Toward a Catholic Legal Theory of Flag-Burning Amendments . . .

Yes, symbols are important.  But symbols are important, in large part, because they are accessible and interpretable in ways that transcend collective edicts.  Using the law to express the non-negotiable sanctity of the physical embodiment of national identity strikes me as an understandable, but ultimately absurd, endeavor.  Further, given that Catholic legal theory is operating in the "reality-based world," I'll go ahead and open the MoJ debate on the flag-burning amendment with the (entirely unoriginal) observation that it seems like a colossal waste of time.  As Dana Milbank observed today:

The chamber has scheduled up to four days of debate on the flag-burning amendment this week. If that formula -- one day of Senate debate for each incident of flag burning this year -- were to be applied to other matters, the Senate would need to schedule 12 days of debate to contemplate the number of years before Medicare goes broke, 335 days of debate for each service member killed in Iraq this year and 11 million days of debate on the estimated number of illegal immigrants in the country.

Am I missing something?  Are we all agreed that this is straightforward election-year posturing?

Rob