Dem
47
GOP
53
One of the (many) reasons we would never want to be president is that, for all the talk of being the most powerful person in the world, you have to do a lot of stupid, embarrassing crap. For example:
And there are at least a half-dozen other shots like this one out there. Nobody really believes that Trump loves the flag, do they? Certainly not enough to treat the flag the way his VP treats a couch. Salute? Sure. Hand over heart? OK. But kissing and hugging it? Weird, and humiliating.
Anyhow, as part of his ongoing I-love-the-flag-more-than-anyone performance art, Trump signed an executive order yesterday that criminalizes the burning of the American flag. The Supreme Court has already ruled, in Texas v. Johnson, that flag-burning is protected speech under the First Amendment. The executive order tries to get around that by arguing that flag burning constitutes "fighting words," which is an established exception to freedom of speech.
Already, one person has been arrested under the terms of the new directive. A man named Dave Terry, who identified himself as a 20-year veteran of the Armed Forces, showed up in front of the White House and torched an American flag, decreeing that it was his right as an American.
We think that attitude is very common among veterans, even if Trump does not realize it. We thought we'd also share this, from reader A.H. in Newberg, OR, in support of that observation:
Our dear leader has just announced that he, through executive decree, has criminalized the burning of the American flag.
My father, father-in-law, numerous uncles and aunts, a brother, brother-in-law, cousins, a son and daughter, and more nieces and nephews, as well as myself have taken the oath to defend the Constitution from all enemies both foreign and domestic. We have served under that flag. In my household, we possess the flags that were on my father's and father-in-law's caskets. We have a flag that our daughter carried while airborne over Iraq and Afghanistan. We have another flag with no special personal meaning that we proudly fly on appropriate days: Memorial Day, Fourth of July, etc. If someone wants to come and take my flag, I will have to explain how they were so grievously injured when they tripped, and that I administered appropriate medical assistance!
HOWEVER, if someone wants to burn a flag in protest of the Felon-in-Chief's authoritarian tendencies, give me a call. I will pony up for the flag and matches. I am a little long in the tooth to be waving a burning flag around, but I will proudly defend to the death the right to peaceably assemble and express our grievances to our elected officials. I did not serve under that flag to see some 2-bit wannabe DICK tator dry hump it in front of an audience of witless sycophants.
Trust me, I DO NOT like or want to see our flag desecrated; it is a powerful symbol of our nation. But, more than that. I DO NOT want our Constitution to be abrogated and trashed like quilted Charmin at the whims of the Orange Menace who shall not be named.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER
Phuque U DJT
(Z) spoke to several other veterans yesterday; all echoed the same sentiments.
Undoubtedly, this is headed to court, and eventually it will reach the Supremes. We do not pretend to know what they will do. The answer should be clear-cut, especially since the administration's legal theory is a gross offense against fighting words doctrine. That said, the decision in Texas v. Johnson was 5-4 (with one of the liberals in the minority!), and current associate justice Samuel Alito sure does love his flags. So, it's certainly possible they'll sustain Trump.
We think the huge mistake here is not that Trump could suffer an embarrassing loss in court (though he might!). The mistake, which occurred to us immediately, and which has also occurred to many others across the political spectrum, including staunch conservatives, is that he's just handed everyone a cheap and easy way to say, well, "Phuque U DJT." And sure, the administration arrested Dave Terry. And they'll arrest other people, too. But what are they going to do if 100 people burn flags all at once? Or 1,000? Or 10,000? What if there's a Day of Flag Burning across America, and 500,000 people from coast to coast all burn an American flag? It is impossible to arrest, much less jail, that many people. Especially given that the jails are already jam-packed with alleged undocumented immigrants.
Again, Trump seems to be doing everything he can to hasten the moment of mass resistance, when it becomes clear to everyone he has no ability to back most of his plays. And from then on, it is, to borrow a phrase from The Spaniard, "Humiliations galore." In his nearly 80 years, has Trump never heard that you have to be careful not to overextend yourself? We guess not. (Z)