Despite the fact that I rarely agree with your editorials, I must write and congratulate the Tribune for correctly weighing in on the biennial election issue of flag desecration (“Flag desecration, again,” Editorial, May 26). Desecration of our national flag, along with other hotly contested issues, such as gay marriages and abortion, only come to the surface when a stake in Congress or the presidency is at issue.
Truly Americans have greater problems to contend with at the moment: an out-of-control national debt, the fiasco in Iraq, the rebuilding of New Orleans and so forth. The latter issues either affect our pocketbooks or the life and death of our families, friends or fellow Americans. Yet Congress continues to debate, after several years, whether to alter the Constitution to placate the conservative elements of its respective parties.
Altering the 1st Amendment to our Bill of Rights for people who have no clue or no desire to learn about its proper care is shameful. For people who endorse this amendment and find the act of desecrating the flag “un-American,” please remember that the Bill of Rights was an addition to our Constitution because some of our founding fathers believed that government by the people would not protect our basic personal liberties. Yet here we are trying to limit them!
If my fellow Americans are truly concerned about respecting and protecting our national symbol, then why do I have to witness businesses and personal homes displaying the flag incorrectly? Time and time again, I see businesses baring the flag improperly.
(Hint: The blue field should always face either north or east.)
If you’re going to rant and rave to Congress that the flag should be protected, then, at a bare minimum, acquire and implement the correct protocol for displaying, caring for and disposing of the flag.
To my fellow Chicagoans, next time you stroll down Michigan Avenue, or any avenue for that matter, and you see a flag not properly displayed or tattered, stop and say something.
