I am beginning to suffer a bit of outrage fatigue. I've been going through spells of it for the last, say, twenty-five years, but it's been particularly bad for the last six.

Let's be serious. Just off the top of my head we have the wholesale destruction of civil liberties under the guise of fighting a war against an abstract concept (only the most recent in a long series of such endeavors, I admit); the removal of a kindergarten travel book because it raises ugly memories for a tiny segment of the local population; the Bush administration's cavalier mocking of the idea of separation of powers; the attempts by the telephone and cable companies to divide up Internet access into tiered packages (and to pretend to be in favor of lower prices at the same time); and the créme de la créme of idiocy at the moment, a flag "desecration" amendment.

As a free speech absolutist, this offends me more than you can possibly imagine. I have honestly lost sleep over this outrageous attempt to stifle legitimate dissent.

But here, read the inestimable Mr. Klotz' remarks. Just assume his anger is half mine and you'll be okay.

I've never done it before, but if this amendment is passed, I will be burning some flags, you betcha. Whole heaps of 'em, until I can sleep again.