Obama’s “Patriotism”

As part of his quest to overtake Hillary, Barack Obama has been making a big show out of refusing to publicly engage in patriotic acts. Granted, that’s not the best strategy in the world in a general election — as Michael Dukakis found out back in 1988 when he led the fight against the Pledge of Allegiance — however, if you don’t win the primary in the first place, what happens in the general election doesn’t make any difference. In Obama’s case, he realizes that he’s behind and there are a lot of hardcore left-wingers who despise America and/or any public displays of patriotism, whom he can appeal to with this tactic.

So, first Obama made a big deal out of the fact that he’s no longer willing to wear a flag pin,

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama says he doesn’t wear an American flag lapel pin because it has become a substitute for “true patriotism” since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Asked about it Wednesday in an interview with KCRG-TV in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, the Illinois senator said he stopped wearing the pin shortly after the attacks and instead hoped to show his patriotism by explaining his ideas to citizens.

“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,” he said in the interview. “Instead, I’m going to try to tell the American people what I believe will make this country great, and hopefully that will be a testament to my patriotism.”

On Thursday, his campaign issued a statement: “We all revere the flag, but Senator Obama believes that being a patriot is about more than a symbol. It’s about fighting for our veterans when they get home and speaking honestly with the American people about this disastrous war.”

Since not everyone wears flag pins in the first place, this was an issue that Obama could have very easily dodged, which leads to the inescapable conclusion that he wanted everyone to know that he wasn’t about to honor his country by wearing a flag pin on his shirt.

Thanks to Newsbusters, it has also come to light that Obama’s version of “true patriotism” doesn’t include holding his hand over his heart while the national anthem is played either,

Now, I don’t think everybody has to wave a flag, wear a flag pin, or put their hand over their hearts during the national anthem to be patriotic but — wait, on 2nd thought, if you don’t hold your hand over your heart during the national anthem, that’s a pretty good indication that you’re not very patriotic.

Anyway, the point was going to be that in most, but not all cases, you don’t have to engage in overt patriotic displays to show your love of country, but if you oppose them or disapprove of other people doing them, that’s a pretty good indication that you’re not patriotic.

Of course, a lot of liberals get upset when you point out that the backwards-land version of “patriotism” that so many — but, not all — of them support makes no sense. But, you can’t trash America at every opportunity, try to shift our country’s sovereign rights to the UN whenever possible, avoid any open displays of affection towards our country, and actually get upset when others do display the affection you lack — and then credibly try to claim you love this country.

And Obama? Whether he really feels that way or he’s just playing to the people on his side who do is unknown, but he should know better.

PS: Traditionally, on posts like this, someone quickly adds in the comments, “Can I question his patriotism, now?” Yes, you can…

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