The Daily Background

On the October 4th edition of Hannity and Colmes, guests Kate Obenshain (the younger conservative in the video above) and Geraldine Ferraro (the older liberal in the video above) discussed Barack Obama’s decision not to wear a flag lapel pin anymore. During the course of the segment, Obenshain repeatedly suggested that Obama was unpatriotic for not wearing the pin, and spread misinformation about the situation itself. (Thanks to Newshounds for supplying a longer video from which I extracted the relevant portion)

Obenshain’s spin:

OBENSHAIN: It’s a little weird, Alan, that in the middle of a campaign, the guy takes off the American flag that most people wear because they’re proud of their country. It’s a statement!

The truth: Obama didn’t just all of a sudden stop wearing the pin “in the middle of a campaign”– he hasn’t worn it for years, and only wore it briefly in the period right after 9/11. Here’s a photo of Obama making the biggest speech of his life at the 2004 Democratic National Convention. Look Ma, no pin:

Obenshain’s spin:

OBENSHAIN: The point is, he took it off and he said ‘I’m making a statement here.’ You have to say what does that statement mean and how do I as a voter feel about it? (Crosstalk) It matters something to our troops who are in harm’s way! It certainly does! … He is making a statement on it!

The truth: Obama has never publicly spoken about why he stopped wearing the pin until now. He’s never made a speech about it, he’s never made an announcement about not wearing it, he’s never drawn attention to the fact that he doesn’t wear it. Here’s the complete transcript of the part of the interview which touched on the pin:

REPORTER: One last quick question, and this is just kind of a lighter note, you don’t have an American flag pin on, is this a fashion statement? Those have been on politicians since September 12, 2001?

OBAMA: You know, the truth is that right after 9/11 I had a pin. 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, instead I’m gonna’ try to tell the American people what I believe what will make this country great and hopefully that will be a testimony to my patriotism.

Any debate over whether Obama is patriotic or not because he’s chosen not to wear a lapel pin is about as silly as a debate over whether if you didn’t have a yellow “Support the troops” ribbon on your car meant you wanted American soldiers to die would be. As retired General Tony McPeak said today in Obama’s defense: patriotism “comes from the heart, not the clothing.”

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