Starting about the time of early Ronald Reagan, the Republican Right played capture-the-flag with Old Glory. If you were a true patriot, you gave all your speeches before massed American flags and wore the symbol of one in your lapel. And, of course, to be a true patriot meant also that you were a member of the Republican Right. No other Americans admitted to the brotherhood and sisterhood of patriotism.
Predictably, this would come to an accusation -- what substitutes for serious debate these days -- that Senator Barack Obama was not wearing a flag pin and therefore, ipso facto, was no patriot.
So, here's a modest proposal. All of us who support Barack Obama for president should now wear flag pins. This will signal that we are all just as patriotic as anyone on the right. And it will signal that we are all for Obama. If we all do this, then when we see a flag pin we will know we are seeing another Obama supporter.
Go right out now and buy a pocketful of flag pins. Give them to all your friends. Show your support for America and for Obama. I've got mine on. It's our flag too!
But, you might ask, what about those flag wavers on the right? That's their problem.