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IMO, both these cases were pursued on the wrong basis. These are not freedom of speech issues. These are private property issues.
If I burn something I own on my own property, whether it be a candle, a flag, or a cross, I am merely using my own property as I see fit. Surely no one would have a problem with my burning a couple 2x4s I have lying about. However, if I put them into a particular configuration, some people get irritated. If I were to burn spools of red, white and blue thread, no one would object, yet weave them into a certain configuration, and Republicans across the land will want to lock me up.
The problem is that neither Socialist Party #1 nor Socialist Party #2 want to remind people that the whole purpose of government in the first place is to preserve the "inalienable" rights to life, liberty and property. If they were to acknowledge the sanctity of property, they might have a hard time justifing conscription, a clear statement of the belief that government owns the serfs, and taxes, a clear statement of the belief that everything you own is really the property of the government, yours to use only so long as you use it "properly"...
[ 04-08-2003, 12:53 PM: Message edited by: Thorfinn ]
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