Target Centermass

Day: June 22, 2005

  • House Approves Flag-Burning Amendment

    It’s been said that the definition of insanity is trying the same thing over and over while expecting a different result. While this definition may fail when experiencing computer problems with Windows, it certainly should hold up on matters of outlawing flag desecration.

    A constitutional amendment to ban desecration of the U.S. flag moved closer to reality Wednesday when the House of Representatives passed it 286-130.

    It was the seventh time the House has approved an amendment since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a Texas law in 1989 and the next year ruled the federal Flag Protection Act unconstitutional. Although the bill has been endorsed by all 50 states, it has failed four times to get out of the Senate.

    Those on both sides of the issue say this may be the year. Vote counts by the Citizens Flag Alliance, which supports the amendment, and the American Civil Liberties Union, which opposes it, show the Senate could be only two votes shy of the 67 needed to send the measure to the states for ratification.

    As disgusting and disturbing as I may find the desecration of the Stars and Stripes, as angered as I may be by the destruction of the flag I swore allegiance to as both a child and a soldier, this legislation should not join the highest law of our land. In fact, it is for precisely those reactions that it should not be banned — it is an effective means of expressing an opinion, and especially of drawing attention to that expression, that actually harms no other. I swore my fealty to the flag and to the republic it represents; that republic should hold forth a greater notion of the value of its freedoms than of its symbols.

  • Colors. And a Break in Iraq?

    Colors — such a simple thing, yet so many meanings.

    In politics, we have red states and blue states. The Greens? Yawn.

    In gangs, color of clothing can mean life and death. Just ask Hollywood about Colors.

    In military jargon, colors take on a shifting meaning. In an armored company, at least in my day, the colors red, white and blue represented the call-sign of first, second and third platoon, respectively. In an exercise against an opposing force (OPFOR), the exercising units are designated blue and the OPFOR are called red.

    In the unfortunate case of friendly fire, such as the well-publicized loss of ranger Pat Tillman, occurrences are called blue-on-blue. These have historically been accidents caused by the infamous fog of war. Red-on-red stories would often carry the same accidental meaning.

    But sometimes red-on-red is not accidental. When the accidental enemy fraticide happens, that is fortuitous. When it’s intentional … well, that begs attention. Bill Roggio does just that (hat tip Ace):

    Red-on-Red

    The brutal acts of violence directed at civilians and Iraqi police is losing favor among some of the members of the Iraqi insurgency. During Operation Matador, we saw examples of the local tribes, some of whom are sympathetic or even participating in the insurgency, rise up to fight the foreign jihadis after their attempts to impose a Taliban-like rule of law in Western Anbar.

    Go, read it. It’s somewhat lengthy but worth every moment.

  • Taiwan Sends Warship to Japanese-claimed Islands

    Well, I would say this is not a good time for this political show.

    Tokyo’s worsening relations with its Asian neighbours suffered a further blow yesterday when Taiwan sent a warship to claim jurisdiction over a group of islands claimed by Japan as well as China.

    Tokyo’s defence minister Yoshinori Ohno appealed for ‘calm’ after his Taiwanese counterpart Lee Jye boarded a warship with fifteen senior politicians and sailed for the resource-rich Tiaoyutai Islands in a symbolic show of support for Taiwan’s fishermen, who have repeatedly clashed with the Japanese Coast Guard.

    The 4,200-ton frigate sailed close to the islands – dubbed Senkaku in Japan — in the East China Sea before returning to Taiwan, where the government has come under heavy fire for not standing up to what one legislator called Japan’s “expansionary policies” in the region.

    The makeup of the expedition, which included legislators from the three major Taiwanese parties, indicated the move enjoyed widespread popular support.

    Wang Jin-pyng, a politician on board the warship, said the aim was to “safeguard Taiwan’s sovereignty and to protect Taiwanese fishermen that have been expelled from the area by the Japan Coast Guard.”

    Tadashi Ikeda, the de-facto Japanese ambassador to Taipei, called the decision to send the warship to the islands “inappropriate.”

    The islands are about 400 kilometers from Japan’s Okinawan coast and are also claimed by China, which reacted angrily after what it called Tokyo’s “expansion” of its exclusive economic zone to within 37km of the Taiwan coast.

    Sometimes, it’s like Taiwan is just trying to goad China into attacking. Given the current build-up by the commie state, perhaps there is some logic to this strategy.