Dissenting Minority Criticizes Bush's Stance

A LETTER-WRITER to the Washington Post, angered over the President Bush's position, labels it ``voodoo patriotism.'' Comedian Jay Leno reportedly joked that it was no wonder that Mr. Bush is against flag-burning - because he has wrapped himself in it.

Jack Germond, a syndicated columnist for the Baltimore Sun, complained: ``George Bush demonstrated that having attained the nation's highest office, he is still willing to play the cheap politics of the lowest common denominator, just as he did as a candidate.''

William Schneider, a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, saw political motives in Bush's flag-burning amendment. He told a TV interviewer: ``[The Republicans] want to do to every Democrat in this country what they did to Michael Dukakis. They want to say: `This guy's values are not your values. They are not American values.'''

Al From, executive director of the Democratic Leadership Council, notes that many members of his party are as vehemently against flag-burning as Bush is. But he suggests that the President is grabbing an easy issue to divert attention from tougher ones - like corruption in the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

``To be honest with you, I think he cheapens the presidency with this kind of stuff,'' says Mr. From. ``You can't use the Constitution as a vehicle for short-term political advantage.''