Dan

Calabrese

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July 3, 2008

Obama Wants No Patriotism Talk; Hmm, Wonder Why . . .

Imagine how relieved John McCain must be. Barack Obama, magnanimous as always, has vowed not to question McCain’s patriotism.

Whew!

Because the last thing McCain wants is for anyone to bring up how he denounced America’s fighting men and women and compared them to Genghis Khan. Oh wait, that was John Kerry. But McCain doesn’t need people bringing up how ridiculous he would look in any sort of military environment. Oh wait, that was Michael Dukakis.

Well at least he doesn’t have to worry about people talking about all his radical, America-hating friends.

Oh wait. That’s Barack Obama.

This year’s Democratic Party How Dare You Question My Patriotism Pageant is a little more clever than usual. Rather than simply whining about imaginary assaults on his patriotism, Obama vows not to attack the patriotism of a man who endured torture for five years at the hands of sadistic Communist thugs rather than sell out his country.

Next week, Obama will promise not to criticize McCain’s radical, America-hating pastor. After that, he’ll promise not to bring up the fact that McCain was only elected to the Senate four years ago.

Democrats don’t like to talk about patriotism, but they can’t help themselves. And by declaring his intention not to talk about patriotism – unless, of course, someone “attacks” his – Obama demonstrates his exceptional ability to have it both ways.

There is a difference between being unpatriotic, which I don’t think Obama is, and being defensive about your patriotism, which Obama clearly is. He’s defensive about it for the same reason most Democrats are. They consider themselves patriotic according to their definition, but they’re uncomfortable with the way most Americans express their patriotism.

Obama said what most liberals think when he explained why he stopped wearing a flag pin shortly after 9/11. His tortured explanation is the stuff of legends:

“You know, the truth is, is that right after 9/11, I had a pin. Shortly after 9/11, particularly because as we were 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. Instead, I'm going to tell the American people what I believe will make this country great, and hopefully that will be a testimony to my patriotism.”

Consider what Obama reveals in that one statement. First, he thinks people who display traditional symbols of their love of the country are fake. Second, he sees some sort of irresolvable conflict between displaying symbols and speaking on issues. Speak on issues, good. Wear a flag pin, bad. What if you want to do both? No good, says Obama. Real patriotism means doing it Obama’s way. Third, there would appear to be no room within Obama’s definition of patriotism for people who quietly go about their service to the country. He only has use for people who “speak out,” and any mention of those who quietly serve – particularly in the military – is noticeably absent.

Shortly after 9/11, I witnessed a very liberal professional colleague getting upset at “all the flag-waving stuff” that was going on. This person thought pretty much the same way Obama does. “Flag-waving stuff” is for people who suffer the delusion that America is perfect. Enlightened liberals, firmly convinced of their country’s devastating flaws, have little use for such jingoistic expressions.

If liberals want to define love of their country as being willing to criticize it in order to make it better, fine by me. Maybe they had harsh fathers who never thought anything they did was good enough either.

But the fact is that John McCain, when given a chance to prove his love of his country with action, did so heroically. If Barack Obama wants to declare himself patriotic, I’ll take his word for it. McCain doesn’t have to identify himself as a patriot. He’s proven it by giving more for his country than most people could ever dream of. And when picking a president, it matters to me that a man would give that much for his country. McCain should talk about it. It’s important.

So why does Obama not want to talk about patriotism? Because he doesn’t have to be unpatriotic for McCain to clean his clock on the issue. So Obama, who likes to make the rules for the campaign, declared it off limits for either to talk about the other’s patriotism.

But remember, Democrats imagine attacks on their patriotism where none exist. The next time McCain or one of his supporters mentions McCain’s POW experience, it wouldn’t be shocking to see Obama infer an attack and reply with outraged indignation.

Obama makes the rules. No talking about patriotism. It’s just as well, because for anyone who values it, there’s really no discussion necessary.

© 2008 North Star Writers Group. May not be republished without permission.

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