Black Box Report

Actions speak louder than words - or lapel pins. Being patriotic is more important than just looking patriotic, no matter how tightly you wrap yourself in the flag. I can't believe something as meaningless as a flag pin on your lapel is actually a campaign issue. Are we that shallow? Are we that easily fooled by the trappings of patriotism? In short, are we that stupid? Obviously some people are. It's not like Barack Obama defaced his pin, wore it upside down or denounced it. He just decided not to wear it. And THIS is what gets the Right into their latest tizzy? News Flash: Wearing a flag pin don't mean a thing if it ain't got that constitutional swing:

Someone can oppose American civil liberties, prefer to stifle dissent, support un-American policies like torture and the elimination of habeas corpus, but so long as the stars and stripes are on his or her lapel, their patriotism should be considered unimpeachable. What nonsense.

Nonsense indeed. If I wear a t-shirt that says "Los Angeles," does that mean I'm from L.A.? If I wear a Boston Red Sox cap, does that automatically make me a fan? Similarly, if I go to Yankee stadium and don't wear multiple pieces of team merchandise, am I not a fan? And before anyone thinks this is a left vs right issue, it's not. It's substance vs style:

I'd have more respect for Obama if he had just left it at "lapel pins don't solve problems," but this is hardly worth the attention…wearing a flag pin on his lapel wouldn't convince me to vote for Obama, and a bare lapel on a candidate who matches up with my point of view best won't stop my support.

That some people can't grasp this simple equation is frightening. But for some on the right, a love of conformity and authoritarianism cause them to feel superior to those who don't wear their hearts on their sleeve, or the flag on their lapel. And the results are pretty unhinged:

This is how he catches the attention of a media aligned with the terror force? This useful tool won't wear an American flag pin? Talk about pandering to the radical base, he ought to run against Ahmadinejad...What's Obama Hussein's new campaign slogan, "America Sucks!" ?

What Pam Oshry lacks in coherant logic she makes up for in stupidity. But the reaction of Fox's Sean Hannity was the best, explaining we wear pins because...we're under attack! Believe it or not, that's not just a stupid non-sequitor:

And that, my fellow Americans, is what will get you through the dreaded day when you’re faced with an enraged suicide bomber, reaching for the detonator. The knowledge that Sean Hannity stands ready to intercede and spare your life, attacking them with the two inch hat pin that he uses to keep his brain from falling out of his cranium.

So the next time you see Sean Hannity or anyone from FOX News, any of the GOP presidential candidates, or really, any of your neighbors or anyone you see on the street, and they're NOT wearing their flag pin, you know they're a jihadist, terrorist-lovin', anti-American scumbag. You may have them arrested immediately, or if you're in Florida, shot on sight. [/sarcasm]

(Obviously Sean does not love this country)

To paraphrase George Carlin, symbols are for the symbol-minded.