I thought we had already dispatched this nonsense once, but it appears to have resurfaced with Nedra Pickler’s insightful piece:
Sen. Barack Obama’s refusal to wear an American flag lapel pin along with a photo of him not putting his hand over his heart during the National Anthem led conservatives on Internet and in the media to question his patriotism.
Doing due diligence to get the story right, Nedra goes to an expert for his opinion:
The AP’s Nedra Pickler asks disgraced Republican dirty-trickster Roger Stone for his opinion. Stone you’ll remember is the guy who got caught making threatening phone calls to New York Gov. Spitzer’s (D-NY) elderly father and last month set up an anti-Hillary group with the acronym C-U-N-T.
Surprisingly enough, Stone thinks the answer is yes.
Since Obama and the Democrats seem to have such a big problem with patriotism and lapel pins, I guess we need to have yet another photo montage of prominent Republicans demonstrating how to wear a lapel pin. Here goes:
Rick Renzi (R-AZ), recently indicted on multiple counts of conspiracy, wire fraud, money laundering, extortion and insurance fraud, looks positively patriotic with his lapel pin.
Always the dapper and patriotic dresser, Rep. John Doolittle (R-CA) displays his lapel pin after having his house raided by the Feds after a two-year investigation.
No one can deny that Rep. Randall “Duke” Cunningham (R-CA) doesn’t make a statement with this lapel pin. Sadly, the Duke’s fashion choices are now limited as he is incarcerated for up to ten years after pleading guilty to tax evasion, conspiracy to commit bribery, mail fraud, and wire fraud. Come 2016, the Duke will no doubt be modeling his patriotism in the form of a dashing lapel pin once again.
Rep. Bob Ney (R-OH) looks tanned and very patriotic with his red hair and blue suit and patriotic lapel pin. Sadly, his red hair might be gray before he can once again get the perfect tan, as he is currently serving a prison term for conspiracy to defraud the United States and for a charge of falsifying financial disclosure forms.
Former Governor Bob Taft (R-OH) is dressed to impress with this lapel pin. Taft plead no contest to multiple misdemeanors.
Larry Craig looks positively magnificent as he models this doubly patriotic lapel pin during his mug shot for a widely discussed bathroom incident.
You know, now that I think about it, maybe it isn’t that big of a deal whether or not Obama wears a lapel pin.
*** Update ***
Oh NOES! Obama may or may not have worn “Muslim-like gear.” I sure hope the sweet dears at Sweetness and Light don’t see this:
President Bush in Africa, embracing brown people doing a “Death to America” tribal dance.
Seriously, these people are ridiculous.
teak111
brilliant, john!
RSA
Let’s put on our wingnut thinking caps (conical, of course): “Obama: Even less patriotic than Republican convicts and pedophiles.”
smiley
Am I wrong or is Craig’s the only American flag pin? Isn’t that what’s this all about?
Dug Jay
I’ve seen the light and am with these guys who say Obama is The Man:
myiq2xu
The real question John, is why don’t you wear one?
zmulls
You ought to start a 527 just to put those images on the air…
What a great commercial that would make…
Josh
Heh. Indizzle.
Chris
Barack, if you’re not going to wear the required pieces of flair, I can’t see how serious you are about this job.
jcricket
The two biggest memes WRT to Obama that Republicans will push are “inexperience” and “unpatriotic”. Doesn’t matter how unfair it is, or how much they’re lying. Those are the memes.
Expect to see lots and lots of push back about anything Obama’s said that is critical of the US (’cause criticizing Bush/Republicans is tantamount to treason). Expect to see claims that Obama is the least experienced politician to ever walk the face of this earth – he’s practically a baby (despite Bush never leaving the country – I call that inexperienced).
And a lot of this will stick. Obama fans think otherwise, but it will work. His favorables will drop and unfavorables will rise sharply by election day. Obama fans better be ready to fight back with more than “I’m not planning to respond to that” or “That’s patently ridiculous”.
Note: I don’t think it makes Obama unelectable, but he’s got a couple of clear areas where he can be targeted, and Dems who support him (which will include me if he wins the nomination) better be ready to fight back.
Fantasies that we’re in a “post-negative campaign” era now are fantasies. My brother-in-law is a classic example of an independent, currently planning to vote for Obama, that would be easily swayed by a sea of false but negative information about him. He buys the whole “tax and spend Dems are bad” meme, and like many “independents” is easily swayed by Republican framing of events. He could easily ignore all the negatives about McCain and be convinced Obama’s too “unserious” to hold the Presidency.
Remember, it’s not the Dems that support Obama or Hillary (let’s not ignore the massive number of Hillary supporters, Obama fans) that are the issue. They’re reliably Dem voters. Obama’s “big advantage” is that he supposedly expands the pie. And it’s in that expanded pie where the biggest trouble/threat from the Republicans lies.
Studly Pantload
As president, Barack Hussein Akmar al Obama and his brazenly naked, American hating lapels will force all American children to attend madrassas where they will be indoctrinated with the evil, Jew-Commie-Fascist tenets of peer-reviewed science, pot smoking, and driving Priuses! Americans, wake up! Only John McCain the Benevolent™ will keep America safe for displaying the red, white, and blue on our SUVs!!
D0n Camillo
I somehow think that the few people who would vote for a candidate based on whether or not they are wearing a flag pin have already made up their minds and Obama is probably not their guy. You can count on good old Nedra Pickler to try to keep this bullshit issue going even when we are stuck in an occupation in Iraq and the economy is heading for a recession with stagflation thrown in to boot. Nedra Pickler is exhibit A in what is wrong with the DC press corps today.
I say fair play to Obama for refusing to succumb to the pressure to wear a flag pin just because the bobbleheads say he should.
TenguPhule
From this we can conclude that wearing a flag lapel pin is a sign that the wearer is a guilty criminal bastard who should never see the light of day.
ThymeZone
Wonderful post.
ACK
Fantastic post.
slippytoad
Man, it’s staggering that you could find so many examples of indicted, convicted, and jailed Republicans wearing lapel pins prior to, or sometimes even during, their escapades.
Assholes will always wrap themselves in the flag.
Some guy named Matt
Bloody fucking brilliant post
jake
Author! Author!
Tsulagi
Literally it seems sometimes like this patriotic typical Republican manly man who had Bush on his speed dial.
Calouste
Nice one, Cole.
Regarding Obama’s inexperience, I’m sure his campaign will start drawing comparisons to another inexperienced but gifted orator from Illinois.
TheFountainHead
Shorter jcricket: Be carefuleguys, Americans are fucking morons! They will not seek the truth!
U.G.
those lapel pins are so absolutely SOVIET!!! Of course it’s the republicans who are into them, they have the same mentality as the old politburo guys.
BTW this view of them as Soviet is shared by pretty much every one I’ve ever met who actually lived under Soviet rule in E. Europe or the Soviet Union.
Davis X. Machina
The two biggest memes WRT to Obama that Republicans will push are “inexperience” and “unpatriotic”
Bigger than “black”, as in “not-white”, as in “Negro”?
I don’t think so.
They’ll have to figure out some way to do it so it doesn’t look like a Blazing Saddles outtake, but they’ve got money, and they’ve got time.
The old songs are the best songs..
Zuzu
Just waiting for someone, somewhere, to point out the obvious:
JOHN MCCAIN DOESN’T WEAR A FRICKIN’ LAPEL PIN !!!!
Neither does Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee, or any other GOP candidate except 9iu11iani…and sometimes Fred.
Traitors on parade
Has anybody asked them why they don’t? ‘Cause see, if they answer the question, you can say they “refuse” to wear one!
Easy peasey.
I saw Bill Maher give a complete pass the other night to that wingnut congressman who repeated the urban myth yet again … that Obama refused to wear a pin and “deliberately put his hands down during the pledge of allegiance.” Arggghhh! And then, during the online “Overtime” segment, when someone e-mailed a comment that Mr. Wingnut Congressman wasn’t wearing a lapel pin either, he said … well, it’s different if you’re running for president ! Uh, like JOHN MCCAIN ???!!!!
Arggggghhhh, I hate teh stupid.
Incertus (Brian)
Davis,
They’ve already traded in black for Muslim–that’ll be the boogeyman this time around. Expect a shitload of “Barack HUSSEIN Obama” commercials from 527 groups this fall.
Jon H
Ney has actually been released back into the population.
TR
Lapel pins — it’s literally the least you can do!
Zuzu
“He” being the wingnut congressman, of course. Maher just sat there.
tBone
POTD.
Bubblegum Tate
Goddamn, this post is awesome.
gypsy howell
Dude, I may be wrong (or may have missed your point entirely- if so, embarrassed apologies up front) but I believe that what most of them are wearing is the official congressional lapel pin. But regardless, the lapel pin thing is, as you say, a complete crock of shit.
And in any event, if that IS what they’re wearing, they are obviously Terrorist-Republicans for not wearing the Constitutionally-mandated flag pin.
calipygian
OMG! I just realized that I have a Muslim-like circumcision scar! Time for my flight lessons! Allahu Akbar, bitches!
John Cole
The point is you can be a complete POS and wear all the patriotic ties, lapel pins, and other shit. Put another way, claiming a lapel pin defines who you are as a citizen/American is retarded.
myiq2xu
I can see Johnny Mac at the debate:
“I knew Abe Lincoln. Abe Lincoln was a friend of mine. You, sir, are no Abe Lincoln!”
Kevin Hayden
It must mean a thing,
if he don’t wear that neo-convict bling.
Ravi
Excellent Post, John.
zsa
I just got back from my son’s cub scout pinewood derby. We had the national anthem played beforehand. About 1 out of 3 adults had their hand over their heart. Most stood respectfully. Some tried to sing. I’ve been in the same group for the pledge of allegiance … everyone has their hand over their heart for the pledge.
And these are Florida Cub Scout families. It’s all God and Country. You don’t get any more conservative than Florida Cub Scout families … I swear they take see Jesus’s face in the cereal bowl each morning and Reagan’s face in the toilet bowl each night.
So this national anthem thing is such bullshit.
And since you’re curious, we finished 2nd in the den, but didn’t make the top 4 cutoff for the pack. We’ve had better years, but we put a total of about 5 hours in on the car at the last minute, so really not bad in terms of cost/benefit.
Svensker
But the point is not who would or would not invade a sovereign country for no reason whatsoever; nor who would or would not be paying attention when part of the country is about to be hit by the storm of the century; nor who would or would not actually respect the law of the land.
No. The point is, a patriotic president knows how to look good in a flight suit and salute the troops and stuff. Would Obama or Hill know how to do that? There’s your answer.
p.lukasiak
The two biggest memes WRT to Obama that Republicans will push are “inexperience” and “unpatriotic”.
you forgot “radical leftist.”
I mean, the right wing smear machine won’t even have to distort his record. In 1996 he wanted to make handgun ownership illegal, have completely unrestricted abortions, and let welfare mothers have as many babies on the the taxpayers dime that they wanted to have.
….and that’s all from just one questionaire. Throw in a little hanging out with unrepentant terrorist bombers, and a picture of Obama hugging Al Sharpton, and even I’m getting a little scared of the guy! ;-)
calipygian
In the Navy at least, if you are in outdoors, in uniform, and the Anthem is playing, you salute. If you are indoors, you stand at attention, no salute, no putting you hand over your heart. In 20 years in the Navy, I have never said the Pledge of Allegience in or out of uniform, so I have no fucking clue what you do.
Even now, if I am in civilian clothes and I hear the Anthem, indoors or out, I stand at attention, out of habit, since you dont salute out of uniform.
Its all bullshit silliness anyway.
Zuzu
And not singing will be the next scandal.
Or maybe singing would do it too.
PS, congrats on placing at the derby. It can be a real show.
wasabi gasp
Heh!
But, how ’bout some folks who are NOT bad Americans that DO wear lapel pins.
Say Cheese
Bling Bling
Tsulagi
Then actually engaging in the dance displaying his unique special look of intelligence known for worldwide. Plus his deep patriotism evident in his shiny flag lapel pin, no doubt made in China. He never goes dancing without it.
Zuzu
Just curious, do they salute if no flag is present? That seems to be the deal in the code.
calipygian
In the few times I’ve been outside where the flag wasn’t directly visible, we would stand at attention and salute in the direction in which we suspected the flag to be.
Otherwise, I have never heard the anthem played without the presence of a flag of some sort.
Xenos
The biggest problem is with the lapels, which are French in origin, and intrinsically anti-american. What would John Adams say about all this shameless Bonapartism?
If Barak fails to redeem his lapel with flaggy goodness, he is morally obliged wear a Nehru jacket instead.
Zuzu
You mean like this?
myiq2xu
When I was in the Army one of my MOS jobs was raising and lowering the post flag each day. The best part was firing the cannon.
When they showed movies at the post theater, they always played the national anthem before the show, and they put up a clip of the flag on the screen.
zsa
Can Barack bring back the Nehru jacket? That would be awesome.
Or the fedora.
Or maybe both. Maybe in a few years they hipster will be wearing Nehru jackets wit snap-brim fedoras.
That would be super awesome.
myiq2xu
Please God, don’t let him wear a dashiki.
DarkSyde
Hahaha! Oh man, that’s a great post.
Xenos
I seem to remember Bush wearing a Dashiki, but I can’t find a picture of it.
In any case, Dashikis are from Nigeria. The traditional dress in Kisumu, the Obama hometown, is the three-piece wool flanel suit. It is a running joke in Kenya how the sweltering Luo businessmen will not dress down for any occasion. They are a people who insist on being taken seriously, and heatstroke is a small inconvenience compared to the risk of being taken for a hippy.
Not sure of the popularity of flag lapel pins, though.
Cain
John,
PofTYSF (post of the year so far).
cain
reid
Bill Maher should be ashamed of himself for catering to that pinheaded, lying cretin, Jack Kingston. I don’t care if he’s the kind of feller you could have an iced tea on the porch with.
Libby Spencer
Brilliant post Mr. Cole.
DougJ
How does it work again? I always forget. Is it flag-pin in the left lapel means top, flag-pin in the right label means bottom…or vice versa? And does the shade of the pin distinguish between anal and oral?
ACK
Nice. Now we can vote online on this issue. I was just browsing the CNN web site and I came across their Quick Vote: “Does Barack Obama show the proper patriotism for someone who wants to be president of the United States?”
If this isn’t a perfect example of just how ridiculously stupid our national discourse has become, I don’t know what is.
Zuzu
Yeah, and a week or two ago he had Doughy Pantsload on … which I can understand because he likes to have at least one right-winger, but he made sure to mention how much he likes his LA Times column. Wha … ?
On the bright side, I haven’t seen him calling Ann Coulter “doll-face” lately.
libarbarian
Thats also what I remember from growing up on CG bases.
The Other Steve
Isn’t Obama the guy with the funny name who keeps talking about our founding documents?
jcricket
Unlike the poster who thinks “shorter jcricket” is still funny, this perfectly illustrates my point. CNN, not Fox News, is already running polls about Obama’s patriotism.
We can all say “Americans are smarter than that” – but they clearly are not. That a significant percent believe(d) Saddam had something to do with 9/11, or that any reasonable person could be convinced that John Kerry shot himself to get purple hearts and a million other things are absolute proof that Americans are and can be swayed to believe ridiculous things.
The right knows this, and exploits it ruthlessly and effectively. They don’t have to sway 50% of the population – as our close elections show us, a couple percent here and there can often make the difference. And when we’re talking about “independents” who are contemplating “switching sides” to vote for the Dems – their allegiance is already shaky. These are the same people who gave Republicans polling leads on issues like “fiscal responsibility” for the last 30 years (despite all evidence to the contrary). Obama is in trouble if he thinks this stuff won’t stick (didn’t John Kerry teach us anything?).
Note: Hillary would be no better off, and in all likelihood would be hit with even more ridiculous smears.
I am not arguing Obama is a bad candidate, or shouldn’t be the nominee. I think the patriotism thing, the muslim smear, and even the inexperience jab are all ridiculous. I’ll vote for him no matter what anyone says, because the Republicans are fucking nuts. But I’m not who needs to be convinced.
jake
Xenos, he’s not in a dashiki, but maybe you’re thinking of this.
jcricket
To respond to this directly: Yes. Americans are morons. They do not seek the truth. Republicans know this, and know how to manipulate the media to muddy the waters, and confuse Americans.
They will do so this time around, just like every other time around. And it will work on a bunch of people.
Obama will need to fight back and mount an aggressive offense to avoid letting their smears become the issue.
jcricket
Better is the picture of Laura Bush with the hijab.
Same hijab/muslim deference they pilloried a bunch of Dem politicians for displaying (or not displaying, but theoretically displaying in the smeared version of events that Republicans presented).
Republicans: All psychological projection, all the time.
Element 5
Good grief. For about six years now, Bush, Cheney and untold numbers of GOP bigwigs have been wearing a bizarre *alternative* American flag pin, one with a big red (Soviet style) star in the middle of the “stripes” field. Next time you see one of these clowns being interviewed on the telly, notice the odd red blur there where there should only be red and white stripes…it’s the red star. I can only assume that this new flag represents the coup that has taken the country over (you know, the one that fears the people so much that it has to wiretap us all?) as their agenda is plainly “anti-American”. Look for the red star friends, it’s there and it’s never been explained.
Lavocat
A wonderfully visual “fuck you” to our scumbag colleagues across the aisle.
nabalzbbfr
One picture is worth 1000 words:
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2048/2286994803_3cf8ac2c29_o.jpg
Innocent Bystander
Is it a coincidence that the bigger the crook, the bigger the lapel pin?
Thanks…I’m going to keep the permalink handy for the forwarded e-mails that I will be getting from concerned Republicans.
Cain
Where’s his wizard hat and his stick? (the other guys look cool though)
cain
Mike G
The point is you can be a complete POS and wear all the patriotic ties, lapel pins, and other shit. Put another way, claiming a lapel pin defines who you are as a citizen/American is retarded.
Pretty much the same way they exploit Christianity. Blather about how pious you are, throw some fundie code words in your speeches, and you’re in the club. You can be a corrupt incompetent murderous asshole and the slack-jawed Jeebus yokels will still proclaim you a “man of God” and run drooling to the voting booth.
TenguPhule
Check back with us in two months. I can pretty much guarantee teh stupid will be worse.
Xenos
Cool outfit – although it appears Obama (or the guy who looks like Obama)is wearing an Evangelical/Charismatic Christian outfit. East African Muslims do not generally wear turbans, even those on the coast who claim to be descended from Persians.
J. Dunn
Hey, you forgot George Allen! He was well ahead of his time on this issue. He was using lapel pins to advocate treason before lapel-based statements on the subject of patriotism even occurred to most of these jokers. A true avant garde visionary, that one.
merlallen
I remember the first time I went to a civilian movie theatre. When the lights went down and the curtain opened, I stood up. My bro in law said, what the fuck are you doing?
I was wondering why all of those assholes weren’t standing for the Nat’l Anthem.
bago
Yeah. Jewelry determines policy. Who can forget the gaffe that Elenor Roosevelt made when she wore the ring with only 5 diamonds rather than six.
myiq2xu
You can always spot one of John’s students.
jake
Uh, um. Nuh-uh! That’s a photoshopped picture of Nancy “Islamofascist Orgies in San Fran.” Pelosi!
Joe Stallon
Ummm, Dems are freaking idiots!!! This news gets out on the wire and what do you do…………ATTACK the R’s. The only thing that makes it really funny is the fact that HILLARY is the one bringing this back up………Another one of your DEMS, your MORONS!!!! Ok, make sure to keep your eye of the Terrorist ball and let’s talk about R’s and pins. No wonder America is in the tank, it’s fools like the Dems that are making this a wonderful place….NOT!
Jim
The big question is: If I wear my flag pin for my mugshot, am I obligated to wear it for my sentencing? SRSLY.
Krista
This is wacky — Rick Moran basically agrees with you, John.
The Source
Here’s the REAL question: does the traitor have a magnetic “Support the Troops” ribbon on his SUV?
zsa
This is nothin’.
Did you know John McCain has a black baby from a woman not his wife? And he has a chip in his head implanted by North Vietnamese torturers. When the code word is issued, McCain will summarily welcome Vietnam into the WTO.
And that Hillary and Bill have killed at least 40 people over the years. The bodies are stacked like cordwood in a refrigerated storage locker down in Little Rock.
So Obama actually being a Pushtun tribesman with an AK hanging in the back window of his Prius … well … rather weak beer.
Klim
I am pretty sure most of the pins like most American flags
have that patriotic “Made in China” tag on them
Canadian Paul
It’s all about the lapel pin. Showing it, means it! It’s what’s on your heart, not what’s in it!
Why, Satan himself can quote the bible by verse, surely conservatives will want to give him a pass then.
We’ll have to rule McCain out as well.
http://professorsrsquared.files.wordpress.com/2007/11/2mccain.jpg
http://www.state.gov/cms_images/2007_04_12_mccain_600.jpg
Huckabee is still in the running.
http://www.dcpoliticalreport.com/Graphics/Huckabee.jpg
http://a.abcnews.com/images/Politics/ap_huckabee_071203_ms.jpg
No, Hillary doesn’t wear one either.
Sure, George W. Bush wears one, but it’s for the same reason you label your kid’s underwear.
And, of course, this guy literally wore his ‘patriotism’ on his sleeve.
Just where is Dubya’s heart, anyway?
Zuzu
Wow, and when Amy Proctor agrees with you … !
Zuzu
Oops, wrong thread. Takin’ to the other one.
Juanita
Just a few weeks ago we were treated to news video of the President in the Middle East dancing with Ay-rabs–Muslims, aren’t they?–while holding a sword with which they had gifted him.
Does that count as equivalent?
Darwin26
i was expecting to see my favorite Treasonous duche bag and i was not disappointed: Duke ‘the Crook’ Cunningham, note the flair, not otherwise seen in the other felons photos.
I thought Larry Craig looked a lot like Dick Cheney, didn’t you?
I never felt more unconfortable than the days and weeks and months after 9/11 from seeing all those idiots in Los Angeles flying their flags up and down the Freeways. Every now and then one would be gracing the far right lanes :)
sherlock
Two points, with respect:
1. Although my wife and I have been married 30 years, I still give her flowers on Valentines Day, because I want her to know that I love her. Flowers are of course a very conventional, sentimental, and superficial way of showing that, compared to the years of support and companionship I have provided for her. But if I did not give her flowers, she would wonder why I didn’t take the trouble anymore, significant or not. Same way I feel about Obama.
2. I hope nobody failed to notice that although he is averse to a flag lapel pin, Obama got his butt in front of a whole row of the real full-size items when he got into trouble because his preacher is a racist.
Bottom line – his principles won’t allow him to use the flag as a small gesture of devotion to his country, but they do allow him to practically wrap himself in them when he feels like he’s in trouble.
To be President of the United States it would seem an obvious requirement that you love the United States, even if you criticize it. Between Obama’s church, wife, and rather convenient flag ambivalence, I can’t say that I feel comfortable that he meets that requirement.
sherlock
LET’S SEE IF YOU WILL DELETE IT AGAIN…
Two points, with respect:
1. Although my wife and I have been married 30 years, I still give her flowers on Valentines Day, because I want her to know that I love her. Flowers are of course a very conventional, sentimental, and superficial way of showing that, compared to the years of support and companionship I have provided for her. But if I did not give her flowers, she would wonder why I didn’t take the trouble anymore, significant or not. Same way I feel about Obama.
2. I hope nobody failed to notice that although he is averse to a flag lapel pin, Obama got his butt in front of a whole row of the real full-size items when he got into trouble because his preacher is a racist.
Bottom line – his principles won’t allow him to use the flag as a small gesture of devotion to his country, but they do allow him to practically wrap himself in them when he feels like he’s in trouble.
To be President of the United States it would seem an obvious requirement that you love the United States, even if you criticize it. Between Obama’s church, wife, and rather convenient flag ambivalence, I can’t say that I feel comfortable that he meets that requirement.
Ocala Web Design
Both parties stink of self promoting and pandering to special interest groups. We need to kick everyone out of office and start fresh with ideals and concepts our for fathers intended us to have.
You clearly point out only GOP crooks, but Im sure there are as many dem crooks out there as well.