CE Week #6: “Obama tells why he doesn’t wear flag pin”
It’s ‘ what’s in your heart,’ not on lapel
John Mccormick
Chicago Tribune
October 5, 2007
INDEPENDENCE, Iowa — In this patriotically named town, it seemed like as good a place as any for Sen. Barack Obama to explain why he does not wear an American flag pin on his suit lapel as some politicians do.
It was a topic the Illinois Democrat and presidential candidate was forced to address Thursday, following an answer he had given the day before to a television station in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
Obama told KCRG that he wore such a pin shortly after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, but later dropped the practice.
“I decided I won’t wear that pin on my chest,” he said, according to a transcript provided by his campaign. “Instead, I’m gonna’ try to tell the American people what I believe will make this country great and hopefully that will be a testimony to my patriotism.”
But after the issue made national news Thursday, he was forced to address the topic again. His campaign, sensing the topic was dominating campaign trail news, had earlier made clear he had not worn such a pin for years.
“I’m less concerned about what you are wearing on your lapel than what’s in your heart,” he said under a county fairgrounds pavilion here, a giant American flag draped behind him.
“You show your patriotism by how you treat your fellow Americans, especially those ones who served.”
He suggested some politicians who wear such pins act in disingenuous ways.
“After a while, you know, you start noticing people wearing a lapel pin, but not acting very patriotic, not voting to provide veterans with the resources that they need,” he said.
Earlier, his campaign had issued a statement that said patriotism “isn’t what you wear on your lapel. It’s what you carry in your heart. I don’t need a pin to certify my love for this country.”
Republican politicians often wear flag pins. But Thursday the other two top Democratic candidates steered clear of the topic.
A spokesman for Sen. Hillary Clinton, of New York, declined to comment on whether she regularly wears such a pin, although she has worn one in the past.
A spokesman for former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards said he wears an Outward Bound pin from his late son, Wade, who died a decade ago.
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So Obama is getting slack for not wearing an American flag pin on his lapel. But, why should anyone care what kind of pin our Presidential candidates wear? It’s just a pin. The media really shouldn’t even waste time reporting on this aspect of Obama’s campaign, it is irrelevant to his potential Presidential abilities. I can sympathize with Obama on this issue. In the grand scheme of things, it’s “what in your heart” that actually matters, not the superficiality of a lapel pin. Anyone can put a pin on his shirt, but does that mean he is a good, patriotic American? I can wear a Rolling Stones shirt whenever I want, but does that mean I am a member of the band? No. The same thing goes for being a patriotic American: anyone can” talk the talk” but do they “walk the walk”? Of course conservatives may think Obama is unpatriotic for not wearing the pin, but in all reality the man is running for President of the United States…how much more patriotic can someone get?
Wow.
All I can say is…WOW.
So for lack of better things to do and argue about, our politicians are getting defensive about A LITTLE PIECE OF JEWELRY?
For goodness sake, at my workplace, we sell little pins like that and old ladies with little to no fashion sense buy those sort of things.
I agree with Obama, though, it indeed is not what you wear, but what you have in your heart. I think, despite the insignificance of this issue, Obama inadvertently addressed a bigger problem in American society.
The basic American teenager or basic American adult, for that matter, gets very focused on tawdry objects that take over their lives. Clothes are one of the many things we can get obsessed with very easily.
Take the mall, for example. I was walking with my mom in my brand new Gryffindor track jacket from Hot Topic (You say anything I will take a fork to your nose) and I noticed some odd looks coming in the direction of a girl standing next to Mariposa with some “friends”. I chanced a quick look myself, and my shallow American brain went immediately something along the lines of “Oh my god. No WONDER people are looking at her like that. Ew, not something even my MOM would wear.”
Can you believe me? I sure as heck couldn’t. It is this shallow attitude that gets the every day American into trouble, or at least makes us look stupid.
Go Obama. He’s got the right idea; I don’t know if there really was an easier way to go about it.
So last time I checked, it wasn’t a requirement for our Presidents (or any person involved in governmental authority) to pins. Obviously, if Obama isn’t wearing this, then it isn’t mandatory. So what is the big deal? It is NOT mandatory. He isn’t breaking any rules. If these reporters want to twist this around and make it seem like he is a horrible American with no patriotism, then they need a life…or a new job! This is ridiculous. With such strong candidates for our next Presidential election, why is our media focused on this? Why are we not focusing on the points and counterpoints of the candidates? Or the standings so far?
Not all politicians support the War in Iraq; quite frankly, they don’t have to. Even though not wearing the pin doesn’t signify that Obama cares, he doesn’t have to. If he doesn’t want to support it, then he doesn’t have to. In fact, that would be a part of his platform! He has that right. But the fact that this man, running for President, has to defend himself because people are accusing him of false things shows that our media and people are shallow. Unfortunately, there are uneducated people out there who will judge this man because of this. Things like this make me so mad. Our media should be a benefit to the people to get us involved. Not waste our time!
So who would spend the time to write an article about Barack Obama not wearing a patriotic pin? I think it’s a little ridiculous, patronizing him because he isn’t wearing a flag pin at all times. The fact that anyone would care about something like this is beyond me but then to write an article about it, what were they thinking?
Personally I wouldn’t care what patriotic articles of clothing a presidential candidate is wearing, and I definitely wouldn’t take the next step and start judging his character based on it. It’s not what they’re wearing that says who they are, well it does, but it doesn’t. I’m not talking about wearing a suit vs. t-shirt and shorts; I’m talking about the stupid miscellaneous things that people seem to be worried about. This just brings up the question in my mind, are people even listening to the candidate and what they stand for or are they looking at personality. It just goes to show how we’re proving textbooks about how the youth is uneducated about politics and are paying attention to things in politics that don’t matter, like political clothing apparel. Obama couldn’t have said it better himself, “[it] isn’t what you wear on your lapel. It’s what you carry in your heart. I don’t need a pin to certify my love for this country.”
~Ryan Brannan
Ever since September 11 Barrack Obama had worn his American Flag pin. He dropped the tradition because he wants to tell the people about his patriotism instead of wearing it on his chest. This I think was a very good tactic of getting people to notice him. I think he did it to get the medias attention, which he did. He now gives a new attitude of showing how great our country can be without having a pin or something to represent it. I think this take away some of his vote from war veterans who think it is disrespectful. It’s like saying that we don’t need our flag to represent our country. Other politicians wear the pin. It is a way to separate him from them. I think it put him at a new different level. John Edwards has stepped up the game on this topic and wears an Outward Bound pin from his late son who died.
WOW, isn’t are media great. They can’t come up with a good story of they couldn’t think of some highly intricate lie to put on someone so they decide to bug Obama for not wearing a flag pin. Well as you can already tell from what I wrote I think that is just rediculous. I totaly agree with Obama when he says “You show your patriotism by how you treat your fellow Americans, especially those ones who served”. I don’t think that some little tiny pin on your jacket shows anymore about who you are. I often find that when people try to flaunt something suck as a patriotic object it is because they are hidding something else. So is the media just suppose to make him wear one everyday. Why not get on hillaries case for not wearing one. Well the reason is simple. If they got on everyones case no one would take it seriously and then then the media wouldn’t have a story. I can admire Obama for doing that because the public does put alot of presure for you to be patriotic and for Obama not wear one takes a little bravory to do so knowing that someone will get on your case about it. Plus who could take peoples complaints about not being partiotic when they are the ones who wont go into the armed forced, run for a political office, or even vote.