Politickin'

Okay, I usually try to stay out of "political" issues like this, especially when they're specifically and obviously American (I'm Canadian), but I can't hold my tongue on this one. Seriously, what the hell?



I know it's a comic strip and not reality, and Scott Stantis is a political cartoonists so there's the "satire" element, and all that, but does Stantis actually think that this is acceptable? Whatever you might think about flag burning, if someone burns a flag, and you think it's a terrible thing for them to do, your recourse is to make your opinion known in a mature, legal, socially acceptable manner. And if it's illegal (is it illegal this week? I can't keep up), then have the law deal with them. And if it's not illegal, then bitch and whine that you think the law should be changed.

Burning a flag is a form of expression, and only the flag gets harmed. Intentionally punching someone, on the other hand, is assault, plain and simple, and not in any way shape or form a comparable form of "expression", it's violence. This sort of thing should go without saying, but when someone can publish this "joke" in a strip that gets wide circulation, obviously it needs to be said. If someone punched Scott Stantis because they disliked the way he expressed himself through his strip, would he consider it an acceptable response?

My only hope is that Stantis doesn't have any children.