Without so much as a wink or a smirk, the official Platform of the Republican Party endorsed by delegates at the 2012 Republican National Convention calls for the outlawing of free speech. Page 14:
Respect for Our Flag: Symbol of the Constitution
The symbol of our constitutional unity, to which we all pledge allegiance, is the flag of the United States of America. By whatever legislative method is most feasible, Old Glory should be given legal protection against desecration.
By whatever legislative means necessary, Republicans want to make free speech less free, criminalizing the “desecration” of the flag in political protest. They want to create a sacred class of objects that Americans are forbidden from disrespecting, from desecrating. They say they want to do it for the sake of the U.S. Constitution they hold so dear. The Constitution reads:
Amendment I.
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
No establishment of national flag religion. No restrictions on free speech. No to the Republican ticket in 2012.
There’s something sad about people who fetishize a piece of cloth.
I respect our flag, because symbols are important. But I respect the right of free speech a helluva lot more. And I take exception to the platform’s characterization of the flag as that “to which we all pledge allegiance.” Since as far back as elementary school (the onset of the Vietnam War) I have respectfully declined to pledge allegiance to the flag…and I have the scars to prove it.