The flag is just a piece of material. It means nothing. The whole concept of nationalism has led us into more wars and troubles than just about anything else in history. It's great to love one's country but that doesn't mean that we should support it if we feel it acts immorally. In other words, love your country, its people and achievements but don't love your country right or wrong.
I would happily burn our flag (if I thought it would do any good) over what John Howard has done to Australia. He has shamed this country. First over the Tampa affair and our treatment in general of asylum seekers and now as Australia has become isolated along with the US in a war for which there is no justification and for which our neighbours and indeed the rest of the world will judge us for years to come.
Passing a law to punish flag burners will mostly just hurt young, idealistic kids it will do nothing to those who really wish harm to this country.
In this increasingly repressive atmosphere that we have inherited from the US's War on Terror it's perhaps not surprising that those shrivelled and thoughtless souls who find identification with meaningless symbols are calling for such strictures but we owe it to the preservation of a true democratic society to fight them tooth and nail.
