Speechwriters can take a break

I've always thought the flag-burning debate that flares up every couple of years in the U.S.—always in the summer, as we approach the Fourth of July—because a desperate Republican legislator who needs a non-issue—the kind that, right before the Fourth of July, will garner some press and stir up the party's base imbeciles—oops, I meant its imbecile base.

But this is blog is not called the "Political Slant"—it's the "Speechwriter's Slant." And so here, we must consider the much more agreeable and refreshing notion that perhaps this flag-burning business is a conspiracy of tired-out Washington speechwriters who want a month off.

All these speechwriters are writing these days are Post-It Notes: "Hey, Senator, it looks like it's all about flag-burning again this July. There's a bunch of good speeches on my hard drive. There's Flag Burning 1995, Flag Burning 1997, Flag Burning 1999, Flag Burning 2001 and Flag Burning 2003.Take what you like. Mix and match. Ad lib, go nuts. I'm going fishing and I won't be checking e-mail …."

And what do speechwriters do for a break in the winter?

Why, prayer in schools, of course!