Smith, Wyden: No official statement yet on flag burning amendment

Somewhat surprisingly, the combined White House/GOP congressional drive to push so-called immigration reform as their latest wedge issue has fizzled. Time enough later to unpack the question of why that happened; right now we can just take a quick moment to enjoy seeing that bit of cheap, cynical political theater closing out of town, and move on to the next pseudo-issue:

According to USAToday, the supporters of the latest iteration of the flag-burning amendment are within one vote of passage in the Senate (the GOP-controlled House, predictably, couldn't pass their version fast enough).

According to the local offices of Senators Smith and Wyden, neither senator has an official statement on the measure as of this morning. They're still "seeking input from their constituents," as the staffers explained.

So let's give them some input. Call your senators' offices, whatever state you live in, ask how they to vote on the flag-burning amendment, and give them your opinion.

Suffer from occasional performance anxiety when you get a senate staffer on the line? Think Progress offers these basic talking points for your clip 'n' save convenience:

• Flag burning is a non-problem (when was the last time you read about it actually happening?)


• Flag burning is protected speech (the Supreme Court settled that--twice)


• Amendment is vaguely worded (the Senate actually spent time wondering if this would apply to stars-and-stripes bikinis)

Personally, I like the first two, but not so much the third. The point is not to find a better-worded version of the amendment, it's to recognize that it's a very bad idea, however carefully it's phrased. So I merged the first two and told the staffers "It's an un-American solution to a non-existent problem." (Wyden's person chuckled under her breath and muttered "no kidding!" as she wrote that down. Bless her heart. Smith's person didn't seem quite so amused, so I asked him to please write down "cynical political theater," too.)

Word it however you want--throw in the fact that the Senate should be dealing with important issues, not clowining around with things like this, if you want. Just make the call. It'll be 90 seconds well spent.

Smith will probably remain coy as long as possible (before voting for the amendment), but Wyden should be voicing his opposition to this right now, simply to help discourage any more faint-hearted Democrats from jumping ship.