Flag Burning

I'll begin by telling you all that, honestly, I do not know how I stand on the issue. I find that burning the American Flag is disrespectful to all for which the United States stands. On the other hand, I also find it to be a legitimate form of protest. My interest in this issue started when the other night, I was watching DVR-ed reruns of The West Wing and the episode began with this clip:

The text of the proposed "Flag Burning Amendment" is

"The Congress shall have power to prohibit the physical desecration of the flag of the United States."

But what does that mean. Researching this issue, I read that some constitutional scholars think that that broad a text could go so far as to preventing tattoos of the flag, flying it upside down, keeping it in the rain, or even virtue images. Yes, the text does say "physical desecration," but according to a report by the 108th Congress said "'desecrate' means deface, damage, or otherwise physically mistreat in a way that the actor knows will seriously offend one or more persons likely to observe or discover his action." Also, do our American Values fall into the confinds of a piece of cloth? But, say, as a bad example (but the first that came to mind), we write a letter of protest of the government and we have a copy of the flag printed on the letter, is that defamatory to the flag? Don't we have a duty to protest our government?

Like I said, I don't know how to stand on flag burning.