Friday, June 30, 2006

Flaming Flags


I guess you fucking idiots on the radical left are happy, now that the United States Senate has failed to pass a bill calling for a constitutional amendment to ban the burning of the American flag. It was close, though, it only came up one vote short. But for now, I guess the issue is over and done with as a partisan national issue, until, say, the day of the 2008 Republican Convention.

Until that day, you fucking morons, I have an idea. There are a few issues where I am in pretty much agreement with you on the left. I would like to see these issues put forward. And, though a lot of theAmerican public are skeptical, I think enough of them are on the fence that they might, if we approached it the right way, be convinced to come over to our side. With that in mind, I suggest we go all around to the different communities, hold rallies in support of our common issues, and when everybody gathers around to hear what we have to say-

WE BURN, DEFILE, OR OTHERWISE DESTROY A BELOVED NATIONAL SYMBOL!!!!

Yeah, that’s bound to get them on our side, you fucking half-wits. And that is exactly why this issue is going to stay an issue, everytime there is an election on or just this side of the horizon. And that’s why you never have to be worried, not in the least, that this constitutional amendment is ever going to become law.

Just look how this damn thing was set up for failure by the Republican Party. This bill was oppossed by no less powerful a Republican figure in the Senate than Senate Majority Whip Mitch McConell, the senior Republican Senator from Kentucky, who spoke out against it on the grounds that it would be an abridgement of the first Amendment guarantees of Freedom of Speech.

That, dear fools, is because, in my opinion, the Republicans had to make sure their bases were covered in case just enough Democrats crossed over in support of the bill, that it actually might pass, therefore depriving them of one of their number one bullshit issues. There are a few Republicans who can afford to take the position of spoiler, so long as the overall Republican position is solidly on the side of protecting “Old Glory”. Why?

Because if it ever passed, again, it’s no longer an issue. Therefore, if any of you flea bags ever decide, from that point on, to set flames to flag, your asses are going to jail, and no Democrat will jump to your defense. Their asses are covered, from that point on. But the way things stand now, McConnell and all the other Republicans know full well that, whenever the American public sees you engage in this infantile, moronic act of abject stupidity, they aren’t going to necessarily say, “hey, look at those commies. They must be members of that leftist Workers World Party. Or maybe Code Pink. Or maybe they’re just a bunch of leftist punks who just want to be a part of an “event”.

No, a substantial number of them, if not the majority, are going to be saying, LOOK AT THOSE FUCKING LIBERAL BASTARD DEMOCRATS!!

Then, after you are shown over and over again on the mainstream media, and Republican campaign ads, and presented as examples of “liberal” ideology, a large number of voters are going to run, not walk, to their polling places on election day and VOTE REPUBLICAN.

And so, in conclusion, my final request to you brain dead fucks is, the next time you decide to hold a rally in favor of gun control, or against the death penalty, or in favor of open borders and against strict enforcement of our immigration laws, please, by all means, do me the favor of burning the American flag. You have my blessing.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

What a well-written rant, Patrick! As a sometimes-fence-sitter, I really couldn't agree more. When I was reading about this, I was wondering, "What's the point?" and as suspected, there isn't one!

SecondComingOfBast said...

All it does is sabotage the efforts of some people that might want to bring about change. Which, as I implied, when it comes to certain issues, it's just as well they turn people against them. But from the vantage point of advcates of any issue they are behind, they are self-defeating, counterproductive schmucks, bottom line.

fondfire said...

I have to say, burning the flag is probably never effective as a strategy to get sympathy. But as I've said elsewhere, getting sympathy isn't always the point. Some people just want to put up a *ahem* flag that says, "Here's where the angry mutha fuckas are!" If the Democratic Party can't do a better job of letting people know that they're not the angry mutha fuckas, but that they actually have a better, more productive, positive plan for the country, then no flag burning bans will help or harm them. They'll be as irrelevant as ever, anyway.

Screaming at angry people and calling them idiots is, in a strange way (to me, anyway), confirming the shrill perception of "liberals" and only prodding angry people to be angrier. The people who own the media will continue to skew and manage these perceptions to manipulate people, as you note. If you think there's an actual method to manipulate the media owners out of their power (which they usually gained through a shrewd manipulation of perceptions, to begin with), please let me know. It'll probably involve making people realize (among a few thousand other things) that flag burning is the past-time of harmless cranks or very, very angry patriots. A non-issue that shouldn't waste valuable brain space, normally.

The thing that distresses me the most is that the one thing everybody agrees on is that we should all look down upon and be very angry at a few pissed-off protestors who ignite some colored cloth. Just so long as we dismiss such anger and never question what it's about, that must surely indicate that our values are in place . . . Yes, honor the unread holy book, the inherently meaningless sacredly colored cloth, the almighty dollar, and the symbols of the tribe . . . But don't actually look beneath the surface, please. Thank you.

autogato said...

Ah yes, Fondfire's writing is brilliant. He's even more entertaining in person. To rant, yet insert sayings like "mutha fucka." Ah.

Let's keep the ole flag burning legal, thanks. I like my 1st amendment rights.

SecondComingOfBast said...

Don't get me wrong, I'm not in favor of the amendment, I just question the rationale of the people that perform these kinds of activities. Put it this way-I definitely would NOT want them on my side. That would be something I would put about on the same level as hiring the neighborhood child molester to baby sit your kid sister.

But when all is said and done, it's a moot point anyway. And that is because, there will never be a flag burning amendment added to the Constitution.

Never, never, never, never, never, never, never.

And that is quite simply because, the people who say they want it-the Republican Party-really don't want it at all. They just want the issue in election after election, and they are going to make sure they keep it as an issue.

fondfire said...

Again, I think your last point is right on! The important thing here is not the issue itself (which simply undermines each ideal from some angle or another), but the fact that it's an emotional hot-button to generate poorly-considered support.

Politics of all kinds is quite flawed, but I can't help thinking our two-party lock-down is a huge part of our problem. Once both parties are paid-off (or bullied), certain issues are simply NEVER discussed. It requires more than two parties to have a truly democratic (small "d") conversation.

SecondComingOfBast said...

Very true. What we have now is a two party "Duopoly", and the longer it goes on the more gridlock there will be. The only real compromise that occurs is more a matter of collussion, and whatever is decided, the parties and their individual representatives have a choice of stsandard answers, either to side with the wishes of the majority, or to align themselves with -supposedly- protecting the rights ofthe minority. It's been urned into a shell game, and the decision is based more on gamesmanship and what is in the best interests of the individual party members-and more precisely, of their donors-and little if anything to do with what is actually in the best interest of the countyr, and the people as a whole.