LETTERS: ENOUGH LAWS TO PROTECT THE U.S. FLAG

To the editor:

Speech is the "power of expressing and communicating thoughts by speaking." Funny, but I don't find anything about burning a flag in there anywhere. Not that I think we need another idiotic law passed by Congress, but burning a flag is not speech even by a stretch of the imagination. However, if somebody wants to waste his money by burning a flag he paid for, then what's the problem.

Let's stretch our imagination for a moment. If nobody watches these people burn flags on their own property, are they really saying anything? Is it against the law to talk to yourself? Speech or self-expression means very little if nobody listens or watches.

If there is a real issue here, it is where these people are burning the flag and whose flag it is.

It's illegal to deface public property, or anyone elses for that matter, already. If they make a mess burning a flag on public property, I'm sure we already have several laws to cover it. So let's all show a little intelligence and get on with the real issues.

CAROL POOLE

Jackson