The ACLU today is urging that Congress reject the Flag Desecration Ammendment. In their own words, "free expression and the right to dissent are among the core principles for which the American flag stands." And here’s a quote from Terri Ann Schroeder, an ACLU Senior Lobbyist, "The First Amendment must most be protected when it comes to unpopular speech. Failure to do so fails the very notion of freedom of expression."
They love to mix the terms "free speech" and "free expression." But aren’t they really two different things?
Here’s a great example of "free expression" as the ACLU defines it. A mother in Phiadelphia yesterday rammed her mini van into the front of school in what was characterized as protest over the inaction of school authorities in protecting her children from repeated bullying.
The ACLU wants to protect closet arsonists who want to burn objects, like the American flag for instance, in public places where lighting fires is normally in violation of the law. Yet they take no interest in defending a mother who is desperate to protect her children from a very real threat. Perhaps the ACLU should be called on to give a very specific definition of what behavior constitutes "free expression" and what behavior does not.