Westside : ICE CAPADES

What’s the hottest thing on ice since Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan?

The American flag.

Most of the fuss surrounding the Stars and Stripes usually involves burning it in protest, but one Venice community activist has taken the opposite approach: freezing Old Glory.

Jerry Rubin’s dime-store flag hit the ice as a protest June 28, the day the House of Representatives approved a constitutional amendment that would give Congress and the states the authority to ban desecration of the U.S. flag. The Senate Judiciary Committee approved the amendment four days ago, prompting Rubin to vow to keep the flag in a deep freeze as long as the amendment continues toward passage.

This isn’t the first time Rubin has iced the flag. In 1990, he smashed a sheet of ice that encased an American flag on the steps of the Federal Building in Westwood, freeing it in order to celebrate the Supreme Court’s decision against providing special protection for Old Glory.

Rubin’s explanation of his antics: “I’m wondering if anyone is as burned up as I am about this proposed constitutional amendment? It would have a chilling effect on our Bill of Rights.”