Barack Obama
“My attitude is that I’m less concerned about what you’re wearing on your lapel than what’s in your heart. And you show your patriotism by how you treat your fellow Americans, especially those who served. You show your patriotism by being true to our values and our ideals and that’s what we have to lead with is our values and our ideals.”
from Zeleny, Jeff. "Obama's Labels." The Caucus: The New York Times Politics Blog. 4 October 2007.
What Others Are Saying:
David Crisp, editor of The Billings Outpost, explores the meaning of Michelle Obama's statement about being really proud of her country for the first time in her adult life
Mary Mitchell, in the Chicago Sun Times, discusses African-American pride and patriotism
2 comments:
I know I'm preaching to the choir, here, but I'd just like to point out that quite a lot of Americans don't wear a lapel pin, including myself. I suppose I can never run for president, nor indeed any political office, since apparently that is one major qualification. I mean, you could be the most intelligent person on the planet running for president, but by God if you don't wear that lapel pin, you're toast, buddy.
It always amazes me (though I'm not sure why) how much the Republican slime machine can get away with. Once again proving that bumper sticker correct: "If you're not outraged, you're not paying attention."
Notice Kingston's moving target of an argument, too. First, he claims that Obama's not wearing a flag pin is serious enough to elicit questions of concern from Americans. Then, when he's pushed into a corner, he says all of this talk of lapel pins and Obama's middle name is just "banter back and forth" and that "leftists have their hypersensitivity buttons on." He wants to have his cake and eat it, too: raise questions about Obama's patriotism and then when confronted, retreat into the lie that this far-right behavior is just "all in fun." Also note the labeling: "leftists." Anyone who disagrees with these attacks is "leftist." There is no middle ground, no shades of gray. The television pundit, too, is at fault for not addressing the specious reasoning. Instead, he focuses on the superficial, the silly inconsistency of Kingston not wearing a flag pin.
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