Mr. Kucinich Comes To Blacksburg, and I Remain Unenlightened.

[logomancer]

To get this out of the way: The Princeton trip was good. We placed fifth overall, I believe. I answered, insanely early, a question on C++ inheritance. 'Course, McQuain would've strangled me if I didn't, but...

Anyway, I met Dennis Kucinich tonight (WARNING: 2*10^6 pixels inside). He was very good. A great speaker. I like him. Sadly, I didn't get to ask a question that I've been meaning to ask him for about six months now:

Congressman Kucinich, I am troubled by the fact that you have voted consistently for a constitutional amendment banning flag burning with no apparent thought to the protection of civil liberties. Are you still in favor of a constitutional amendment banning flag burning, and do you plan to pursue the adoption of such an amendment if elected?

I wish I could've gotten an answer to it. The Internet has nothing on it. Kucinich's website doesn't talk about it. Nobody's talking, and I wanted his answer to it -- in person, where he couldn't ignore me. The people organizing his visit told me to email him about it. Of course, email can be ignored, and I have heard that it has (I can't give you a link on this, however). This will haunt me throughout November unless he gives an answer, which I don't think he will. I mean, if he's willing to ban a form of political speech, what other speech is he willing to ban? Hell, it doesn't even have to be about that -- how would one dispose of the flag properly? I'm an Eagle Scout, and I was always told that if a flag gets tattered and dirty beyond repair, you burn it. But I guess nobody in Congress was paying attention during that part of Boy Scouts.

Anyway, that was my visit, and at least I got to hear him speak. I also met some really hyper girls -- I think they were shills for Kucinich or something. They were a hoot. Anyway, I better get back to work, as I've been slacking for the past few days and really need to get some work done.

Comments

[nius.livejournal.com]

I, personally, would never burn a flag as a form of speech. I'd much rather burn a poster of the president, or the white house, or if I'm pissed at congress - burn a poster of Capital Hill, etc. I don't see the flag as a representation of shitty government, but as a representation of the country as a whole. There are 200something million other americans who probably don't suck as much as Bush ;-)

I do agree with you on the disposal issue - I was taught the same thing, the proper way to show respect to the country is to burn a flag that is beyond repair. That prevents it from becoming common refuse. The last place a retired flag belongs is in a garbage heap. It's kinda the same thing that's done with religious items - the correct way to dispose of a broken cross, or blessed palms, etc, is to burn them and bury the ashes. That whole "Ashes to ashes, dust to dust" thing.

[vond.livejournal.com]

Isn't there a procedure for decommissioning an American flag? Something to do with removing the stars or something I believe?

[yubbie.livejournal.com]

It's not actually required to burn the flag. The actual phrase used is to "dispose of it with respect, such as by burning." Most people just pick up the "burn" part. Maybe because they can't think of another way to show respect beyond buying it a condo in florida to retire to.