Rand Paul: “the Congress will soon vote on a flag burning amendment to the Constitution. This issue arouses great emotions, even…”

“the Congress will soon vote on a flag burning amendment to the Constitution. This issue arouses great emotions, even without any evidence flag burning is a problem. When was the last time we heard of a significant incident involving flag burning? It is a nonissue, but Congress has managed to make it one while avoiding the serious matters of life, liberty, and property. As Congress makes plans to attack the flag enemies, it stubbornly refuses to consider seriously the Doctrine of Enumerated Powers, property rights, political propaganda from a government-run educational system, taxpayers' paid-for NEA sacrilege, licensing of all broadcast networks, or taxpayers' financing of monopolistic political parties, let alone the budget, the debt, the deficit, honest money, policing the world and the entire welfare state. Will the country actually be improved with this amendment? Will true patriotism thus thrive as the malcontents are legislated into submission? Do we improve the character of angry people because we threaten them with a prison cell better occupied by a rapist? This whole process fails to address the anger that prompts such misguided behavior as flag burning. We have a government growing by leaps and bounds, our citizens are fearful of the future and we respond by creating the underwear police. Surely flag underwear will be deemed a desecration. Why is dealing with a symptom of anger and frustration by suppressing free expression a moral good?”