Hillary!

As Shakespeare's Sister says, "Bleh."

WASHINGTON (AP) _ Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton is supporting new legislation to criminalize desecration of the United States flag _ though she still opposes a constitutional ban on flag attacks.

Clinton, D-N.Y., has agreed to co-sponsor a measure by Republican Sen. Bob Bennett of Utah, which has been written in hopes of surviving any constitutional challenge following a 2003 Supreme Court ruling on the subject.

[...]

In her public statements, she has compared the act of flag-burning to burning a cross, which can be considered a violation of federal civil rights law.

I don't know who's advising Sen. Clinton (D. Panderonia), but these attempts to inoculate herself against the right seems awfully misguided. She will never be accepted by them -- she's Satan personified, useful to them only for her ability to bring in campaign funds from the vast rightwing conspiracy.

Clinton can capture the center by offering up intelligent policy suggestions. Something you'd think she'd be good at. Her support for the war, this flag-burning nonsense, and the like, won't win her any converts and it will be well-remembered in the primaries. What she's likely thinking is that her stances will make her more "electable" in the general election. Unfortunately for her, Democratic primary voters will remember that that was John Kerry's appeal as well.