DEFENDING OLD GLORY

Wednesday is Flag Day, marking June 14, 1775 when the U.S. flag was adopted by Congress. The U.S. Senate is within one vote of banning desecration of the American flag, an amendment necessitated by judicial decisions that turned conduct (flag burning) into “freedom of speech.”
We continue to be a nation at war. As U.S. soldiers put their lives on the line daily overseas, the stars and stripes continue to symbolize freedom. In America you should have the right to speak in defense of flag burning, but Congress and the legislatures should have the right to prohibit flag burning itself. Burning a flag is conduct, not speech.
Ten years ago veterans protested an exhibit at the Phoenix Art Museum that depicted a flag in the toilet and another on the floor to be walked on.
I remember the exhibit well because I was the only conservative leader invited to participate in a panel discussion on the propriety of the exhibit. I debated National Endowment for the Arts chairman John Frohnmayer and several other liberals in front of a large and hostile arts crowd. I supported the veterans outside the exhibit hall who were protesting the exhibit.
This is another example of what separates me from every other Republican candidate for Governor — I have been in the arena defending conservative values and promoting conservative principles for more than 20 years. I was advancing conservative values long before I became a candidate for public office.