66% of U.S. senators just shat on the First Amendment

"I think this is getting to where they are not going to be able to escape the wrath of the voters."

yeah that hatch quote cracked me up, the anti-judiciary stuff in it was particularly disgusting though.

these votes are so deliberate that one-away-from-passing means little, especially with an issue that is so totally and only a public relations issue, like this.

I'm goin' with the dark horse: absentee fathers' rights

hilarious: the smear ads running right now here in Montana -- "Senator (I FORGOT HIS NAME) thinks that flag-burning is a right. CAN YOU FUCKING BELIEVE THAT????"

She voted agin', along with

NAYs ---34
Akaka (D-HI)
Bennett (R-UT)
Biden (D-DE)
Bingaman (D-NM)
Boxer (D-CA)
Byrd (D-WV)
Cantwell (D-WA)
Carper (D-DE)
Chafee (R-RI)
Clinton (D-NY)
Conrad (D-ND)
Dodd (D-CT)
Dorgan (D-ND)
Durbin (D-IL)
Feingold (D-WI)
Harkin (D-IA)
Inouye (D-HI)
Jeffords (I-VT)
Kennedy (D-MA)
Kerry (D-MA)
Kohl (D-WI)
Lautenberg (D-NJ)
Leahy (D-VT)
Levin (D-MI)
Lieberman (D-CT)
McConnell (R-KY)
Mikulski (D-MD)
Murray (D-WA)
Obama (D-IL)
Pryor (D-AR)
Reed (D-RI)
Sarbanes (D-MD)
Schumer (D-NY)
Wyden (D-OR)

It's true that one away from passing doesn't mean it was necessarily close.

yes, they seem to be forgetting that "unelected" really means "confirmed by us."

vote for us, or else!

Um ... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orrin_Hatch#Education

Several men with bullhorns burning multiple flags all day long as they repeatedly state:

"In our country, we are proud to be free! We so free that we can proudly and publicly demonstrate what it means to be a free American citizen by burning the very symbol of our freedom, if we so choose. By burning the flag, we proudly display our freedom. We do not burn the flag because we hate it, but because we love what it represents. Because our great country is beyond idol worship and state-imposed tyranny, we are free to do this. In other countries they don't have this freedom. In other countries, people live in fear and subservience to their flag BECAUSE OF WHAT THEIR FLAG REPRESENTS! Our flag does not represent fear and subservience. Our flag does not represent slavery and silence! Our flag represents FREEDOM AND LIBERTY! Free speech is the first and last right of all Americans! Let us now proudly exercise that right!"

> lights flag <
> cheers

Etc.

If you drill the idea into people's heads enough, it will catch on and even morons will dig it. Imagine lighting up the flag on July 4th! Makes perfect sense!

Call it a running joke of mine, I know I overdo it. But in this case it was pretty specific actually though: that pic is an episode where Zoidberg eats the flag on Freedom Day, and everyone wants his guts for garters, even though the point Zoidberg was making was that he was free to eat the flag on Earth. Same idea as "burn the flag because you're free to do so".

Good point...I hope this ammendment had bylaws detailing when/how to respectfully burn the flag, as well as an initiative for all to learn and practice that triangle fold, and how to correctly fellate the stars & stripes ("fer chisesakes, at least don't use your teeth").

considering that 14 democrats were in favour. i can sympathise (grudgingly) with those in tight seats, like SD, LA or AR, but what's with dayton from minnesota(who's not running again) or dianne feinstein from CA?

Plus you have to symbolically torch the thing every once in a while so that it can get some new life like a phoenix. I'll want to symbolically burn one and raise a fresh flag after this administration is over.

GIRL: You broke my ankle!
BENDER: Freedom.

McConnell takes heat on flag issue
SENATOR KEY VOTE ON BURNING AMENDMENT
By Janet Patton
HERALD-LEADER WASHINGTON BUREAU
POLL: Do you support a Constitutional amendmnet banning flag burning
WASHINGTON - Proponents of a constitutional ban on flag burning threw two baseball heroes, one Miss America, dozens of veterans and the Senate leadership at Sen. Mitch McConnell and fence-sitters yesterday in what is expected to be a very close vote later this month.

At a Flag Day press conference outside Senate offices, bill sponsor Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, said his Senate Joint Resolution 12 stands a good chance of being the first flag-burning ban to pass the Senate. The legislation passed the House easily a year ago. Thirty-eight states would have to ratify the amendment before it became law.

"We have the votes, if some of these people do not pull back," Hatch said.

Counting his 59 co-sponsors, Hatch will need seven votes to get the two-thirds majority necessary for a constitutional amendment. Seven of the remaining senators have, at times, voted for versions of the amendment, but there is no guarantee they will do so when Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist calls for a vote in the last week of June.

McConnell, the Senate majority whip, could be sitting on a crucial "yes" vote, but he has cited free-speech concerns in explaining why he does not support a constitutional amendment to ban flag burning.

"Sen. McConnell remains committed to protecting the constitutional freedoms enshrined in the First Amendment," said Robert Steurer, a spokesman for McConnell, who did not attend yesterday's press conference, in a statement.

Miss America 2000 Heather French Henry of Kentucky, who has made veterans affairs her platform, implored McConnell at the press conference yesterday "to help protect our flag."

She was accompanied by her husband, Dr. Steve Henry, Kentucky's lieutenant governor under Paul Patton. Steve Henry may run for governor as a Democrat in 2007.

He said privately that McConnell "believes in protecting the flag," but that he wants to do so with statutes, which, Henry said, could be overturned. "We want to lean on Senator McConnell; he could be a deciding vote on whether or not this passes," Henry said.

When it comes down to the vote, Henry said, "McConnell could be the 67 or the 34."

To demonstrate the kind of desecration the bill would address, baseball Hall of Famer Sen. Jim Bunning, R-Ky., introduced at the press conference Rick Monday, who as a Chicago Cubs outfielder in 1976 snatched a flag from two protesters who were about to burn it in the Dodger Stadium outfield.

Yesterday, Monday displayed that faded but unmarred flag.

"Rick snatched the flag right from under their noses to thunderous applause. The crowd burst into God Bless America. It was arguably one of the greatest moments in the game," Bunning said.

Later in the morning, a group of veterans opposed to the amendment protested, according to a release from the Veterans Defending the Bill of Rights. They were joined by Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., and Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., according to the release.

"Amending the Constitution to limit Americans' freedom of speech is a misguided and dangerous use of the time and resources of Congress," Keith Kreul, past national commander of the American Legion, said in the release. "Members of the Senate should be fighting for real veterans' issues, not symbolic attacks on the Constitution."