First Amendment under fire

Today, the Senate held debates on a Constitutional amendment to give congress the authority to protect the flag. This, even after the Supreme Court ruled that flag burning, however heinous it may be, is still protected under free speech. The amendment failed by one vote. In over a 200 year history, the Constitution has only been amended 27 times, ten of which are the the Bill of rights, ratified shortly after the ratification of the original Articles of the Constitution. To counteract this amendment, proposed by the GOP, Dick Durbin, and sponsored by Hillary Rodham Clinton, suggested an initiative to make a law (not a Constitutional amendment) outlawing protesting at cemeteries during a funeral.

After the vote, Senator Barbara Boxer said the flag is a "reminder of our democracy". It is also a symbol of our history of fighting to preserve our fundamental right to freedom and liberty. Respect can only be earned, it cannot be forced. And the American flag has certainly earned the highest level of respect for every United States citizen. I do not believe the flag should be desecrated; however, respect for the flag and for our nation must be allowed to come to each American citizen of their own free will. During his first term, and sadly his last term inaugural speech, the great President John F. Kennedy said "[T]he rights of man come not from the generosity of the state, but from the hand of God." And I believe that his words are just as true now as they were then. This amendment would have sent the message that personal freedom can only be granted by a fuhrer; moreover, it would have been a blaspheme to our forbears, and the foundation they so carefully poured.

I think I have figured out this administrations, and this Congresses hidden agenda for the year: to make the United States Constitution nothing more than a worthless rag. I can already see the Senate marching from Capitol Hill to the Museum where the Constitution is kept, and one by one defiling it, while singing gleefully.

This is another rally call for each and every one of us to fulfill our most basic duty as an American citizen: to vote. If we, ourselves, are not willing to give that much in defence of our freedom, then we will surely loose them; and we will have no one other than ourselves to blame. Encourage your friends and family to register, and when the day comes, to step into the booth and vote their conscious. No one else can do it for them. Celebrate your freedom!

Cody Hobbs