Common Sense
I am usually a fan of Joe Conason, but I feel I must take exception to
his call for a public stand by Howard Dean on flag desecration.
First, a disclaimer: other arguments aside, (see here, here and here,) I have
been known in my offline life to make passionate arguments to preserve
the freedom to burn the flag. While I feel that flag burning as a means
of protest is almost always counter-productive, making the act illegal
would be a greater act of disrespect to the symbol of our nation, for
what does the flag stand for if not the freedom to express political
dissent?
That being said, I feel that the Democratic base's insistence that
candidates pass litmus tests on issues which are (a) symbolically
important to partisans, while (b) being divisive in the culture as a
whole, and (c) ultimately giving concrete benefits to few if any, is
self-destructive in the extreme. It is the kind of behavior that has
been eroding Democrats' electoral support for decades (see, again, my
links above). Forcing a public stand on this issue, or issues like it,
is a lose-lose proposition for Democrats. Either they embitter the
base, or they open themselves up to caricatures as America-haters by the
Republican media machine.
If the issue is controversial, and does not directly affect the
wellbeing of the American people, then don't force it. Why do the
Republicans' job for them?
7:16:03 AM 
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