[honeychile]

While in practice, I am VERY much against burning the flag, I do worry about a couple facets of this:

1) The obvious: the flag is symbolic of the United States, and the liberties it proclaims. No matter how wrong I conceive the burning of the flag as a method of protest, I don't have the right to keep you (as a generality) from being an idiot.

2) The not-so-obvious: I may go through 4-5 flags a year. They get tattered, dirty, and worn. In the correct method of disposing of these flags, I keep them aside, and have one respectful flag burning a year. What if someone turns me in as a flag burner? Once a bill like this passes, it could easily be used against someone who means no harm.

As long as we cover the coffins of deceased soldiers with the flag, I am completely against the practice of burning the flag in protest - leave that disgraceful practice to those in hostile countries. The flag NEVER stands for one party, one candidate, one politician over another - it stands for the entire United States. There is no protest in the land of the free that can justify the burning of its symbol.

And if you question that last statement, I'll launch into what happened to a sorority sister when she lost her citizenship.