she's the author of Blood Sacrifice and the Nation : Totem Rituals and the American Flag in which she distinguishes between the flag as "body" (physical embodyment of the country itself) or "text" symbol of the constitution. Which form both sides of the argument over flag desecration. one sees it as an act of physical violence against a living country and the other sees it as an emblem of the power of the Constitution. It's not beach reading.
She had a flag in her office and I asked if I could photograph her with it. She picked it up and hugged it. I think that, and the cluttered desk does a good job capturing her.
The flag represents a living country and is itself considered a living thing. 36 u.s.c. 176(j)
"No public outrange accompanies burning an effigy of Washington or Lincoln. Generations of tourists to the Statue of Liberty have not been religiously discouraged from adorning it with discarded chewing gum." p 31.