Via CNN.com.

The House on Wednesday approved a constitutional amendment that would give Congress the power to ban desecration of the American flag, a measure that for the first time stands a chance of passing the Senate as well.

I’m an Army veteran and loyal patriot so I am, of course opposed to burning the American flag. I was in the Military Police company in our Corps of Cadets in college and my unit was responsible for raising and lowering the flags on campus 365 days a year. We were the guardians of the flag and flag etiquette. That being said, however, I have also found myself on the side of the argument that allows people to freely express themselves however they choose, which includes their right to burn the flag in opposition to the people who wave it. The whole reason I served in our military was to protect free speech, our democracy and the rights of all Americans. We can’t have a culture where you are free to support the institutions of America all you want but it’s illegal to protest them. That’s called Communism.

Something about the image of seeing police officers wrestle an American citizen to the ground as he burns a flag in protest just makes me think of the Middle East.

We all practice our freedom individually.

Read the entire article at CNN.com.

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