Again with the flag

Next, from the people who brought you the Partiot Act!!:
Our small-government, states-right loving conservative leaders are pushing to make it illegal to burn the US flag. All it takes is a little ammendment to the Constitution.

Is it pointless to call out the obvious ploy to make Dems look unpatriotic in wartime? From Terry Schiavo to the patriot act to this new legislation the government is grasping at control of the people. They do it for their own gain, and because they ENJOY powerful government.

What will it cost Democrats to oppose this? Either 1: they look unpatriotic to the insipid majority or 2: they sell out their principles. Expensive either way. This is a trap, and there's no way out of it.

My official position: I have no reason to burn the flag, and I find it moderately offensive when people do. However, this is the land of the free and the home of the brave. I'm proud of how free we are, and if that means I have to suffer assholes who want to burn the flag, I will suffer them. It's a matter of principle: people in the most repressed shithole dictatorships can burn the flag, but if we pass this ammendment the very same act would make us political criminals. I0t chafes me to think that other people might be more free than me, even if it's for a freedom I don't ever invoke.

There have only been 2 ammendments to ever deprive people of freedom. The first was the 16th, which gave the federation power to tax income (obviously this one is a valid and vital function of government). The second was the 18th (prohibition) which was later repealed. Perhaps we will outlaw flag burning...and homosexual marriage...etc...or perhaps we'll follow the rhetoric we spew at the Middle East and hope democracy follows liberty.

PS: I heard a rumor that some state capped the maximum penalty for punching a flag-burner at 5$. I could support that, but I can't support more conduct laws.