I suggest this:
anytime a government restricts the actions of its citizens, not to protect the rights of all of its citizens, but to enforce it's own agenda, it is no longer a democracy but some other form of government that is not "of the people, by the people and for the people"
The restriction of burning the flag, although a patriotic gesture, throws the rights of the citizens out the window. While any patriotic American citizen will grouse at the site of a burning flag, they should also enjoy the fact that because of our freedoms, we are allowed protest an action of our government in this manner. Restricting the burning of the flag will not cause every citizen to respect the flag, it will merely cause a superficial representation of such. A false facade, if you will.
Even God realized that graven images were not a true representation of the intended. A flag is merely a representation of our country and has no value if it is a requirement to respect it but only if respect is given freely ad willingly.

