I wonder, who should pay the fines/serve the time? The DNC Convention organizers, the candidate? Who? (I’m for the candidate paying the fines, serving the time. *heh* Hey! It was his party!)
UNITED STATES CODE
TITLE 18
Part I. CRIMES AND CRIMINAL PROCEDURE
CHAPTER 33 – EMBLEMS, INSIGNIA, AND NAMES
THIS TITLE WAS ENACTED BY ACT JUNE 25, 1948, CH. 645, SEC. 1, 62 STAT. 683§ 700. Desecration of the flag of the United States; penalties
(a)(1) Whoever knowingly mutilates, defaces, physically defiles, burns, maintains on the floor or ground, or tramples upon any flag of the United States shall be fined under this title or imprisoned for not more than one year, or both.
Perspiring minds just wanna know…
Update: Someone asked me (not in comments) how I could lay the responsibility for this behavior at The Obamassiah’s feet. Let me allow Thomas Lifson to respond:
One thing to be alert for here is how Barack Obama will respond to this colossal blunder. If history is any guide, Obama will try to divert responsibility to his staff, but then wasn’t it Barry who just this week has been reminding the world that he is the executive responsible for running his giant campaign organization?
“Unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required.”–Jesus (But, of course, given The Obamassiah’s religious experiences, one could not justifiably expect him to relate to that… so how about something more on his level… )
“With great power comes great responsibility.”–Spiderman
“Who? Me?”–The Obamassiah
Wow! You mean we really don’t have to have a Constitutional Amendment to get people to pay attention? COOL! 8)
Actually, Rosemary, the above law was passed into effect in 1948, I believe (a mod of earlier laws), but the Supreme Communistas have since said disrespect of the flag can be a free speech issue… How? Since physical acts are not speech (at least, that’s how the Founders explained the First Amendment in relation to physical abuse of the flag–that the First Amendment, in the view of those who wrote and approved it–did not apply to abuse of the flag at all.).
Of course, I kinda doubt The Church of The Obamassiah will claim a First Amendment purpose to their trashing of the flag. In fact, the campaign (that is so ably run by The Obamassiah himself) has already claimed that it had intended to recycle the flags and that the evil Repugs stole them! (Bypassing, of course, the fact that “recycling” them by throwing them on the ground, placing them in trashbags and dumpsters is hardly an approved, respectful method of dealing with flag disposal.)