I wrote the following letters to my Senators, Mark Dayton and Norm Coleman. Both are considered to be supporters of the flag desecration amendment (though Dayton may be on the fence).
Dear Senator Coleman,
We live in trying times. In world beset by instability, worried by economic insecurity, and threatened daily by the scourge of terrorism, it is easy to overlook some of the most important aspects of America and American ideals in our pursuit to unify the country and the people.
It is too easy to forget the ideals our flag stands for when it is under siege by merciless barbarians who want to destroy us and our nation.
But yet, the greatest American leaders managed to overcome that myopia. Under the shadow of both Nazism and Communism, President Franklin D. Roosevelt articulated the famous “four freedoms”: Freedom of speech and expression , Freedom of religion, Freedom from want, and Freedom from fear. As you prepare to vote on the upcoming flag desecration amendment, I ask you to reflect on those four freedoms. Are we really upholding freedom of speech, when we take away from those who dissent is too odious to us? Are we submitting to irrational fear, when we pretend like a few scattered protesters really can bring down those ideals which have made our nation great for over two centuries? Is it an insult to our nation when we allow miscreants to burn the flag–or is it a salute, a nod to our highest aspirations and our faith that our deepest foundations can withstand the slings and arrows of a few street thugs and menaces?
I have absolute confidence in our nation to survive even an epidemic of flag burning–far from what we have seen recently. They are not the ones who can hurt us. The greatest threat to our freedom does not come from those who mistreat the flag. It would come from those who forget what the flag stands for.
Do not forget. Do not give into fear. Vote against the flag desecration amendment.
Sincerely,
David Schraub
And to Senator Dayton:
Dear Senator Dayton,
I read with dismay that you are currently considered among the minority of Democrats who support amending the constitution to ban flag desecration. I urge you in the strongest of terms not to vote for ratification of this amendment. Right now, the projected vote count is right on the edge of the 66-vote mark needed to amend the constituion. Your vote could make the difference in deciding whether this egregious resolution becomes part of the highest law of the land.
You have been a stellar senator these last 6 years. But this might be the single most important vote of your tenure there, because of your position as the possible dealmaker or dealbreaker. Look back upon your legacy. Do you wish to be known as the one who kept our constitutional legacy pure? Who acted in the best American tradition, by defending the right of dissenters to say even the most obnoxious of speech? Or do you wish to be known as the man who paved the way for the first restriction on the bill of rights to be codified in our nation’s history?
Either way, this vote may be your entry in the history books. Choose your path wisely.
Sincerely,
David Schraub