My time here is limited, so I'll attempt to reply with that in mind:
dontomasso - your reasoning is contradictory, at best. If you do truly believe the American flag stands for freedom, burning it would symbolize a burning of freedom, anyway. Icons are symbols, because there is no way to definitely attack an abstract concept such as freedom.
It must also be considered in this discussion what the American flag symbolizes to different peoples. In the Middle East it symbolizes degeneracy in the form of materialistic capitalism and brutalizing pro-Israeli terrorism, which by themselves can be viewed as mortal enemies of the Muslim World, which are capable of perverting, if not destroying what it collectively stands for. So, for a Muslim, extremist or not, the burning of the American flag symbolizes a healthy manifestation of his survival instinct, that of his faith and way of life, if not an outward sign that he is willing to fight against its destruction - which most are; by the way. American involvement in the Middle East is not in keeping with popular opinion, in other words, it does not represent the will of most Americans, so objectively an attack on the American flag in the Middle East is not an attack on what the Star-Spangled Banner was really created to represent (that which it no longer represents today).
On the other hand, the burning of the American flag by any of the motley groups who are considered Americans by Federal Law is the symbolic outward protest of persons belonging to said groups, or perhaps of entire groups. Such a brazen form of protest against the State cannot be tolerated by a State that wishes to preserve itself, and I am not only for the preservation of the American States but also for a purging of it and a return it to its previous healthy condition.
Allow me to illustrate to you with personal allegory what the burning of the flag might illustrate to those faithful in the state:
A soldier is away fighting and risking his life for what he believes - which many of my personal high school friends are - whether he is misguided or not is irrelevant; he is fighting the benefit of the State, his country, and the way of life he wishes to defend (such an effort is commendable and should forever be respected). The unpunished burning of the flag sends the following message to the family of such a soldier:
"The immeasurable vital sacrifices of your sons and daughters will not be protected and are therefore in vain, since The United States will make no effort to protect their sacrifices or honor them in the mainland."
However to the outward mass who might have no idea of what the protestors' true intention is, such an act is nothing but a truly direct act of protest against not only the American state, but also against what it represents - its people, and on those grounds alone I support the Constituitonal Amendment under discussion.
