Clark On Flag Burning
By: Import User
Updated: January 7, 2009
Breaking with most of his
Democratic rivals, retired General Wesley Clark says he favors
amending the Constitution to criminalize flag burning.
Clark says patriotism involves more than respecting symbols, but
he agrees with the long-debated amendment.
Lawmakers have debated the amendment almost annually since 1989,
when the Supreme Court ruled that flag-burning was a protected free
speech right.
In June, the Republican-controlled House approved a one-line
change to the Constitution -- "The Congress shall have power to
prohibit the physical desecration of the flag of the United
States" -- for the fifth time in eight years. The Senate never has
passed the legislation.
Among the Democratic presidential hopefuls in Congress, Senators
John Kerry, Joe Lieberman and John Edwards all have opposed the
amendment. Representatives Dick Gephardt and Dennis Kucinich have
voted for it.
Posted by Mike Hellgren
