A Matter Of Great Urgency

NYTimes (07.02.06):

"'My impression is that probably in all of American history there's been something like a few hundred flag burnings,' said Robert Justin Goldstein, a retired political science professor at Oakland University in Michigan and an expert on the issue." High-Drama, Low-Frequency Protest

Believe it or not, in a number of these cases, alcohol was involved. "In a Senate speech, Senator Orrin G. Hatch, the Utah Republican who was the chief sponsor of the amendment, listed 17 cases since 2003. The latest include one early last month in West Haven, Conn., in which an apparently drunken man ripped up two small flags, threatened a bystander while using a racial slur and then chugged a beer in front of police officers before his arrest on breach-of-peace and other charges." Apparently drunken? Ha!! At least the guy got another beer down before getting hauled off to the hoosegow.