Trump Goes After The First Amendment

With a 140 character flourish, our President Elect has reminded us that, during his campaign, he set the first amendment squarely in the sights of the second. At the time, his target was legitimate and highly respected journalists from various newspapers across the country.

This morning, he suggested that anyone who burns the flag should 'lose citizenship' (has he ever read Man Without a Country?   That doesn't work) or spend a 'year in prison'.

While his hyperbolic nature often flares up in his tweets, the underpinnings of this remark need to be taken seriously by anyone who has more than a passing regard for the bill of rights.

Burning the flag falls firmly in the category of free speech, however distasteful or, literally, inflammatory, it may be.  It is decided case law, Texas v. Johnson, 491 U.S. 397 (1989), which overturned a full 48 restrictions on burning the flag in state laws.

His threat, although entirely unenforceable, also plays fast and loose with the 8th amendment, which prevents cruel and unusual punishment.   Stripping a human of American citizenship is not legal short of voluntary consent of the citizen, and should horrify us (and if it doesn't, really, read Man Without a Country).    Any amount of time of confinement for flag burning has fascist overtones that should make our stomachs turn.

In 7 weeks, Donald J. Trump will 'solemnly swear' to the best of his ability to 'preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.

Hasn't he just declared, in one of his infamous pithy phrases, that he prefers to do precisely the opposite?