Because The Last Time I Checked, Wearing A Pin Is A Tell-Tale Sign Of One's Patriotism...

If you're not living in a cave at the moment, you obviously know that Barack Obama is campaigning to be (and by the looks of it, will be) the Democrat nominee for President.  What you may not know, is that he seldom wears a lapel pin of the American flag, unlike the majority of his fellow politicians.  By not doing so, he has been called everything from "Un-patriotic" and ""Un-American" to (heaven forbid!) "Un-Christian."  Mr. Obama has said many times that he does not where the pin because, "...[O]ut of an objection to hypocrisy in some politicians."  Now, please do not think that I am attempting to show my support for any candidate in the upcoming Presidential elections... do think, that I am pointing out the ridiculousness of being labeled un-American or un-patriotic by political opponents and some "news" outlets (ok... mostly just Fox News) for not wearing a lapel pin.

Yesterday, Reuters published a piece (on top of dozens of stories over the last few months from other "news" bureaus, i.e. see "Fox News" above) about Mr. Obama coming under fire for his decision to only sometimes don the pin; in the most recent instance, in front of a group of veterans to which he was speaking to.  Let me get this straight... we are talking about a cheap piece of plastic (probably made in China) being the source identifier of a politician's patriotism?!  How about discussing their "ear-marked" expenditures, bills they've voted on, their actions on the campaign trial and throughout life (i.e. Hillary remembering her "dodging of sniper bullets" when she was the First-Lady, which later turned out to be her walking down an airport runway in front of a marching band of sorts)?  When did we, as a country, start seeing the non-wearing of a pin as a big deal?  Am I alone on this?  I am so sick of politicians not seeing what's important.  Stop spending our tax-dollars on senate discussions about whether to rename "French fries", "Patriot fries"; stop spending our tax-dollars on senate discussions on whether Rush Limbaugh should be officially declared a "hero" or "jackass"; STOP discussing another politicians "patriotism" or "love for America" in the national media and (this one's for the national media) STOP giving such an unimportant, border-line stupid topic, so much attention!

Am I the only one that gets pissed off about this?  Last time I checked, there was a crap-load of better political topics to discuss.  How about less government intrusion on our private lives?  How about legalizing/decriminalizing the use/possession of marijuana (I'll blog separately on this issue, that's a promise)?  How about ideas on curtailing government "pork-barrel" spending on absolutely useless items (such as building and naming public landmarks after yourself Mr. Rangel - for more fun examples see this article)?  How about setting aside stupidity and laziness when attacking a political opponent (i.e. if you're going to attack someone find something better than their lack of wearing pins, their middle name being "Hussein" or a picture of them in an African dashiki)?  How about some common sense for a change?

In summary, not wearing an American flag lapel pin does not equal un-American, this pisses me off when brought up as un-American or un-patriotic by politicians and media, what about you?

I am new at this whole blogging thing, so I'd like you to respond fervently and without holding anything back.  I have no problem with criticism, anger, disdain or unabashed praise for my young political idealism on the "issues", so comment.

- Zac Papantoniou (Guest Writer)

    

Comments

[Phelps]

When the only significant differences between the candidates are the color of their skin, whether or not their sexual organs are on the inside or outside of their bodies, and what they are wearing that particular day... that is what they will campaign on.

[smurfy]

The real problem with these flag pins is that the candidates are forced to wear navy or balck suits everyday. Red White and Blue would clash with green, brown, or khaki suits.

[Hermes Ten]

Well, I wasn't going to waste my time voting, but if Obama really is unChristian (a big plus right there), unAmerican and unPatriotic (with, apparently, Americanism and Patriotism being defined as a attribute of the current criminal gang in power over us), then maybe he's worth voting for.

The reason why Obama has experienced such surprising success is that people agree with you and see the flag pin patriotism as bullshit. I disagree with his politics but he is the ONLY candidate that doesn't play the game by the rules of the major media.

[SOBer]

Agreed. The persecution of this non-act is scary. Though I fully support our troops, I CHOOSE not to place a magnetic ribbon on my car. I hope to quietly escape the wrath of the local media.