LETTERS: FLAG AMENDMENT ISN'T NEEDED

To the editor:

Regarding a proposed constitutional amendment to protect the U.S. flag, I happen to think that Thomas Jefferson and other Founding Fathers meant the First Amendment to be as it is. Even though they, as many of us do, felt that burning the flag was not acceptable, we would not want to punish anyone for expressing his views. I believe the statement is, "I may not agree with what you say, but I will die for your right to say it."

When I was a child, we always had a flag, not one attacked to a pole that you stick in a flag holder, but a real up-the-pole flag. My dad fought in World War II, and he raised me to believe that our flag stood for freedom and individualism. We raised the flag every sunny day at daybreak -- never in the rain, and we took it down every evening. The flag was folded into a neat triangle and stored with great respect in a cedar chest until the next morning. The though of anyone letting the flag touch the ground, let alone buring it, is against everything I believe in. However, as Jefferson once said, it may hurt my feelings, but is isn't breaking my legs.

For some reason, many people, including many legislators, associate our freedom, our great advances and our individualism with government control. I think that our Founding Fathers tried to ensure that the federal government would be very limited in its control of the everyday lives of individual citizens. I believe that we still have some freedom and individualism, and we have advanced and grown, not because of government control, but in spite of it. However, as the country becomes more socialistic and more controlled, individual integrity, ingenuity, freedom and individualism are being limited and eliminated.

What would Jefferson, James Madison and the other Founding Fathers think about our legislators using the flag as a political tool? I ask U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson and other legislators not to limit freedom of speech but return the glory to Old Glory by eliminating income taxes and cutting out socialistic programs. We don't need a constitutional amendment to protect our flag. We, the individuals of this country, will hold our flags high, honor our forefathers who fought for our freedom and continue to stand up for our rights as individuals.

MARY NALL

Marble Hill