Is he allowed to feel angry, ever? Or is the appropriate dose of anger also doled out by those who cause it?

Granted, there is always a 'better', i.e. more pragmatic way to respond to provocation, especially in retrospect. But, come on, this is like blaming someone for yelling 'ouch' in an inappropriately loud voice after being hit with a baseball bat.

Then, too, wouldn't the same people who criticize his reaction portray him as being weak because he didn't speak up for himself?
What happened to the admiration for appearing strong?

Is he allowed to feel angry, ever? Or is the appropriate dose of anger also doled out by those who cause it?

Granted, there is always a 'better', i.e. more pragmatic way to respond to provocation, especially in retrospect. But, come on, this is like blaming someone for yelling 'ouch' in an inappropriately loud voice after being hit with a baseball bat.

Then, too, wouldn't the same people who criticize his reaction portray him as being weak because he didn't speak up for himself?
What happened to the admiration for appearing strong?

No, we didn't. Though we did in large numbers (not the mere ten per cent implied wrongly by someone else) do something publicly observed. No, it wasn't to start wearing lapel pins. That was done in the media (and US flags on uniforms were worn by pro athletes and officials). No, what we did in large numbers was flying and otherwise displaying the flag (such as on freeway overpasses).

There hasn't been the same neurosis about the flag display as with the lapel pins in the media, but the flag display was far more widespread and continues in a low-key manner (note) to this day.

No, we didn't. Though we did in large numbers (not the mere ten per cent implied wrongly by someone else) do something publicly observed. No, it wasn't to start wearing lapel pins. That was done in the media (and US flags on uniforms were worn by pro athletes and officials). No, what we did in large numbers was flying and otherwise displaying the flag (such as on freeway overpasses).

There hasn't been the same neurosis about the flag display as with the lapel pins in the media, but the flag display was far more widespread and continues in a low-key manner (note) to this day.

Not quite. It's something else. With both, it's idolatry.

(Jettison any excessive emotion and other baggage with your initial reaction when encountering that word, “idolatry,” and just look at in a “clinical,” intellectually mature and detached, sense.)

Not quite. It's something else. With both, it's idolatry.

(Jettison any excessive emotion and other baggage with your initial reaction when encountering that word, “idolatry,” and just look at in a “clinical,” intellectually mature and detached, sense.)

Too bad, because if you wanted some academic and intellectual stimulation (albeit less boring than the current-campaign frothing on the Dem side) you might have speculated how many people avoid the Republican Party because it still has that affluent-to-wealthy-white-male, exclusive-club character that turns others off.

Too bad, because if you wanted some academic and intellectual stimulation (albeit less boring than the current-campaign frothing on the Dem side) you might have speculated how many people avoid the Republican Party because it still has that affluent-to-wealthy-white-male, exclusive-club character that turns others off.

So we do.

So we do.

But I do disagree that its not a sort of litmus test. Honestly to write off someone as not being patriotic for simply not wearing a pin, or rather assume that they are patriotic because they do, is watering down the idea of patriotism to an insulting degree.

I have trouble respecting the opinion of someone who can place that much emphasis on something so superficial. Especially in the times of this administration which so often uses empty rhetoric as a substitute for progress. That keeps telling us things are running smoothly as the wheels come off the wagon. These are the people that are swayed into ignoring facts because they are being told what they want to hear.

But I do disagree that its not a sort of litmus test. Honestly to write off someone as not being patriotic for simply not wearing a pin, or rather assume that they are patriotic because they do, is watering down the idea of patriotism to an insulting degree.

I have trouble respecting the opinion of someone who can place that much emphasis on something so superficial. Especially in the times of this administration which so often uses empty rhetoric as a substitute for progress. That keeps telling us things are running smoothly as the wheels come off the wagon. These are the people that are swayed into ignoring facts because they are being told what they want to hear.

So, here you go, here's the quote from Obama when a reporter questioned him about the lack of pinnage:

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.”

Now, how anyone can look at that and not see that he was using the issue to make a political attack on his opponents- especially if the same someone thinks that Bush's statements about appeasement HAD to have been a vieled attack on Obama, is beyond me. Like I said, if it's wrong to make the wearing of a flag pin into a litmus test, then it's also wrong to say that those who wore them were failing a different kind of test.

So, here you go, here's the quote from Obama when a reporter questioned him about the lack of pinnage:

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.”

Now, how anyone can look at that and not see that he was using the issue to make a political attack on his opponents- especially if the same someone thinks that Bush's statements about appeasement HAD to have been a vieled attack on Obama, is beyond me. Like I said, if it's wrong to make the wearing of a flag pin into a litmus test, then it's also wrong to say that those who wore them were failing a different kind of test.

That this is still an issue to some shows me that there is little concrete in the way of ammo to use on Obama. Anyone who would change their vote away from him over THIS, as opposed to say, actual ability to make decisions regarding the future of this nation, I would never trust with any serious decisions.

That this is still an issue to some shows me that there is little concrete in the way of ammo to use on Obama. Anyone who would change their vote away from him over THIS, as opposed to say, actual ability to make decisions regarding the future of this nation, I would never trust with any serious decisions.

But he then used it to be divisive in return. Most people who are into the symbols aren't trying to claim that they're better than anyone else, they just like the public expression that's involved. By making it into more of an issue than it really was, he too was using the symbol in a divisive way. He was just showing the other side of the same coin, IMO.