Utah senator shows courage

Utah Sen. Bob Bennett this week showed not all Repubs. in Washington are gutless on the issue of flag burning. He, along with Sen. Mitch McConnell ( himself a free-speech champion) bravely opposed the latest attempt to make flag burning illegal. Had one of the two voted to amend the Constitution, the proposal would have received the required votes to move on. I single out Bennett and not his Kentucky colleague because McConnell is well known for not allowing party loyalty to cloud his judgment on matters of free speech. Remember campaign finance "reform? McConnell stood firmly against John McCain and other fake conservatives as they (figuratively) beat others into submission over the issue.

So McConnell's vote was predictable. Without Bennett's stand, the most over-hyped legislation pushed by the GOP would be one step closer to an illegitimate place on the Constitution. That's right. Although detestable, flag burning is political speech and therefore must be left alone. No law prohibiting it, certainly no amendment.

A flag-burning amendment would not stop fanatics in countries hostile to the United States from burning Old Glory. Unfortunately, enough Republicans fear that opposition to such a law would so anger veterans that they would no longer feel at home in their party. News flash: Freedom-loving vets are not going to cross over to a party whose leadership is trying daily to erase from Americans' minds any memory of progress on the war front. Even more unbelievable than true conservatives embracing the Pelosi Doctrine is the notion they will stay home. In a time of war, those who answered the call so bravely to defend freedom will not abrogate their responsibility to participate in the political process.
Republicans would do well to listen to Bennett.

Introduction

My hope with Frogsense is to offer conservative commentary on a few of the most challenging issues of the day from the perspective of a blogger with actual journalism experience. Too often, with the growth of the so-called alternative media, people on the right throw all traditional media under the same hat, ridiculing their coverage decisions, word choice and other decisions with little idea of how things work.

But to be serious all the time would be boring, as would covering the same thing all the time. The Texas Governor's race, even with a washed-up grandma and funny man thrown in there, will only hold the attention of average people for so long. What's needed is a more eclectic offering. So I'll try to provide that.