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Bush Desecrates the American Flag?

By stcynic on June 22, 2006.

Yep. And there are pictures. In Livonia, Michigan he signed his autograph on a bunch of American flags at a political rally, here's the picture:

i-6edf5b195fafe9cd5877ff4cdb9028eb-bushsignsflag2003.jpg

That was from 2003. It seems he did the same thing in Austria recently. What does the US Code say about this sort of thing?

TITLE 4 > CHAPTER 1 > § 8

§ 8. Respect for flag

(g) The flag should never have placed upon it, nor on any part of it, nor attached to it any mark, insignia, letter, word, figure, design, picture, or drawing of any nature.

He defaced the American flag on foreign soil! It's a good thing the Senate hasn't voted on that constitutional amendment yet, eh? But don't worry, if it ever goes to court, I'm sure the DOJ would file a motion to dismiss invoking the State Secrets privilege. Basically they'd tell the court, "We could tell you why the president's program of flag desecreation is a part of his constitutional authority and was authorized by Congress in the AUMF, but then we'd have to have Dick Cheney shoot you in the face."

Hat tip to AmericaBlog.

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Sweet. It reminds of Bill Bradley, whose nickname in the NBA was "Dollar Bill". People always ask him to autograph a dollar for them. He refuses because it is also illegal to deface US Currency.

Stop the madness! My father didn't fight in WWII so draft dodgers could thumb their noses at the US flag!

We should mention that, in principle, it's nobody's business what the president or his admirers do with any striped rectangle that they personally own.

I wrote something similiar last year. (Click the link on my name.)

However, I will also point out it is impossible for a sitting president to violate the flag code since the code gives the commander and chief the authority to modify the flag code at will. So when Bush wipes his ass with flag toilet paper, shitting on the flag is an acceptable use under the flag code.

Reed, that's absurd. Bush doesn't wipe his ass with the flag, he wipes his ass with the Constitution. Why destroy the symbol when you can destroy the real thing?