Idiots

I really try to keep my political opinions to myself. Not just by rarely writing about them here but in my daily life. I find that if I keep them to myself, people tend to not offer their own opinions. It has been my experience that most people who ask me about politics almost always have an agenda, usually they want an argument or to start a monologue.

Tonight I think I'm going to break this rule. Once again, the stupid flag desecration amendment failed to pass, although this time it was a heck of a lot closer. Only failing by one vote, I wonder to myself who the hell are these people in the Senate? I get the House, all the loonier ones end up there (on both sides I might add) but the Senate is supposed to be where the more thoughtful politicians end up (emphasis on supposed). Here's the thing, as far as I can tell the flag is just a symbol of this country. When people say they fought for the flag they really mean this nation. I can't imagine that some protester burning the American flag is really going to bring this nation to it's knees. The current administration on the other hand just might (I'll stop right there). When it comes down to it, a flag is just a piece of cloth. Sure it may be loaded with symbolism but it isn't much different than the ragged jeans on the floor of our bedroom.

I realize that this issue is just the tip of the iceberg and if I really wanted to talk about the idiocy of those in power I could pick some more substantive issues. Such as the ongoing war and corresponding reduction of our civil liberties and privacy. Something tells me that this flag thing and all of the other stuff is related. Or at least symbolically. It smacks of more of the same rising nationalistic streak we seemed to be going through as a nation in the last six years or so. Patriotism is one thing but there is such a thing as too much patriotism.

What do I know, I'm just an idiot with a keyboard?