Via ABC News: ABC News: No Flag Pin for Obama: ‘That Became a Substitute for …True Patriotism’
An eagle-eyed reporter for the ABC affiliate in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, noticed something missing from Democratic presidential contender Sen. Barack Obama’s, D-Ill., lapels.
[…]
“You know, the truth is that right after 9/11, I had a pin,” Obama said. “Shortly after 9/11, particularly because as we’re talking about the Iraq War, that became a substitute for I think true patriotism, which is speaking out on issues that are of importance to our national security, I decided I won’t wear that pin on my chest.
“Instead,” he said, “I’m going to try to tell the American people what I believe will make this country great, and hopefully that will be a testimony to my patriotism.”
The horror!
Not surprisingly, the professionally outraged have engaged in the normal internet-based freak-out, e.g., Michelle Malkin,
Rick Moran,
Sister Toldjah,
Pamela Geller and so forth.
My favorite, however, is a quote from the ABC News story linked above:
Said Sean Hannity: “Why do we wear pins? Because our country is under attack!”
You have got to be kidding me.
Confession time: I have a flag pin, I did wear it with some frequency (although not constantly) after 9/11 out of sense of solidarity with my fellow citizens and with the victims of the attack. However, as time waned it seemed a forced gesture and so I only wear it if there is a specific occasion that warrants it.
Seriously, why do people get so incensed on these types of issues?
In regards to the whole pin business, I am in full agreement with
James Joyner:
wearing the flag simply feels trite.
For that matter, the playing of the National Anthem before a baseball game — nowadays followed by the singing of God Bless America around the 7th inning stretch — usually strikes me as hollow as well. It’s not a patriotic occasion and simply seems like a forced ritual during a recreational event.
I don’t mind people wearing pins or putting stickers on their cars as a show of support for their country or their cause. I am, however, irritated by the notion that so doing makes them somehow superior to those who don’t. There are certainly more tangible and meaningful ways to participate.
Indeed.
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Hear, hear! If you’re outraged over everything, you quickly become the boy who cried “wolf.”
Comment by Max Lybbert — Friday, October 5, 2024 @ 4:19 pm
[…] Obama: War blocking domestic progress …Blogged about at Hey Look! It’s This Week’s Outrage: Obama Stopped Wearing a Flag Pin - poliblog ™: a rough draft of my thoughts, Barack Obama said Saturday that health care and other domestic needs will be neglected until the Iraq war ends, and that he had the judgment and ideas to lead the country.”When this war is over, we can finally get back to facing the challenges we face here at home, the challenges you're grappling with every day,” the Democratic presidential candidate told about 600 people at a union conference.The first-term Illinois senator said the war now costs between $10 billion and $12 billion a month. […]
Pingback by Connecting News, Commentaries and Blogs at NineReports.com - — Monday, October 8, 2024 @ 12:57 am
[…] I think that the question is problematic insofar as any blanket statements about The Right or The Left are far too broad to be useful or fair. However, I think if one narrows the question to what is wrong with a certain class of Right-ward commentators (including Michelle Malkin, Rush Limbaugh, Mark Steyn and others), then there is a legitimate question here. There is a remarkable amount of anger out there and ultimately a lack of seriousness that unfortunately appeals to a large number of readers/listeners. I think John Cole is right when he argues that this type of vitriolic nonsense has a lot to do with the dwindling number of Republicans at the moment. Instead of a reasoned debate we get rants about the “Betray Us” ad or flag lapel pins. […]
Pingback by PoliBlog ™: A Rough Draft of my Thoughts » The SCHIP/Graeme Frost Brouhaha — Wednesday, October 10, 2024 @ 10:42 am
[…] I think that the question is problematic insofar as any blanket statements about The Right or The Left are far too broad to be useful or fair. However, I think if one narrows the question to what is wrong with a certain class of Right-ward commentators (including Michelle Malkin, Rush Limbaugh, Mark Steyn and others), then there is a legitimate question here. There is a remarkable amount of anger out there and ultimately a lack of seriousness that unfortunately appeals to a large number of readers/listeners. I think John Cole is right when he argues that this type of vitriolic nonsense has a lot to do with the dwindling number of Republicans at the moment. Instead of a reasoned debate we get rants about the “Betray Us” ad or flag lapel pins. […]
Pingback by PoliBlog ™: A Rough Draft of my Thoughts » The SCHIP/Graeme Frost Brouhaha — Wednesday, October 10, 2024 @ 10:42 am
[…] While one may take issue with the more pompous elements of Obama’s explanation for not wearing the pin, as I noted before, I, too, got to the point where it seemed that wearing a flag pin post-9/11 had ranged into an empty gesture. Some actions are more appropriate and more heartfelt at specific moments in time. Just because one engages in a specific action over a specific span of time does not mean that one has to continue, in perpetuity the given action. Further, one can love one’s country without wearing a lapel pin, for crying out loud. […]
Pingback by PoliBlog ™: A Rough Draft of my Thoughts » No More “I Love You’s”? (Or, no Pin, No Love?) — Wednesday, October 10, 2024 @ 3:52 pm