Now this is where we at Beacon of Speech disagree with the American Court system. We are huge proponents of Free Speech, but Flag Burning isn't speech, it is an ACTION.
You shouldn't burn things in public places, especially flags. If I was displeased with you, the reader, for example, I could write why I disagreed with you, I could stand in my yard and yell why I disagreed with you, but if I created a flag with your picture on it, and then I burned it in a public forum, I would go to jail. The authorities wouldn't buy my freedom of speech argument, they would charge me with harassing you.
So I don't understand why you can burn a flag, any flag, in a public space. Instead of harassing a single person like the example given above, you are instigating a group of people. But since the courts have ruled Flag Burning speech, let's burn some flags.
Today Donald Trump had a big ol' Independence Day parade with Tanks and Expensive aircraft.
My Social Media was split over the reaction to the parade, split between "an embarrassingly masturbatory display of patriotism" and "making America Great again." Then the Communists had to come and start burnin' flags.
Here's what happens when you burn an American Flag at an Independence Day Celebration.
You burn (verb), they punch (verb).
I remember the band Ministry burning an American Flag onstage at the end of their song Land of Rape and Honey on their In Case You Didn't Feel Like Showing Up Live Tour in 1990. There were no fights, I believe the audience gave out a muted cheer.
Did I stop listening to Ministry? Oh, no, I continue to listen to the band today.
The Year was 1979 and some Iranian Students burned some American Flags in Cleveland, Ohio. Local Sportscaster Gib Shanley didn't like that gesture one bit, so he took to the airwaves (Channel 5) and set an Iranian Flag alight and threw it to the ground. The first part of the above video is Shanley on the news and the second part is local Clevelanders rallying in support of Shanley after he was suspended.
If I recall correctly, Shanley had to give a very specific apology to return to the air. Something like, I promise not to burn any more Iranian Flags on Live TV.
This is from 2 weeks ago. A football player in Utah burned a Rainbow Flag on Social Media. Word got around town and now the football coach has to decide if that young man's going to still be on the football team. (I'm going to guess he's not.) If the player took the school to court citing free speech in relation to his (probable) suspension, that case ain't going to be decided before his 30th Birthday.
Here's some young scallywags burnin' the Confederate Flag. There's no one to punch them or to cheer them on. Just havin' some "fun" on YouTube. As a matter of fact, I found all these videos on YouTube. The reason I took screen shots and posted the links underneath the pictures is in case certain videos disappeared.
I don't think it's cool to burn the Russian Flag in Russia. But on the other hand, when Crimea fell, you could turn on the nightly news and watch piles of Ukrainian Flags burning outside of buildings.....
Excuse me, my phone just rang.
Okay.
Okay.
Okay.
It was representatives from the Russian Government. They would like me to print this:
The meeting in Moscow was dedicated to professional challenges faced by Russian historians and the role they play in consolidating Russian society. One of the suggestions discussed was to write a comprehensive book on the history of the disputed Crimean peninsula as a contingency against possible attempts to diminish Russia’s role in it.
Putin said that historically “there is not a single weakness for us there. Start with the fact that for Russians – and I mean the ethnically Russian part of our multinational people, the Christian Russian people – is a sacred place. In Crimea in Chersonesus Prince Vladimir [Sviatoslavich the Great] was baptized, and then he converted Russia. The original baptismal font of Russia is there."
But you can subscribe to the Burn Flag Channel and burn all kinds of Flags. Countries Burn Flag likes? Germany and the United States. Countries he likes to burn flags from? Russia, Venezuela, and Somalia.
Which got me thinking. You remember the Communists from the first video? I vaguely remember them. I believe they're the same ones who accidentally caught themselves on fire burning the flag at the RNC Convention in Cleveland in 2016.
How did I remember that? I knew one of the cops in the Cleveland Video.