

There have been three. This is according to the Citizens Flag Alliance, a group
that "supports" the proposed amendment. Three. More people were struck by
lightning. Heck, I bet more people spontaneously combusted.

So essentially what we have here is an effort to amend the Constitution and
abridge the First Amendment in order to stop people from doing what people
aren't doing. Am I the only one who finds this more than faintly ridiculous?

The rapper Chuck D, among others, calls them "weapons of mass distraction,"
these periodic outbursts of noise and inanity whereby our leaders attempt to
hijack the public's attention, direct it away from anything that means
anything. As the use of those weapons go, this one feels especially cynical,
playing as it does on love of country and respect for the sacrifices of
forebears.

But maybe we should love the one and respect the other enough to stand up for
real American ideals and demand that our representatives do the same, rather
than play games of symbolism that solve no problems, address no issues and
insult our collective intelligence in the process.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. And to the
republic for which it stands. But there's a big difference between honoring the
flag and fetishizing it. Especially at the cost of doing violence to the
Constitution. Apparently nobody cares if we desecrate that.

Leonard Pitts Jr. is a columnist for The Miami Herald. His column appears
Sundays in The Sun. His e-mail is lpitts@miamiherald.com.

Copyright + 2006, The Baltimore Sun | Get Sun home delivery

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