I served my country in the United States Navy. Part of the induction was to swear allegiance to America and to defend the Constitution from all threats, domestic and foreign. Those are not the exact words, but they are close.
I have read the Bill of Rights and the Constitution and I see no place where it says to allow the burning of the flag that so many people have sacrificed and died to defend. All you have to do is go to a veterans hospital or clinic, take a seat and see if you don’t leave knowing those people took their swearing-in seriously. There will be men and women in their early 20s on up to World War II veterans. I’ll bet most would say they served their country and would do it again if they had the strength.
I respect and expect a person to have the protections of free speech. I do not accept that this includes setting fire to a symbol of America that goes back more than 200 years — that is, for me, a big leap in interpreting the right of free speech.
If I am somewhere and someone is attempting to burn the flag, one or both of us are going to jail or a hospital. I’m 75 and would not heal well, so I’ll send him to the hospital and I will go to jail. I’ll bet money that, at my trial, you would not be able to find 12 people who would find me guilty of assault.
