District of Columbia

That is a law which has nothing, specifically, to do with burning a flag - the flag just happened to be the kindling or the fire. You can't violate generally applicable criminal laws and call it free speech to avoid punishment

First: What Trump said had virtually NOTHING to do with what was in the order. The order didn't purport to make a law, didn't request that Congress make a law, didn't propose a 1-year punishment.

Second: The order did not call for punishing flag burning. It called for enforcing general laws in which flag burning plays a role . . . like enforcing laws against setting fires in national park, regardless of what is used for kindling.


When people react to what the orange menace says - not what he actually signs, we play right into his hands. The first response should be to read what he signs (chances are it has virtually nothing to do with what's coming out of his talking butthole). The second should be to share as widely as possible what that order says so that we don't become part of the problem. The third should be that if you are going to engage in civil disobedience, make sure you got your facts straight. There was diddly squat illegal in the order Trump signed, despite all his hype trying to make it sound like he was doing issuing an illegal order.