First... I'm a bad boy, I didn't read all the replies -- so this is just my thinking without any clouding from what's already been posted.

1) Constitutional Amendmants should be.. to preserve freedoms/rights. NONE of the current/active amendmants limit freedom - unless I'm horribly wrong. The only one that did was prohibition... and that got repealled.

2) We like to call our country the "Home of Free and the Land of the Brave" and we also like to say we are a Melting Pot. Nothing can be more basic.. more vital to the notion of being free than the right to express yourself however you see fit -- provided you aren't harming anyone else. Patriotism isn't about blind love and approval for your country, it's about loving your country enough to do whatever, no matter how unpopular with the majority, needs to be done to get the attention that's needed. We need to be brave enough to let folks do what they feel they need to do to express themselves.

Yes, you can be a patriot and say the current situation in Iraq is wrong.

Yes, you can say we shouldn't be in Iraq, but say you fully support out troops.

If you can't quite grasp how can do each of these, then your mind isn't quite as open as you might think it is.

Yes, I feel folks who have served and died in the military have been fighting for just this sort of "right" - living free doesn't mean everyone agrees with you.. or values things the same way. The fact that we are meltingpot means we are going to have very different views on a lot of issues.

All that being said.. I feel the need to include.. something regarding my own views on a few issues -- I don't like Bush. I'm not so sure Kerry would be better.. in fact, that those two were the "best" choices saddens me greatly. I tend to vote for Libertarian (www.lp.org) folks.

Can I ever see myself burning the flag? No. I don't much see the point of buring a flag. I don't see how it supports anything, but then then PETA folks like to do naked protests -- I guess people feel doing something "shocking" will raise awareness and, hopefully, support.

Do I like I live in a country where I can, if I choose, burn the flag and ridicule my leader and not face jail time or death? Yes! That's exactly what makes this such a great place to live.

Any and all typos.. and gramatical errors.. are the fault of a bottled labeled Knob's Creek -- where Abe Lincoln was born -- and not the typist.