How were these displays received throughout the nation? As appalling? Anti-American? Asinine? Not even close. Toni Smith and the Hampshire flag burners are now called patriots, and their public contempt for their nation is somehow heroic. On March 2, The Kansas City Star declared Smith to be a "great American symbol."
You heard that right. Somehow and somewhere, something got lost in the translation. How can those who spit on the fundamental symbol of American values be patriots? As far as I can tell, their argument goes something like this: "Don't like Bush. Flag makes me think of Bush. Therefore, I burn flag." And then, since dissent is a true American value, the flag burners are, by default, patriots.
Sound ludicrous? I agree. The values that the flag represents are not confined to a specific presidential administration; they are the timeless and distinctly American ideals of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Included in liberty is the right to dissent. By burning the American flag, these activists are doing more than just expressing their disagreement with President Bush: they are heaping scorn on the very principle that allows them to dissent in the first place. It's a vivid and public example of leftist hypocrisy.
The only way out of this logical logjam is to redefine the meaning of the flag. Leftists, in typical relativistic terms, do it all the time: "The flag stands for oppression. American imperialism. Bush. Whatever we want it to stand for." To burn the flag is not to do injury to the right to dissent, but to express opposition to whatever facet of America with which the flag burner wishes to disagree.
Well, if they have a right to disagree, then I have a right to criticize the asinine. If the flag means something different to everyone, then why do leftists complain about the Confederate flag? After all, southerners don't see the Stars and Bars as an endorsement of slavery-they view it as support for states' rights and as a cultural relic. Why then do those same leftists who would fight desperately for their right to burn the American flag declare unambiguously that no one should have the right to fly the Confederate flag? Pick and choose, please-do both flags represent the respective basic values of the U.S. and the Confederacy? In that case, it wouldn't make sense to burn the first or to fly the second. If those values are relative, then burn the flag, by all means, but leave the southerners alone. Which one is it?
It's simple. Americans have revered their flag for over 200 years: from our struggle for independence to our current war on terrorism. In the past, even in times of profound disagreement with our government, we have kept the flag safe and secure. This speaks to something special about America, something that sets us apart from other nations: we are a country founded on principle and "dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal." Those principles, as our founders and our ancestors understood, are the American flag. It is only in this new age of liberal relativism that we find Americans willing to destroy those same values that they claim to defend.
Conclusion? Toni Smith, the Hampshire students and other activists cannot be patriots. It is, in fact, anti-American, in the purest sense of the term, to disrespect the flag. We would expect to see the American flag burned in despotisms in the Middle East, Asia and Africa, but it is a truly sad day when those who enjoy the fruits of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness each day as American citizens betray their own nation.