If U.S. flag needs protecting, others need banning

In the state of Iowa, it is a misdemeanor to burn a U.S. flag.

It's a misdemeanor to put a sticker on the U.S. flag.

Technically, it's even a misdemeanor to make a joke about the U.S. flag.

However, its not a serious misdemeanor, or even a non-serious one as there is no penalty for violating this law, which begs the question: Why have a law that carries no penalty?

Regardless, flag desecration legislation has been an issue at the state and federal level for more than 100 years. Most recently, the U.S. Congress has attempted and failed nine times since 1990 to place a measure on the ballot that would add an amendment to the constitution banning the desecration of the U.S. flag.

It always passes the House, but not the Senate, with its most recent defeat in 2006.

Clearly, this is an emotional hot-button issue, one which may never be settled especially as long as states like Iowa have vague laws that are seemingly unenforceable on the books, practically begging to be challenged in the U.S. Supreme Court.

Other states' flag laws have been tested in the Supreme Court and typically are struck down, leaving protests and mounds of legal fees in their wake.

Regardless, the U.S. flag is a powerful symbol, and one many people feel strongly about, which explains why there is a seemingly never-ending battle to protect it.

While it sounds eerily similar to idol worshipping, many believe the U.S. flag is more than just a piece of cloth. It represents something sacred and holy and as such, deserves special protection, such as that provided by a constitutional amendment.

For the sake of argument, I'm willing to buy that. Or at least say I do for the rest of this column.

While on vacation last week, I spent some time reading a historical fiction book called “The March.” Covering one of my favorite subjects, the U.S. Civil War, it chronicled Gen. William Sherman's infamous march to the sea and its affects on those involved.

In the midst of reading this book and while traveling on a highway between Wisconsin and St. Louis, I saw a motorcyclist with a leather jacket bearing the Confederate flag.

I made a smart-aleck remark to my wife about how his side lost and he should give up the fight.

Then I had a second thought. If the U.S. flag deserves special attention and protection because of what it represents and symbolizes, can't another flag commandeer that same kind of power.

If the U.S. flag represents freedom, then the Confederate flag represents tyranny and oppression. I would add treason to that list as well, as it was the battle flag representing a group of states attempting to dissolve the Union while making war on the United States.

It is as offensive to many Americans and what it stands for as burning a U.S. flag is to others.

So if society deems the U.S. flag is too powerful and symbolic to be burned because it may offend too many people, then by the same reasoning, we should outlaw the Confederate flag as well. And while we are at it, outlaw the German Nazi flag. It's equally repulsive, especially for someone of Jewish descent.

Personally, I don't buy any of it. If we are going to live in a country where there is true freedom of speech and expression, you run the risk of being offended at some point and time, unless you live in a cave cut off from all forms of communication with the outside world.

With that said, I can accept and respect the beliefs of others regarding protection of the U.S. flag. Others, especially those who serve or served in the military, seem to have much more emotional attachments to it than I and I’m willing to compromise the freedom of speech and expression provision of the Bill of Rights to abide by those sensitivies.

However, if we open that Pandora’s box and travel down that road, I would hope as a society we be consistent and recognize other flags can be equally powerful in their symbolism as well and be prepared to deal with them appropriately, such as erasing them from the landscape all together.

Gregory Orear is the General Manager/Editor of the Red Oak Express. He can be contacted at publisher@redoakexpress.com