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And it came to pass that on the 213th anniversary of its
freedom, the United States of America adopted the 27th
amendment to its national constitution, and thenceforth it
was illegal to burn, mutilate, or otherwise
desecrate
the American flag.
Among the first to be imprisoned for violating the Flag Protection Amendment were the dozen or so American Christians who actually practiced the teachings of the Bible.
At their trial, they cited their First Amendment
religious freedom, as well as the Second Commandment:
Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any
likeness of any thing that is in the heaven above (i.e.,
stars) . . . Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor
serve them.
In their view, a law against desecrating
the flag
carried the clear implication that the flag, a piece of
man-made cloth, had become sacred, and therefore, obedience
to that law of man was the worship of an idol, and thus a
violation of the laws of God.
President Bush said that although he sympathized with
them, he had no problem
with sending the Christians
to a reeducation center where they were forced to recite
the Pledge of Allegiance -- his major campaign issue in
1988 -- for 16 hours a day.
Bush also pledged an all-out war on flag abuse
and established the Flag Enforcement Administration as part
of a anti-flag-abuse task force headed by Vice-President
Dan Quayle.
Editors of veterans' magazines were shocked when they were their offices were among the first places to be raided by the FEA.
Have you seen some of their advertising?
Quayle
asked. It's disgusting. They're selling American flag
belt buckles, shoulder patches and lapel pins. Can you
believe that they could call themselves patriots while
they're busy commercializing our sacred flag? Even worse,
they're actually selling paraphernalia which leads to even
worse forms of flag abuse.
Pressed for specifics, Quayle mentioned flag decals and
bumper stickers for automobiles. In themselves, they're
probably acceptable. But the problem is, people put them on
cars, where they get splattered by mud. Very few drivers
have sufficient patriotism to obey the law of the land.
They don't stop the moment their flag is defaced and clean
it. Instead, they just drive on in the mistaken belief that
washing the car once a month is enough. It isn't.
At their trial, the flag paraphernalia merchants pointed out that the U.S. government, through its subsidiary, the Postal Service, was one of the major offenders. Many postage stamps have flags on them, and the Postal Service defaces those flags with its canceling machines.
A new method of cancellation was developed, thus giving the Postal Service an excuse to raise first-class postage to 50 cents an ounce, but there remained another problem.
With the exception of a few dingbat maiden aunts, Americans throw out old envelopes, even envelopes that have flag stamps on them. Once these flags enter the garbage stream, they could be buried without due honor, corroded by toxic wastes, or even burned.
To insure that our great national symbol is not
defaced,
Bush promised to place an FEA inspector at
every landfill in America. We have zero tolerance for
flag abuse,
he announced.
There were some who thought the money might be better
spent by inspecting just what was being dumped on America
-- oil on its beaches, acid rain on its forests, chemicals
in its rivers -- but Bush said he couldn't buy that. Do
whatever you want to America, as long as it shows a
profit,
he said. But don't mess with our
flag.
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