As President-elect Trump continues to spout off about anything that will distract us from how he’ll actually govern, he seems unconcerned with the U.S. Constitution or rule of law. Oh wait, maybe that lack of concern IS how he’ll actually govern.
Nobody should be allowed to burn the American flag – if they do, there must be consequences – perhaps loss of citizenship or year in jail!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 29, 2016
I don’t even know why he said this other than to appeal to his base. But a lot of people smarter than Trump have been having this conversation for a long time.
When I was still teaching things like history, politics, and constitutional law, I started a YouTube channel to address some commonly asked questions. If I ever have more time I’d like to get back to making these. Here is a brief history on the issue of flag burning.
We might not like the fact that someone would burn a flag, but the Constitution is designed to protect many forms of unpopular speech, even hyper-ignorance or racism.
