Is flag burning free speech or criminal act?

The question is once again before Congress.

In 1989, the Supreme Court ruled that laws prohibiting flag burning are unconstitutional because they infringe on our right to free speech. Since that ruling, groups have consistently pressured Congress to pass a constitutional amendment protecting the flag from desecration.

All efforts have failed.

Free speech is just that important.

Flag burning is not a wholly despicable act. Proper etiquette requires that flags be ceremoniously burned, so it isn’t the burning of the cloth that is fanning this fire. It is the expression attached to the act of setting ablaze a national symbol that earns disapproval, and expression is a fiercely protected element of free speech.

Flag burning is certainly disrespectful and uncomfortable to witness, but it is also infrequent. If that is the price to protect our right to express ourselves – through speech, sign or gesture – it is worth the cost.

It is easy to protect popular or inoffensive speech. Protecting unpopular speech is not easy, but it is equally important because once we decide – as a nation – to ban offensive speech we must also then assign parties responsible for deciding what offends and what does not.

Do politicians decide? Do academics? Journalists? Courts? Voters?

Permitting popular views and outlawing unpopular views will shift with political and social winds. It would be ultimate political correctness run amok.

And, what happens when someone decides that flag waving is offensive? Do we then ban that expression?

No.

This nation was founded on the belief that its citizens ought to be able to speak freely, without fear of government reprisal.

Congress is once again considering the question of a constitutional amendment to protect the flag, a question that a Bush administration proven to favor restricting freedoms, supports.

Congress must have the courage to reject this notion, no matter how unpopular.

Protecting the flag fails the Constitution.


Celebration


Freestyle bike demonstrations, a fun walk and fast run showcasing Railroad Park in Lewiston and Festival Plaza in Auburn, amateur cyclists competing on the hills around Lake Auburn and professional riders speeding around a one-mile stretch of downtown Auburn.

It will be an active weekend in the Twin Cities as an estimated 6,000 people gather to either compete or applaud competitors in the first of what organizers hope will become an annual Wellness Weekend.

While amateur and elite cyclists will be featured, the 2-day event is a visible celebration of healthy community. Like any celebration, there will be entertainment, food and plenty of activities, and the proceeds will help fund programs of the Auburn-Lewiston YMCA and L/A Trails.

We hope the community makes an effort to attend this event and we hope further that the event will pique interest of not-so-active people to get more active, and to take advantage of the protected scenic trails in Lewiston and Auburn and occasionally pedal a bike along the river roads in Auburn and Lewiston or out and beyond Lake Auburn.

The best outcome of Wellness Weekend is that participants start to see walking downtown and biking in the countryside as daily – not annual – activities.
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