Obama Dropped Flag Pin in War Statement

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 don't have the American flag pin on. Is that a fashion statement?" the reporter asked, at the end of a brief interview with Obama on Wednesday. "Those have been on politicians since Sept. 12, 2001."

The standard political reply to that question might well have been, "My patriotism speaks for itself."

Instead the Illinois senator answered the question at length, explaining that he no longer wears such a pin, at least in part, because of the Iraq War.

"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."

Cue for right wing nutcases to go bananas.

Said Sean Hannity: "Why do we wear pins? Because our country is under attack!"

Quite how Sean thinks wearing a pin helps ward off attackers was a point he chose not to elaborate upon.

Patriotism is surely about more than wearing a pin? Blind allegiance to one's country is surely the very thing that despots feed upon. I would say it's much more important that we stand up and challenge our leaders when we think they are wrong than swear some blind allegiance to a flag or pin, which renders our opinions worthless and demands that we back our governments because it is our governments that are taking a particular action, rather than examining the morality of any particular action which our governments choose to take in our name.

For they are acting in our name. Surely a true patriot says what he actually thinks rather than agree with something because it is my country that is doing it?

The greatest contributors to the human race have often been people who opposed what their government were doing and were vocal in their opposition.

Emmeline Pankhurst changed Britain for the better because she refused to accept the status quo. Martin Luther King did the same in the United States. Mandela is the most obvious example. A man who his own government - and Dick Cheney and Margaret Thatcher - labelled a "terrorist" because he refused to accept the Apartheid's regime's logic that he was by birth inferior.

Sean's badge does not say that "the United States is under attack", it says "I back Bush and will publicly defend his every action."

Good for Obama for daring to widen the debate. Patriotism, as he says, is about much more than wearing a bloody badge.

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Tags: Barack Obama, Flag pins, patriotism