Flag-Burning Amendment Advances in House - Yahoo! News

Responding to a massive upsurge in flag desecrations and a sharp decline in the number of available American flags, Republicans in the House sought to redress market imbalances by inserting into the Constitution a prohibition on the desecration of an American flag (Question - does desecration include wearing an American flag pin while presiding over the most shameful episode in America's treatment of the incarcerated since the 1940s?)

Flag-Burning Amendment Advances in House - AP (Washington): "WASHINGTON - The House moved Wednesday toward approval of a constitutional amendment that would give Congress the power to ban desecration of the American flag, a measure that for the first time stands a chance of passing the Senate as well. Lawmakers in the House debated as they have six times before whether such a ban would uphold or run afoul of the Constitution's free-speech protections.

Supporters said the measure reflected patriotism that deepened after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, and they accused detractors of being out of touch with public sentiment.

'Ask the men and women who stood on top of the (World) Trade Center,' said Rep. Randy (Duke) Cunningham, R-Calif. 'Ask them and they will tell you: pass this amendment.'

But Rep. Jerrold Nadler (news, bio, voting record), D-N.Y., said, 'If the flag needs protection at all, it needs protection from members of Congress who value the symbol more than the freedoms that the flag represents.'"

A sure sign that things are not going well in Iraq, in the Republican domestic agenda, and in the polls is the trotting out of this urgent piece of legislative activity.