PIML 96051108 / Forwarded to Patriot Information Mailing List: Date: Fri, 03 May 1996 17:53:37 -0700 From: Liberty or Death Subject: L&J: Desecrating the Flag (OO) One more from the Oregon Observer, from a few months back: ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- There Is More Than One Way To Desecrate Our Flag There is no doubt in any American's mind as to what Our American Flag represents. From the moment Betsy Ross stitched the last star in its field of blue, our American Flag has been the world's most recognizable symbol of freedom. Everywhere we went, we proudly took our flag with us; we flew it on our ships, it led us into battle, it guarded our consulates and embassies and we proudly planted it on the moon when we arrived there. At home, we used to pledge allegiance to our flag every morning before school and saluted it while singing the national anthem before every sporting event. With hands over our hearts, we meant every word. My God, how we used to be proud of our country. We were proud to be Americans. We were free and the rest of the world-looked up to us with envy. We were not only the greatest nation on earth, but our Founding Fathers had given birth to the greatest nation the world had ever seen. And Old Glory, The Stars and Stripes, our American Flag was the Red, White and Blue symbol of the freedom that made us great. And now, in the same breath our government deliberates to amend our Constitution for a "balanced budget"(little more than a cruel joke), it deliberates to add another amendment to make it a crime to desecrate our flag. There is more than one way to desecrate our flag and most of them do not involve the physical act of injuring it. I suggest to you that burning, ripping and shredding our flag is an effect rather than a cause. Anybody, whether they be an American or otherwise, that takes it upon themselves to physically desecrate our flag is doing so out of anger or frustration--not attributable to the symbol itself, but attributable only to the entity our flag symbolizes. Therefore, if our flag is being desecrated, the act itself is symbolic. It is being desecrated because the nation that flies the stars and stripes no longer deserves to use them to symbolize the freedom and bravery they were born to represent. Oh, how do we desecrate Thee? Let me count the ways: Every time our legislators pass another unconstitutional law, they burn our flag. Every time our government uses its power to infringe upon an American's freedom, it stomps it into the mud. Every time we take our flag to a foreign land and use our military might to invade another nation's sovereignty, we rip our flag to shreds. Every time an American citizen ruins another American citizen's day, they burn our flag. Every time we lie, cheat or steal, we stomp all over our flag to get what doesn't belong to us. We desecrate our flag every time we call ourselves Americans and haven't the guts to stand up to those we have allowed to steal our freedom. I don't have to see a pile of ashes to know when somebody has desecrated our flag. And now, the people who have made rewarding careers for themselves by sticking our flag in a blender and drinking it every morning for breakfast are planning to amend the Constitution. They are heatedly debating whether or not they should pass another, unconstitutional law that makes it a crime to desecrate our flag. Isn't it ironic that it will soon be a crime to desecrate the very thing that symbolizes our God given right to desecrate it? Our American Flag?... and that the legislators who will make it a crime are the ones we elect to protect our God given rights? What is our flag, really? It is what you and I and our elected officials are supposed to stand for: Truth, honesty, decency, morality--Freedom. Good luck, America. Your government is desecrating THEE. With hope, Don Harkins, The American Sincerely, Don Harkins Editor, The Oregon Observer 15033 SE McLoughlin, Milwaukie, Oregon 97267-2800 (503) 786-8245 FAX (503) 786-7035 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- >>> Don't Tread On Me! <<< ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- * Psalm 33 * ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- "If ye love wealth greater than liberty, the tranquility of servitude greater than the animating contest for freedom, go home from us in peace. We seek not your counsel, nor your arms. Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you. May your chains set lightly upon you; and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen. - Samuel Adams ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- O- TweedleBill & TweedleBob - the evil of two lessers =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Unsub info - send to majordomo@pobox.com with "unsubscribe liberty-and-justice" in the body (not the subj) of the msg. 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