Bernie said, “I love America I love the flag and everything it stands for but I agree with previous rulings by the Supreme Court that a piece of cloth cannot BE America. A piece of cloth is not America. A piece of cloth does not define America. A piece of cloth does not allow us to read the minds of an American. An American citizen has the right to express themselves it is their first amendment right. I understand clearly the motivation of this proposal for this flag desecration amendment. I clearly understand the advantages that liberals and Democrats would gain through the ratification and enforcement of a new flag desecration amendment to the Constitution.”
Bernie continued, “I still believe in America though, so I am unable to take away rights, even of conservatives who I do not like. I completely agree that many of their displays of the American flag would qualify as desecration even by a loose definition. Nonetheless, I believe America must be a place of tolerance for America to be America. Were we to give this power to law enforcement, we do not know for sure how it will work out. Republicans and their ideas about limited government died when they pushed the War on Drugs. There was a requirement of quite intrusive power to enforce the laws under the War on Drugs. Imprisoning people attempting to make a patriotic display no matter how flawed, rolls back individual rights even further. Democrats and liberals must be for freedom and tolerance it is not a sign of weakness to be tolerant. It is a sign of weakness to co-op the tactics of your opponent”
Bernie apologized, “Sadly, I cannot support this proposal. I must admit that I fear I am not a Democrat and never can be. This proposal sounds like democratic-socialism as defined by the East Germans during the Cold War. I see democratic-socialism as a balance between the needs of the nation and the needs of the individual. Perhaps I am not a Democratic-socialist after all. As I stand here advocating for the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, I feel more libertarian than Democrat. Could Rand Paul be right when he called me a libertarian-socialist?”
Bernie was DNC’d and removed from the stage, gently, but firmly. The remaining liberal speakers sang the praises of the flag desecration amendment and how it can be leveraged to create an electoral juggernaut by putting so many conservatives in jail for their flag desecrations. This amendment will be to conservatives as chum is to sharks and they will be unable to engage higher faculties and avoid taking the bait