I don't wear a flag pin on my lapel. Never have. And while I won't rule out the possibility of doing so in the future, I probably won't. And, yes, this is because I hate my country. But not as much as Jeremiah Wright hates it.
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An Admission
17 Apr 2008 04:19 pm
Comments (94)
Great. And since you aren't running for any political office, why should anyone care, would be a good question.
Heh. It has been amusing to watch people, who never had the desire to serve their country in uniform, question the patriotism of a man who did. A man who did even though he had the chance to hide behind student deferments. People are fools and we certainly have gotten the government our brain dead country deserves.
Why Clinton wants a constitutional amendment to ban burning of the flag might be a good question. As in, "across Independence Mall, the framers created a Constitution. If you could go back in time, would you REALLY tell Ben Franklin to his face that it's a mistake to leave out a ban on flag burning?"
Heh. It has been amusing to watch people, who never had the desire to serve their country in uniform, question the patriotism of a man who did. A man who did even though he had the chance to hide behind student deferments. People are fools and we certainly have gotten the government our brain dead country deserves.
I don't wear one because I don't like flag pins.
One thing I noticed is that George Stephanopoulos doesn't wear American flag cufflinks or an American flag belt buckle.
""In the face of impossible odds, people who love this country can change it." - Barack Obama
The obsession with lapel flags among DC public figures is no different than hipsters wearing Chuck Taylor sneakers. Somewhere along the the, someone got the idea that it was a good idea, and everyone else started doing it, leaving one to wonder someone doesn't.
It really is worth singling out the "Does Reverand Wright love his country as much as you do? question. Isn't that more or less exactly a "When did you stop beating your wife?" job? If Obama says, yes, then the spin is: "He hates America as much as that guy." If he says, no, the spin is: "He has a 20-year relationship with someone who hates America."
George Washington, Dwight Eisenhower, Audie Murphy...
Never wore a flag pin.
Nonsense. Obviously anyone who wears merely a flag lapel pin doesn't love their country as much as I -- I literally wrap myself in the flag, a handsome six foot number I've designed especially that I can wear, variously, as either a cape, poncho, toga or, in the hot summer months, sarong. No doubts about which country I pledge allegiance to, mister!
On the other hand, a flag pin is included in every copy of Head in the Sand, so buy yours today.
to whom is Nathan referring?
did Barak serve? did Jerimiad Wright serve?
I don't wear a flag pin either (but proudly served)
I don't give a rat's ass about flag pins, but am very concerned that Barak is an acolyte of racist (and racialist), america-hating preachers and teachers who have nothing but contempt and disdain for this country.
Apollo Creed was the most patriotic American in history.
http://www.noface4film.com/wp-content/uploads/apollo-creed.JPG
Jeremiah Wright was a Marine.
I read a quote from Bruce Springsteen today that Barck 0 represents the America that Bruce has ben singing about for 35 years!
Funny, but Bruce always stuck me as a damn phony too. Figures that Barak would appeal to him. The 2 of them pretending to be gritty american originals but both as fake as 3 dollar bills
Matthew D.,
The idea is to comment ironically and by implication on the frequency of Sen. Obama’s receiving criticism for having made this choice. The surface subject of the post—its author’s choices—is not its essential subject. You should perhaps care because he is succinctly making a point that is sadly somewhat relevant. That’s what political commentators, and concerned citizens, tend to do.
I read a quote from Bruce Springsteen today that Barck 0 represents the America that Bruce has ben singing about for 35 years!
Funny, but Bruce always stuck me as a damn phony too. Figures that Barak would appeal to him. The 2 of them pretending to be gritty american originals but both as fake as 3 dollar bills
Jozef,
Jeremiah Wright served in the Marine Corps.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-oped0404wrightapr03,0,92000.story
Trevor, I'm pretty certain I recall Audie Murphy wearing a flag lapel pin in "Red Badge of Courage."
I keep thinking the whole debate fiasco was just a bad nightmare. These talking heads go on and on about how Obama is elitist and condescending. But how much more condescending can you get than thinking your audience is so dense or just plain dumb that the whole audience will be voting based on lapel pins and acquaintances with old radicals? Yeah, some will decide based on those things, but not the vast majority of people. Or at least I hope not. I truly wish the people of Pennsylvania would say "No more!" to this crap and vote overwhelmingly for Obama. It won't happen. But I do think things are changing. Until then, if we make our decisions based on such tenuous things, we'll continue to get the government we deserve.
Jozef,
Wright served in the Marines and, apparently, also in the Navy Medical Corps. That doesn't necessarily mean that he "loves America"-- Timothy McVeigh served, too-- but it is worth noting when considering the question.
1) Maybe Obama's discomfort stems from the fact that flag lapel pin wearing was a hypocritical gesture started by George Bush and Dick Cheney -- men whose patriotism has been shown to be as fake as is their religion.
2) After all, to waste 4000 US soldiers' lives grabbing oil deposits for Houston is hardly patriotic --even if you do wave the flag.
3) And , in my opinion, Fox NEws lying daily to the American people isn't patriotic either --even if they wave the flag.
You can cover a crack whore sucking a dirty cock in an alley with lapel pins -- and she is still a crack whore sucking a dirty cock in an alley.
Next time Sen. Obama makes an appearance before the so-called "press", he should put like a hundred flag pins in his lapel.
That would show them who's patriotic!
Lee Harvey Oswald served in the Marine Corps
The question of whether someone is an antiamerican crazy (and to whom Nathan was referring) is not so simple, as we all agree
Some people love their country but don't wear flag pins because they don't think their patriotism can be proven by cheap and empty symbolism, the kind that comes at no personal sacrifice to the person in question.
Lee Harvey Oswald served in the Marine Corps
The question of whether someone is an antiamerican crazy (and to whom Nathan was referring) is not so simple, as we all agree
Trevor, I'm pretty certain I recall Audie Murphy wearing a flag lapel pin in "Red Badge of Courage."
I keep thinking the whole debate fiasco was just a bad nightmare. These talking heads go on and on about how Obama is elitist and condescending. But how much more condescending can you get than thinking your audience is so dense or just plain dumb that the whole audience will be voting based on lapel pins and acquaintances with old radicals? Yeah, some will decide based on those things, but not the vast majority of people. Or at least I hope not. I truly wish the people of Pennsylvania would say "No more!" to this crap and vote overwhelmingly for Obama. It won't happen. But I do think things are changing. Until then, if we make our decisions based on such tenuous things, we'll continue to get the government we deserve.
William Burns,
Should we wager how this inconvenient fact (Wrights service despite holding deferments) will be easily dismissed by Jozef? Will it be...
1) Wright wasn't really patriotic because he was still drafted
2) An incendiary rant is more corrosive to the union than actual service in support of it
I'll go with #1.
Hmm... I don't have a flag lapel pin, but if I were at some event where there was a bowl of them being given out for free, though, I could see myself either ignoring them, picking one up and stuffing it in my pocket, or picking one up and actually pinning it to my lapel, depending on my mood. I guess to me it would be like wearing a hat shaped as a giant wedge of cheese -- would I wear it on a regular basis? Heck no. Might I wear one on a lark while I was in Green Bay, WI? Maybe. Depends on the mood, circumstances, etc.
Jozef, you were the one who asked if Wright served. Also, if you're so well-informed, why didn't you know the answer?
Personally, I don't care if you served or not-- you're kind of an ignorant jerk, and you are morally reprehensible as a human being. So I kind of see your point. But Wright strikes me as a guy worth having dinner with.
Clarification: I did not mean to imply that said crack whore is not way ABOVE Bill O'Reilly and Rush Limbaugh on the scale of social respectability.
Oh crap - I'm in the Air Force and I wasn't issued a flag pin. HALP PLZ?
Jason,
Good try but I suspect your effort is wasted on Matt D. Some people are just immune to irony or sarcasm. It's a kind of mental illness.
This silly flag pin nonsense reminds me of the Seinfeld episode were Kramer refuses to wear an AIDS ribbon.
Some people love their country but don't wear flag pins because they don't think their patriotism can be proven by cheap and empty symbolism, the kind that comes at no personal sacrifice to the person in question.
If there's another debate, the questioners will probably get their questions from Jozef here, and then I'll have to gouge out my *other* eye, and that's just a lot of hassle to "vet" the guy who is already going to get the nomination, if you ask me.
Fortunately my office mates and I are going to go early vote tomorrow at lunch. We must find a place with Obamargaritas afterwards.
Jozef,
Many, many people, not just Rev. Wright, have important positive and negative qualities both. That his negative qualities might upset you is understandable, and you aren’t alone in that. One conception of leadership, though, holds that people generally should be criticized, but not rejected, for their negative aspects, and that they should be included in a vision of community and purpose. Being accepted in this way, in turn, encourages them to embrace that same vision and thus inspired, perhaps to emphasize the positive qualities in others more than they had been prone to do.
It’s not the only possible model of leadership, but the idea behind it, I think has a lot to recommend it—in this view, one doesn’t end the process of political judgment by pronoucing left- or right-wing labels for opponents but participates in a virtuous circle of dialogue. Obviously this process dosen’t prevent disagreement, but it creates a more inclusive and useful patriotism that builds on everyone’s strengths and capacity to contribute to our future. I think this expresses some of what Sen. Obama is trying to say in this campaign.
Nice one, Jozef. Didn't see Lee Harvey Oswald entering the debate. Clearly heinous creatures have served in uniform. However, I'd argue that Oswald and Wright have entirely different bodies of work and committed vastly different crimes. Your problem with Wright rests on a few snippets of his highly sensational (and incendiary) criticism of his country (over an issue worthy of discussion). My point is that his body of work and service (to country and local community) is equally worthy of consideration.
Jeremiah Wright wasn't drafted, he gave up a college deferment and enlisted in the middle of a war. That qualifies as loving your country in my book.
Isn't this the kind of asinine stiff-necked "principle" that always brings Democrats to second place? Obama made it an issue by not answering a question a while back the right way. If he said sometimes I wear it, some times I don't - no issue, but instead he went on about how his patriotism is too sublime for to display to the rest of us. The pin is important to some people, it's not important to you or me or Obama - if Paris is worth a mass isn't the White House worth wearing this stupid pin?
Isn't this the kind of asinine stiff-necked "principle" that always brings Democrats to second place? Obama made it an issue by not answering a question a while back the right way. If he said sometimes I wear it, some times I don't - no issue, but instead he went on about how his patriotism is too sublime to display to the rest of us. The pin is important to some people, it's not important to you or me or Obama - if Paris is worth a mass isn't the White House worth wearing this stupid pin?
For a guy who follows sports, it's kind of amazing that Matt misses the relevance of this. Obama declining to wear a flag pin is akin to Derek Jeter deciding not to wear pinstripes, and still claim that he should play for the Yankees.
It sounds trite, but if you want to lead the team, you have to wear the colors. Failing to do so will have negative consequences, regardless of the nuanced theories you try to come up with.
Frankly, I don't see why politicians elected to serve states wear American flag pins. Well, I should say that I do see why they do it - but dig into it, and it doesn't really make sense.
Is the implication that they are serving and representing America? In my scenario about state representatives (governors, congressmen), they aren't - they're serving their state's interests and consituents.
If they want to profess that they represent America, I'd prefer they not lie when they do it. Is it legitimate to think that Tom DeLay is more of a patriot than Barack Obama? Or Bush 41, another absentee pinner?
petty boozwha,
Perhaps you’re wrong about this; I’m not sure, but I tend to think so.
No one is free of habits or opinions that will bother some voters, and once in a while there are thoughtful reasons for candidates to disagree with voter preferences. Maybe they would do well to express them, courteously and without defensiveness or a need to convince. Contrast such a possibility with the example of those who frantically try to do the popular thing in almost all situations, like Sen. Kerry in 2004, and who end up seeming phony, which is surely quite a lot worse than seeming elitist.
Nonsense. Obviously anyone who wears merely a flag lapel pin doesn't love their country as much as I -- I literally wrap myself in the flag, a handsome six foot number I've designed especially that I can wear, variously, as either a cape, poncho, toga or, in the hot summer months, sarong. No doubts about which country I pledge allegiance to, mister!
socctty--they didn't issue said lapel pins in the Coast Guard either. Ridiculous oversight, methinks.
John McCain has an American flag tattooed on his right nut. George Stephanopoulos should ask John McCain why his left testicle hates America, because I may raise that issue in the fall.
Jammes, nonsense. Uniforms are an inherent part of the game. Lapel pins are a fad, no different than, as I said, the popularity of Chuck Taylors amongst hipsters. The fact that plenty of politicians don't wear flag lapel pins on a day-to-day basis should make that clear. You can't possibly have thought that argument of yours was believable, did you?
John McCain has an American flag tattooed on his right nut. George Stephanopoulos should ask John McCain why his left testicle hates America, because I may raise that issue in the fall.
Obama declining to wear a flag pin is akin to Derek Jeter deciding not to wear pinstripes, and still claim that he should play for the Yankees.
So Presidents have to wear the pin as part of their uniform now? When did that get added to the constitution?
I have been on Google afternoon, and have yet to find one single photograph of Ronald Reagan wearing a lapel pin. I am not yet ready to rule out the possibility that this is part of some left-wing computer nerd conspiracy to photoshop all of the flag pins out, but I'm beginning to worry that my entire system of politic hero worship is based on a lie.
For a guy who follows sports, it's kind of amazing that Matt misses the relevance of this. Obama declining to wear a flag pin is akin to Derek Jeter deciding not to wear pinstripes, and still claim that he should play for the Yankees.
Assuming it's serious, this is arguably the dumbest comment ever posted on this site, and that's quite an accomplishment for a site that includes Chris Ford in its commentariat.
Hoo boy, James Robertson with the dumbest analogy yet.
First, baseball rules state you must be in uniform. They are very specific about these things, down to your hat and your jewelry. He would not be allowed to play if he wasn't wearing a Yankee uniform. There is no rule or law that says you must wear a fucking piece of jewelry to run for president. And there never will be. Know why? Because it'd be the dumbest rule ever.
Moreover, while Jeter is indeed captain of the Yankees, the rest of the members of the team also have to wear the uniform. Your dumb-as-shit analogy means every single person who works for the government would have to wear this piece of jewelry.
In sum, you are a tool and a moron.
I'm willing to go out on a limb and say that 98.7% of the population doesn't wear American flag lapel pins, which basically means Al Qaeda is winning the war on terror.
socctty-
what a bigot you are. Just because you and i might disdain the republicans you mention, does that make them less american?
that is an amazingly closed-minded point of view. It is a plurality made up of differung views but it isn't a contest who is more of a patriot.
barack made a big deal out of not wearing the pin, taking the pin off, casting away its phoniness. That wins him folks and loses him folks. But it is absolutely his diversion.
it is absolutely his bed that he made. And he brought it up again yesterday when he tried to innoculate himself with his new pin.
Hillary went the other way. she embraced the flag burning legislation and that won her voters and lost her voters. Intelligently she did it years ago and not yesterday and last year.
But the perceptive observer of the american scene nows that flag pins are symbols and symbols are never meaningless. they all have a lot of baggage. And wright's crazy screeds enforce the meaning that the symbol has for some people when they are trying to figure the man out.
'Serving your country' in the military is a terrible measure of a politician because until recently it cuts out half the population.
being a marine doesn't make anyone a better american than someone who is a teacher or custodian. And it doesn't mean the next 50 years of your life are above reproach.
Hoo boy, James Robertson with the dumbest analogy yet.
First, baseball rules state you must be in uniform. They are very specific about these things, down to your hat and your jewelry. He would not be allowed to play if he wasn't wearing a Yankee uniform. There is no rule or law that says you must wear a fucking piece of jewelry to run for president. And there never will be. Know why? Because it'd be the dumbest rule ever.
Moreover, while Jeter is indeed captain of the Yankees, the rest of the members of the team also have to wear the uniform. Your dumb-as-shit analogy means every single person who works for the government would have to wear this piece of jewelry.
In sum, you are a tool and a moron.
Oh, Disillusioned, didn't you know that American flag lapel pins are displayed to ward off future terrorist attacks similar to 9/11. They weren't necessary until that fateful day. Charles Gibson said America deserved 9/11 for not being patriotic enough. Duh.
Oddly enough, Jeter does not wear an American flag lapel pin, although Arod does.
Damn 500 Server errors.
e pluribus: barack didn't make a big deal about it. Other people did when they insisted on hounding him about it.
Thankfully, Obama has a sort of "turn into the incoming fire" attitude about him that I like.
Being a Marine doesn't mean you are above reproach, but it does make the following question pretty ridiculous...
"Senator Obama, do you think Rev. Wright loves America as much as you do?"
Actually, that question's ridiculous no matter who you are talking about.
I reject and denounce you.
"I literally wrap myself in the flag"
Uh, that is abuse of the flag, according to the patriot freaks, which means you're anti-American.
"Damn 500 Server errors"
Ignore them. Your post gets there anyway. The Atlantic must hire their IT staff from fired Bush White House IT staff - you know, the guys that lost millions of emails.
Just to make my position clear, the American flag is a fucking totem and should be replaced by the Cobra snake which more accurately represents this nation.
Except that would be an insult to Cobra.
Therefore I suggest we replace the flag with a picture of General Zod:
http://www.zod2008.com/zodportrait.jpg
At least Zod, unlike Matt, is prepared to answer my questions about Iran:
Is preemptive military action against Iran feasible, or are its nuclear facilities too dispersed and hardened? What would you do other than accept Iran as a nuclear power?
- Martin Eeger Raleigh, N.C.
General Zod replies: Silence, you meddling mortal. We start in our own back yard by demolishing our own nuclear weapons stockpile. Then Iran will hand theirs over. I truly believe we can use them to collapse the moon. Our moon on Krypton would surely have withstood such a barrage. Not yours, I regret.
Now why can't Matt be so direct?
http://truthabouttrinity.blogspot.com/2008/03/my-pastor-received-commendation-for.html
EVIDENCE THAT REV WRIGHT HATES AMERICA
I am horrified by all those non-patriots who do not wear an American flag pin. I mean, how do you expect the economy of the Peoples Republic of China to keep going if you refuse to buy their products?????
The best comment regarding patriotism I've ever heard was from the much revered and loved former West-German president (and interior minister and justice minister and whathaveyou) Gustav Heinemann:
"I don't love my country, I love my wife."
Re James Robertson's comment "For a guy who follows sports, it's kind of amazing that Matt misses the relevance of this. Obama declining to wear a flag pin is akin to Derek Jeter deciding not to wear pinstripes, and still claim that he should play for the Yankees."
----------
Actually, its akin to the Republicans using jackhammers to dig up the concrete floors of the White House in a frantic search for the Keffiyeh that Al Qaeda buried there to jinx the Bush Administration.
Which explains a lot, actually.
See http://cbs.sportsline.com/mlb/story/10777437/rss
You think a stinkin' flag lapel is enough? Not by a long shot. Sign a damn Loyaly Oath. That shows love. Kiss the bible; kiss the flag; kiss the ground your standing own. These colors may bleed...they don't run. (and I don't think we have enough money to fund returning veterans). Love me, love me, I'm a Republican Patriot.
My father died for this country so that I don't have to wear a flag lapel pin--because they're fucking stupid and put holes in my lapel--and so that I can burn the flag--because the people in Washington are not listening to the people who are, in fact, the government, and finally so that I can be mad as hell that idiots in this country fail to realize just that.
The presidency isn't about lapel pins or who you eat peanut butter and jelly sammiches with or what church you went to (especially not which church you went to). It's about listening to the people and proposing sound policy to congress and undertaking responsible diplomacy and overseeing the enforcement of the law. And someday people might actually start to realize this. I'd sooner have someone who spent 30 years in the university system, who's never seen a business run, and never made a speech be president than the morons the American people keep promoting. We need, above all, SOUND POLICY. So few in Washington would know what that is if it charged them $900,000 for a blow job.
If you could go back in time, would you REALLY tell Ben Franklin to his face that it's a mistake to leave out a ban on flag burning?"
Posted by David B. | April 17, 2008 4:41 PM
It wasn't a mistake, but September 11 changed everything.
The obsession with lapel flags among DC public figures is no different than hipsters wearing Chuck Taylor sneakers. Somewhere along the the, someone got the idea that it was a good idea, and everyone else started doing it, leaving one to wonder someone doesn't.Posted by Tyro | April 17, 2008 4:44 PM
Precisely. And running for president is one of the ultimate "dress for success" job interviews, not a time to start experimenting with breaking the boundaries of the dress codes. He brought all this silly flag pin crap on himself, it's like going to interview with a white shoe law firm wearing a black turtleneck. And he can't go back on it now without looking phony, so instead his people set up 8 huge U.S. flags as a backdrop for his Rev. Wright speech--not enough, I guess.
Heh. It has been amusing to watch people, who never had the desire to serve their country in uniform, question the patriotism of a man who did. A man who did even though he had the chance to hide behind student deferments. People are fools and we certainly have gotten the government our brain dead country deserves.
Posted by Nathan Avinbl
As a Jew who likely shirked service in the US military himself as most Jews do shirk, (heh!) our elitist boy Nathan is hardly in a position to opine that only those who served have a right to question the patriotism of someone who talks "in these white states of Amerikkka" "God damn America, damn it!". Through as a smug little Jew, Nathans cracks about our "brain-dead country deserves " come close to revealing Avinbl's own level of patriotism.
As a vet, I don't wear a pin but I fly our flag.
But I don't care what others do - unless they get all "dissent is the highest form of patriotism which makes me more patriotic denouncing America than those clods with their flag pins" pretentious. Which is just what both Black Messiah and Rev. Wright are. Obama explained to an audience that rather than wear a pin, he was embracing the higher patriotism of "correcting" America through his Greatness and his wise proposed policies. Wright is pretty straighforward. He served, and after his service, like Lee Harvey Oswald, came to hate his country. Notably the white majority and the "Uncle Toms" and the Jews and garlic-nosed Italians and job-stealing hispanics of America..
Lefties fail sometimes to distinguish between what is honest dissent and what is anti-American sedition. It is as big a problem as "more patriotic than thou" type people who are knee-jerk jingoists.
Hey, like Rev Wright (lately Rev Wrong) I served in the Marines. But so did Lee Harvey Oswald. Now, who do you think loves America more, the reverend, Lee Harvey, or me.
Well it's me. And I'll tell you why. I don't wear a puny little American flag lapel pin, I wear an American flag bonus chest ribbon. Did you see General Petraeus and all the ribbons on his chest, well one bonus American flag pin covers almost as much space on my suit coat. It is 3" high and 4" across.
So is there any doubt I love America more than any other person, even Bush and Cheney, since I wear the bonus America flag pin. Show how much you love America, wear a bonus American flag pin like me.
I know this is late to the party, but...
southpaw...that was almost as awesome as the latest Office episode.
Guys used to wear codpieces. Was it such a great idea?
And running for president is one of the ultimate "dress for success" job interviews
I really don't think that's what we're reduced to. The point, which I think you missed, is that Chuck Taylor shoes look pretty stupid.
Modern dress codes expect a suit. Whatever additional fad the schoolkids degree is "necessary" can be ignored. The flag pin (and "cause ribbon") have become sartorial flourishes which went from relatively amusing to cliche to, well, something out of the breast cancer ribbon episode of Seinfeld.
Don't look at me for fashion advice, though. I'm the guy who can't stand to wear white shirts.
Do people here get the same impression I do re Chris Ford??
That everytime he casts a slur at "Jews" he rubs his tiny little erection and sighs?
You know who else doesn't wear an American flag lapel pin? John McCain. Seriously, you can look here if you don't believe me: http://www.politicalbase.com/profile/Mark%20Nickolas/blog/&blogId=1880 .
But then, John McCain is a veteran and war hero, so his patriotism is unquestionable. Oh wait, I forgot John Kerry... Okay, John McCain is a Republican, so his patriotism is unquestionable.
Where do you actually order these flag lapels, can't recall ever actually having seen one in person actually, but maybe that's just because I live on the Left Coast (although I've lived and traveled through the entire states, don't ever recall seeing an American Flag lapel on anyone).
How corrupt is the national news media when we have this huge controversy over Obama and flag pins, and yet a google image search for "John McCain" shows that McCain never wears one.
How corrupt is the national news media when we have this huge controversy over Obama and flag pins, and yet a google image search for "John McCain" shows that McCain never wears one.
Jesus wore a flag pin.
Where is John Prine when you need him?
Late for the party here, but I was thinking about how bad it would be if we elected apresident who hated America.
Why, such a president might get us into dumb neocolonialist wars! And override the Bill of Rights! Certainly is a good thing that will never happen.
Reading more about Nash McCabe over at TPM, I think I have a better handle about why Obama's lack of flag-pin-wearing gets people riled up.
Obama is saying, "I'll do what I want." Lots of voters have spent their whole lives being told that they can't do what they want. Lots of people don't have control over their destiny, and bullied around at work by their bosses and peers telling them how to act and what to say and to be thankful for the privilege of being paid and (if they're lucky) having health insurance.
Meanwhile, Obama, faced with a similar situation: a highly conformist work environment with dysfunctional colleagues and vicious office politics, says, "I'm going to do X, because that's what I want, and it's not like you can threaten my job over it." I can imagine to some people, who have to make public and social displays of fealty just to get through the day, consider this "arrogant." At the very least, they consider Obama to be a guy who might not be able to understand what other people face who don't have the option of deciding they don't want to wear a flag pin, or a striped tie, or a white shirt if their own workplaces have a culture that demands it.
Forget the pins, every day I see folks out there who don't even have the decency to wear LAPELS.
Shameful.
Forget the pins, every day I see folks out there who don't even have the decency to wear LAPELS.
Shameful.
I have seen many people wear flag lapel pins. Before it became a must for politicians, people in the restaurant, hotel and tourist industries have used them for ages to indicate what languages you speak. An American flag means you are an English speaker, France's a French speaker and so. Hey you can buy pins with two or three flags if you speak the languages.
I have seen many people wear flag lapel pins. Before it became a must for politicians, people in the restaurant, hotel and tourist industries have used them for ages to indicate what languages you speak. An American flag means you are an English speaker, France's a French speaker and so. Hey you can buy pins with two or three flags if you speak the languages.
A quick look at googleimages reveals many candids and formal portraits of David Brooks in which he is not wearing an American Flag pin on his lapel. He obviously hates the flag, America, and all that it stands for. His words are not to be trusted. He is an unpatriotic reprobate. By the way, John McCain has failed to properly display the lilliputian enamelled image of old glory on many occasions, as has George Stephanopoulos, as has Hillary Clinton. These are not mere omissions or oversights. Every image in which these politicians or pundits fail to "shoulder" the colors is clearly a deliberate message about how much they hate our troops. It speaks volumes about their disregard and deep seated disdain for the symbols that ordinary Americans revere and want to make the central issue in the fall campaign. Once the Supreme Court makes it clear that the death penalty can be applied to crimes other than capital murder or high treason we can begin to deal with this thought crime appropriately. Come to think of it, it is clear that failure to wear a flag lapel pin can be considered "high treason," that's why the founders made it a specific requirement for holding the office of President of the United States. Let's drink to the health of our country, because it's becoming clear that that's the only way that we're going to come close to getting comprehensive universal healthcare in this media environment
Comments closed May 01, 2008.
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Heads in the Sand
Great. And since you aren't running for any political office, why should anyone care, would be a good question.
Posted by Matthew Dallman | April 17, 2008 4:37 PM