"Patriots" Protest too Much: Flag Lapel Pin Nonsense

My father spent more than a quarter century on active duty in the United States Navy, beginning in the last year of World War II, and ending in 1973. Proud of his service, fiercely loyal to the Navy and the country, most of his closest friends served in the military. Recently he and my mother moved to a retirement home in Northern Virginia originally begun by retired Air Force officers. He occasionally wears his Navy wings (he was a pilot for most of his service), but I've never seen him wear a flag lapel pin. I saw him in uniform regularly for decades, and often in his dress whites, so I've seen his many ribbons and medals--never a flag pin.

So I asked him whether he saw a lot of flag lapel pins at his retirement home, where most of the residents are Republicans. (He's not, I'm delighted to say; both he and my mother, who just turned 80--he's 84--voted for Barack Obama in the Virginia primary.) He said he sees very few of these pins. "Why do you think that is?" I asked him a couple of weeks ago. Well, he answered, when you've served your country for an entire career, you don't feel the need to announce your patriotism publicly. "I don't know about the others," he continued, "but I sure don't."

How interesting that TV anchors who've never served in the military think it's critical for politicians to announce their patriotism on their lapels. How interesting that politicians who've never served in the military, and wouldn't think of doing so, and wouldn't want their children to do so, think it's so important to announce their patriotism with a piece of lapel jewelry. When Vice President Cheney puts on that pin, be sure to ask him about his service to his country, back when it might have cost him something. The Vice President had "other priorities" during the Vietnam era, when we worried every year that my father would receive orders to Vietnam. (We all got lucky--he didn't.)

Jewelry doesn't equate to patriotism--in fact, it's a shoddy substitute for the real thing. Ask my old man.

Comments

[S1m0n]

The lapel pin thing isn't really about a flag; that's just the proxy issue. It's loudest adherents don't wear pins all the time, either, and don't believe that not earing one proves anyone a US-hater.

What it is is a shorthand way of saying that Obama isn't 'one of us'.

[batguano]

When I look at the people in and around this Bush/Neocon Regime who feel compelled to wear flag lapel pins; at their priorities and actions........the direction they have taken our American Foreign and Domestic Policy, torture as policy, GITMO and other abuses of prisoners, pre-emptive war, war for profit, corporate welfare at the expense of average Americans, their Katrina response, worker and consumer safety record , environmental sabotage, their abandonment of scientific reasoning or integrity.­........th­e list is nearly endless...........I can see clearly why some people of conscience would choose to not show their "patriotism" by the similar wearing of such a symbol.

[quest2bsure]

Point well made to real patriots.

My father, relatives and friends who served this country in the same time period as your father, all returned from WWII knowing what they fought for. And didn't or wouldn't allow any group to tell them a lapel pin or any other symbol was proof of their patriotism. They would also tell you there is a difference between patriotism and nationalism.

Nationalism can become a very dangerous road to travel. Buttons, pins and armbands led to the very thing our fathers and fellow patriots fought to protect us from. Along with the tyrants that are birthed from this ideology.

Now these neo chicken hawk whatever they are, think they can insult the true defenders of our nation into believing they are not true Americans without a pin.

I smell a line of CRAP!!! Or is that gunpowder?

[Gibbons]

Good comment. Gibbons USN Ret.

[katefranklin]

By the "hand over the heart during the national anthem standard", a good chunk of Americans that attend sporting events are anti-American traitors, because they choose to wolf down cheese fries during the Star Spangled Banner.

[Syco]

I think its funny that none of the candidates wear them and yet hes the only one getting attacked for it

[Gibbons]

It is not just the flag pin perhaps Obama does not know flag protocol in a picture where the national anthem was being played Obama stood apart with his hands clasped in front of him and was looking in a different direction while the other candidates held their hands over their heart. Your father and I, another WWII retiree would have faced the music and either held our hand over our heart or salute which is a privilege all veterans now have due a new law. In my early Navy career I was one of the people who destroyed worn flags, first we cut out the blue field so it was no longer a flag and then it was burned in a quiet ceremony. What irks me more are the people who support this war but will not volunteer to help fight it, rather they fly the flag to show how patriotic they are.

[Kishadawn]

I'm not sure if we are talking about the same thing, but the picture you are referencing was taken after the National Anthem was played not during. It's a picture that's gone around for some time now, and it's been noted on a few sites.

[jgaines7]

This reminds me of the movie "Office Space," and how Stan, the manager of Chotchkies was always pestering Joanna, the waitress, to wear more pins or buttons (pieces of flair) on her uniform.

Joanna: You know what, Stan, if you want me to wear 37 pieces of flair, like your pretty boy over there, Brian, why don't you just make the minimum 37 pieces of flair?
Stan, Chotchkie's Manager: Well, I thought I remembered you saying that you wanted to express yourself.
Joanna: Yeah. You know what, yeah, I do. I do want to express myself, okay. And I don't need 37 pieces of flair to do it.
[flips off Stan]

[brainuser]

Last I looked, flag lapel wearers were prone to display frayed American flags on their vehicles, despite American federal law to the contrary. Flags are to remain intact.

[wiseapple]

Wearing the flag lapel saves them from having to follow one out to one's car to see if it is plastered with magnetic ribbons- just to be sure one is patriotic.

[WASanford]

Actually, making the flag a part of your costume is against established flag etiquette. Members of the armed forces, police, and emergency responders are the only exceptions. Unless you are a high government official you should refrain from displaying the flag on your vehicle. I don't understand how any patriotic American can fail to spend 2-5 minutes looking up this information before displaying their flag.. It's readily abundant on the Internet.

[homesteader]

Oh, good. Someone put that John Prine song in. With lyrics.

[RickO]

While digesting Reader's Digest
In the back of a dirty book store,
A plastic flag, with gum on the back,
Fell out on the floor.
Well, I picked it up and I ran outside
Slapped it on my window shield,
And if I could see old Betsy Ross
I'd tell her how good I feel.

But your flag decal won't get you
Into Heaven any more.
They're already overcrowded
From your dirty little war.
Now Jesus don't like killin'
No matter what the reason's for,
And your flag decal won't get you
Into Heaven any more.

Well, I went to the bank this morning
And the cashier he said to me,
"If you join the Christmas club
We'll give you ten of them flags for free."
Well, I didn't mess around a bit
I took him up on what he said.
And I stuck them stickers all over my car
And one on my wife's forehead.

Well, I got my window shield so filled
With flags I couldn't see.
So, I ran the car upside a curb
And right into a tree.
By the time they got a doctor down
I was already dead.
And I'll never understand why the man
Standing in the Pearly Gates said...

"But your flag decal won't get you
Into Heaven any more.
We're already overcrowded
From your dirty little war.
Now Jesus don't like killin'
No matter what the reason's for,
And your flag decal won't get you
Into Heaven any more."

[Susanfrom29]

My husband spent 27 years in the Marine Corps. He doesn't feel the need to wear a lapel pin either.

Wonder if the obsession that chicken hawks have with lapel pins is anything like the need some men have for bright red sports cars....

[peterg76]

"Flashy" patriotism (or confidence, machismo, libido, etc.) is about *insecurity*.

[LouisPWu]

To some people, symbolism is important. There is a huge difference between being a patriot (willing to sacrifice one's life, if need be, for your belief in your nation) and patriotic (waving flags and leading cheers from the safety of your front porch). Patriots know they've been there, done that. Patriotic people have to keep reminding themselves what they believe through their symbols.

[5thGenDem]

Good points. Anyone can put on a pin, so wearing one is really meaningless.

But can you name one of those "TV anchors" who think it's "critical for politicians to announce their patriotism on their lapels." I doubt that any have done so. Merely commenting that Obama has been criticized for not wearing a flag lapel pin does not equate to thinking it's critical to do so.

[jgaines7]

It isn't critical for all politicians, as many don't wear a flag pin (and aren't called out for not wearing a flag pin). It's only critical that Senator Obama wears the flag pin.

[slank]

Lou Dobbs thinks it is critical to do so.

[cheforacle]

But asking a question about it at a debate of limited time, when the other candidates no wear one either and the country is facing very serious questions that have gone unaddressed, is not only inappropriate, it is wrong.