Obama Quits Wearing Flag Pin
By Chris Jones Posted in 2008 — Comments (39) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
Presidential Candidate and U.S. Senator Barack Obama has decided to quite wearing a flag pin on his lapel.
Asked about the decision Wednesday in an interview with KCRG-TV in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, the Illinois senator said he stopped doing so 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."
I don't get why Patriotism is such a taboo thing on the left. This is clearly Obama's way of throwing some red meat to the far-left. For some reason displays of patriotism make liberals very uncomfortable and the flag pins in particular are an issue that continues to come up.
Last week Katie Couric said it made her "uncomfortable" when everyone was wearing flag pins and using "we" when referring to America.
-Chris Jones
The Hot Joints
a good one! LOL!
Feed your brain at The Hot Joints
A Presidential candidate who is uncomfortable showing the flag of the nation he claims to want to serve in the highest office of the land.
It takes a real fly-weight character to think that is too much hype.
He wants the MoveOn vote.
I was brought up to believe that how I saw myself was more important than how others saw me. (Anwar al-Sadar, President of Egypt, 1970-1981)
Why is it mandatory for people to wear symbols to prove their patriotism?
If you feel that you need a pin or button or hat or a flag to prove your patriotism, that's your right. But why must everyone else adhere to these standards?
You have someone in this thread criticizing Obama for not wearing a pin while at the same time having this quote as his signature....
"I was brought up to believe that how I saw myself was more important than how others saw me. "
Do you need a pin to convince yourself that you are patriotic? Or is the pin used to show others that you are patriotic? And if that is the case why do you think that Sadat's quote is worthy of merit?
Personally I have a very hard time believing that anyone who dedicates themselves to being President could be anything BUT patriotic. But that's just me.
There are those who look at things the way they are, and ask why ... I dream of things that never were and ask why not. - Robert Kennedy
Suggests that the pin is more about political opportunism than anything else.
Not that this would surprise me with regards to any candidate.
There are those who look at things the way they are, and ask why ... I dream of things that never were and ask why not. - Robert Kennedy
though I have three flags hanging out of my window and they have since 9/11 when patriotism was put in a new perspective for me. That said, do you agree with Obama that wearing a flag somehow removes replaces reason as a form of patriotism. I don't have a problem with him not wearing them, but it is a problem when he makes an issue of not wearing one. The flag is a symbol of our nation. It represents the blood that was spilled in order to break from the shackles of the British and form a nation founded on the principles of freedom. A nation that everyone hear loves and appreciates. If it becomes a problem for him to wear that symbol, condensed to be less than an inch, then what does that say about him.
The nine most terrifying words in the English language are 'I'm from the government and I'm here to help'
Ronald Reagan
Difficulty is the excuse history never accepts.
Edward R. Murrow
It's more the people he's trying to pander to with this silly stunt.
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Diplomacy is the art of saying 'Nice doggie' until you can find a rock.
I don't care if he wears one or not. It's the fact that he goes out of his way not to wear one. It's the fact that patriotism really is taboo on the left.
It's the fact that Obama implies that people who wear a flag pin are somehow phony.
When Katie Couric said it made her "uncomfortable" that everyone was wearing pins, I thought that was disgusting.
If you don't wanna wear a pin then don't. But don't act like people who enjoy displaying a small unobtrusive symbol of there patriotism are weird or fanatical.
I can remember liberals bitching about the flag stickers on cars after 9/11.
Discouraging patriotism is yet another part of the far-left agenda.
Feed your brain at The Hot Joints
The only country I can think of where citizens are required to wear pins to prove their patriotism and loyalty is North Korea. Look closely at a picture of North Koreans, and you'll see the ubiquitous little lapel pins of Dear Leader.
He's also not wearing a sandwich board that says "I love my Mom", but it doesn't mean he doesn't. Let's let the man accessorize in peace.
But does he have to put-out a press release announcing said wardrobe decision?
Like I said to flyer, it's not so much the choice of accessory - it's who "Mr. Hope" is attempting to pander to with this silliness.
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Diplomacy is the art of saying 'Nice doggie' until you can find a rock.
I notified the media this morning of my sock choice. Strangely, they didn't respond. Stupid spam filters!
Just in the interests of accuracy, the article says that he was asked about it in an interview, not that he issued a press release.
You caught that, right?
And in case you're wondering, he could have answered something along the lines of "It's not a big deal, I don't need to wear one to show my patriotism, blah blah blah" and this would have been a non-story. Oh, sure, someone would have still gotten their britches in a knot, but then they would be the ones looking silly.
But no - BH Obama has evidently decided to play to the roughly 20% of Democrats who think it would be better for the World if we lost The War™ - in other words, self-loathing borderline traitors.
An odd strategy for the man who brands himself Mr. Hope™, that.
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Diplomacy is the art of saying 'Nice doggie' until you can find a rock.
Remember, he WAS wearing one after 9/11. Then he feels the need to put out a press release when it takes it off. He's a pandering piece of crap.
Frankly, I don't give a rip what he wears or doesn't wear. I find it really, really offensive that he feels the need to make the statement he made based on no provication from anybody.
He's a pandering piece of crap.
____
CongressCritter™: Never have so few felt like they were owed so much by so many for so little.
If Obama issued a press release to turn his pin-wearing status into a political stunt, he would've done it in 2002 when he stopped wearing the pin. It's been 5 years since he's worn one, and somebody asked about it in an interview recently (would that be considered provication (sic)?).
They think that countries are merely artificial barriers which encourage irrational prejudices and violence against other peoples within other artificial barriers.
As the father of the Left, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, put it, "These two words fatherland and citizen should be effaced from modern languages."
...but I’m going start wearing it again just for you Obama.
Why? Because dissent *is* patriotic - when you're dissenting against lefty we-are-the-world-nicks who think they're morally superior to us unwashed masses.
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"We want great men who, when fortune frowns, will not be discouraged." - Colonel Henry Knox
Read it on Commentary magazine's blog.
It's not like he came out and pointed out his lack of a flag pin right away. He was asked about it. Of course, he might have paid the person to ask him that. I'm not a big Obama fan. He's not open about being a practicing Muslim. The issue of the flag pin has been blown out of proportion by him and all of us. I would point out that according to United States Code for flag etiquette, wearing any representation of the stars and bars including the United States Flag itself is against guidelines. In other words, those that wear flag lapel pins are ignoring United States Code or ignorant of it. This doesn't make them unpatriotic, and neither does Obama's choice not to wear it. Let's not forget that the Constitution is still in force, and it is the founding document of our country and its current form of government. A patriot is defined as someone who loves and/or defends his country. Therefore, I define patriots as those who uphold and defend the Constitution from all enemies, foreign and domestic, since if it is dissolved our country so too is dissolved.
I forgot to add, if you are in uniform, patches depicting the full flag are allowed as long as the union is to the rear of the wearer. In other words, on the LEFT arm it should be reversed.
it would be great if some adventurous senate staffers started trying to stick flag pins on Oboyo's coat without his knowing at every opportunity :)
with respect to America, just not with respect to the actual America that has a history. Their patriotism is reserved for an imaginary America that never has and never will exist.
They love the real America, but they just don't know how to manifest that love in a patriotic way.
Mike Gamecock DeVine @ The Charlotte Observer
www.race42008.com
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www.theminorityreportblog.com
"One man with courage makes a majority" - Andrew Jackson
Mike Gamecock DeVine @ The Charlotte Observer
www.race42008.com
www.hinzsightreport.com
www.theminorityreportblog.com
"One man with courage makes a majority" - Andrew Jackson
Liberals don;t like America very much. Remember?
If Hillary's The Answer; It Must Have Been A Stupid Question
I'm glad Obama isn't wearing the Pin any longer; indeed, he may not have been wearing it for a long time now. That's OK, it's authentic in terms of who Obama really is. Most of the liberal/leftist intellectuals I knew in Chicago who supported him never wore one, either -- even in the days right after 9/11.
Oh, sure -- some of them wore sad faces around for a few weeks. A few of them traipsed off behind closed doors to talk about how America had really deserved what it had gotten after that whacko in the White House had gone and invited catastrophe by calling some nations part of an "axis of evil" (making sure not to say it too loudly, lest they be overheard and quoted). And a few decided to throw away a small portion of their book collections, etc., etc. But open displays of patriotism in the form of wearing an American Flag lapel pin? No, none of that overtly patriotic flag-waving stuff. The causes of 9/11 were too deep, too complex to warrant any naked symbolism, especially a patriotic display like wearing an American flag on your lapel. Not these folks. They have a comprehensive view of America and realize that it's more flawed than it is right.
Obama is just being who Obama was from the beginning. In that sense, it's a perfectly acceptable thing that he's not wearing one any longer.
Not wearing a flag doesn't mean you don't love your country it just means you already know what country you live in and so do all the people who are going to see it! lol
Why'd he start wearing it, what was the symbolism then?
So what does it symbolize when he takes the flag back down?
he was making a calculated point of removing it. This was a really stupid thing to do. I know the lefties do not like America, but I doubt even they cared if he wore a pin. This was really amateur hour and shows why Billary is leading by 33 points.
Molon Labe!
Right after 911 flags were everywhere and now they aren't. It doesn't mean a thing. It was a way for all of us to feel connected I think and put aside differences and show our patriotism. At some point though most people just stopped.
assurances that they can't lose in '08 into being themselves in public. bad move
Libs love America, just not the actual America with a history and culture. No, they love an imaginary America they wouldn't mind arising from a damaged real America so long as the gop gets the blame.
Mike Gamecock DeVine @ The Charlotte Observer
www.race42008.com
www.hinzsightreport.com
www.theminorityreportblog.com
"One man with courage makes a majority" - Andrew Jackson
This is history, my friend.
Government is not reason; it is not eloquence; it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master. – George Washington
Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide. – John Adams (1814)
Peace, commerce and honest friendship with all nations; entangling alliances with none. – Thomas Jefferson
Do not separate text from historical background. If you do, you will have perverted and subverted the Constitution, which can only end in a distorted, bastardized form of illegitimate government. – James Madison
Those who expect to reap the benefits of freedom, must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it. – Thomas Paine
love.
Mike Gamecock DeVine @ The Charlotte Observer
www.race42008.com
www.hinzsightreport.com
www.theminorityreportblog.com
"One man with courage makes a majority" - Andrew Jackson
to America if Katie, Barack and most elected Democrats are included.
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CongressCritter™: Never have so few felt like they were owed so much by so many for so little.