It is a lot easier to throw a water balloon at a flag burner then it is at a congress man. The later will probably get you locked up for life.
if i burn a flag, and i tell you "my friend, i burn this flag out of respect for our country, as a demonstration of how i can destroy something without reprisal from anyone, because i am free, and i respect those who gave me this freedom", would you simply not believe me? the person having the point of view tells you what they are saying, not the other way around. you can dictate to me that i mean disrepect any more than i could tell you that you are a terrible person for some innocent social faux pax. and even if they do specifically mean disrespect, so what? again, you dont see me getting upset when people wear crosses around their necks, even though i believe they symbolize a mentality that is disrespectful to truth and decency.
Looks like he actually didn't burn a flag because he didn't get a burn permit...according to The Advocate.
You have to get a burn permit to burn anything when the burning is not taking place on your property. Like in this case, when the burning is taking place on state property. Otherwise it could be seen as arson …which is also one of the charges that the guy who this protest was for is charged with. ETA: actually on second thought you may need to get a burn prmit to burn anything in the city limits...I've have to look this one up.
Suppose I were to get a New York City fire fighter's helmet, and say to you "my friend, as a demonstration of how i can desecrate something without reprisal from anyone, because i am free, and i respect those who gave me this freedom, I am going to take this helmet to Ground Zero and piss on it." How would you feel about that?
