Princeton, N.J. -- I'm glad the flag desecration amendment failed. It would have wrongly equated patriotism with symbolic gestures like respecting the flag, rather than with more meaningful acts like conserving energy or exposing government misdeeds. Patriotism, "love of country," refers to acts that help the country; the more helpful and the more difficult the act, the more patriotic.

Worshipping the flag is neither very helpful nor particularly hard. Burning the flag is much less unpatriotic than, for example, crafting unwise policy.

If senators who got us into Iraq want to ban unpatriotic acts, I suggest that they start with their own lawmaking.