Well, there's some truth in that.
However, you lump in the flag pin and Mrs O's comments in there, which I don't agree with. There are many politicians that don't wear the flag pin. Hell, I don't. Are we all being unpatriotic? What if I don't like poking holes in my lapel, which can ruin my suit over time?
Anyway, I know Obama wasn't concerned about his lapel, rather, he was concerned that patriotism was reaching a fever pitch and it was beginning to cloud people's judgement. Mrs O was concerned with the same thing. I too am someone who has no problem criticizing America. We are the greatest country on earth, but we will only remain so as long as we are capable of introspection and not afraid to call out our faults and correct them. That is the concept of continuous improvement. That is the highest form of patriotism. If we lean towards the blind patriotic fever that Bush/Cheney want us to espouse, then we will be in real trouble. Read and internalize this quote:
"Beware the leader who bangs the drums of war in order to whip the citizenry into a patriotic fervor, for patriotism is indeed a double-edged sword. It both emboldens the blood, just as it narrows the mind. And when the drums of war have reached a fever pitch and the blood boils with hate and the mind has closed, the leader will have no need in seizing the rights of the citizenry. Rather, the citizenry, infused with fear and blinded by patriotism, will offer up all of their rights unto the leader and gladly so. How do I know? For this is what I have done. And I am Caesar."
--- Julius Caesar |
