I was a little dismayed to read Harley Karvonen's letter concerning his solution to the "delicate problem" of flag burning, not that I'm entirely sure what that means.
Many things about this missive from the plainspoken far right bother me, but I'll concern my response with only a few.
First, it seems disingenuous to describe all those opposed to flag desecration laws as "liberals" aligned with the "ACLU." After all, it was "liberals" and the ACLU that supported such left-wing nuttiness as the desegregation of schools (Brown v. Board of Education), advocated against state bans on interracial marriage (Loving v. Virginia), and, more recently, challenged the government's right to spy on U.S. citizens (ACLU v. NSA).
Secondly, according to the United States Flag Code, no part of the flag should be used as a piece of costume, or embroidered or pressed onto paper. One need only walk into Wal-Mart to see this form of "desecration." If I spill my drink at a picnic, am I guilty of flag desecration?
Finally, when are all of these flags being burned? To the best of my recollection I have seen an American flag being burned only one time: at a rally commemorating the 25th anniversary of the Kent State shootings, held at the site.
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In that case it was liberals, dirty, patchouli-stinking liberals, who stopped the demonstrator from continuing.
This all seems like a political MacGuffin and frankly a waste of everyone's time. This prompts the question: Why did this come up now? At a time when the Republicans are taking water over the side, this seems like another attempt to stir up shallow patriotism.
Craig Garaas-Johnson
Fargo
