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Letter: Flag burning is free speech

By Brad Lasher, VANCOUVER
Published: December 10, 2016, 6:00am

The level of anger and tribalism that now defines our political climate has reached a new low. Bruce R. Randall’s Dec. 6 letter, “A message to flag burners,” plumbs depths I didn’t expect. He states that if a child of his didn’t subscribe to his definition of an American patriot he’d be ashamed to admit he knew them and deeply regret that he gave that child life.

I am awestruck. His letter is a rambling contradiction and evokes a visceral hatred of fellow citizens who don’t share his convictions. Randall admits that we have a right to free expression, earned by generations of Americans who have defended said right. Yet he claims that someone burning their own flag, as a form of protest, “transgresses upon the rights of others.” Citizens who avail themselves of this constitutionally protected form of free speech would be branded, by him, as “domestic terrorists.”

We would all be reminded of Winston S. Churchill’s quote, “Everyone is in favor of free speech. Hardly a day passes without its being extolled, but some people’s idea of it is that they are free to say what they like, but if anyone else says anything back, that is an outrage.”

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