Obama Is Un-American

There, I said it. He refused to salute the flag during the Pledge of Allegiance!!! How in the hell can a man like this expect to be our next Commander-in-Chief???? This man, this Barack Hussein Obama. Oh, wait, this was debunked by Snopes and the Washington Post’s Fact Checker. I first heard about this chain email when my roommate came into my room and casually said, “Hey, I heard that Obama won’t say the pledge of allegiance because it’s against his religion.” 1st response: “You mean Christianity?” 2nd response: Google.

So he didn’t put his hand over his heart during a single national anthem. So what? Since when was clasping your hands solemnly in front of you not a sign of respect? I read comments on a number of right-wing blogs and left-wing debunkings. Suddenly everybody is an EXPERT on flag code – you know, Title 36 of the U.S. Code! “During a rendition of the national anthem, when the flag is displayed (A) all present except those in uniform should stand at attention facing the flag with the right hand over the heart; (B) men not in uniform should remove their headdress with their right hand and hold the headdress at the left shoulder, the hand being over the heart.” After the sadness passed, I found it hilarious that a large percentage of people citing this code mistook it for actual law.

This constructed controversy came luke-warm on the heels of Obama’s earlier “refusal” to wear a flag lapel pin. Another sign that Obama is not a patriot, and not fit to run this country. In fact, he’s a Muslim insurgent planted here to destroy us from the inside. Yes, people actually believe this – and not just the loonies. I read all the comments on the Post’s Fact Checker blog, and the hatred, racism, and fear brought me to the verge of tears. I understand where those comments came from – not Washington Post readers. I’m sure plenty of right-wing blogs linked to it and told their internet armies of hate to go sound off and let that liberal rag know we’re not going down without a fight!

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The more lucid right-wingers derided claims that they were to blame for the spread of this email. “This sounds like the dirty tricks of the Clintons.” True, it does, and maybe a Clinton staffer started the chain, but why did every commenter say they got the email from one of their crazy right-wing relatives? Others claimed this is no big deal as nobody believes chain letters. Yeah, nobody believes them. That’s why people PASS THEM ON, because they’re trying to be ironic. The most cogent argument suggested that Obama is purposefully neglecting to wear the pin or salute the flag so as to politicize patriotism and, presumably, attract the anti-American vote.

He’s got mine. Before Iowa, I claimed that no matter what happened it wouldn’t make a big impact this cycle. After a year of being told “Clinton is going to win, it’s a foregone conclusion,” I had resigned to that fate. Obama winning Iowa shook me up; with him truly becoming a viable candidate, I realized just how much I dislike Clinton. I have to imagine a number of people had the same response, despite the fact that Clinton just took New Hampshire. No, I’m not educated enough to debate the fine points between their respective platforms. I do know that platforms are rarely fulfilled. I know that Clinton is fully bought in; part and parcel of the system. I don’t care that Obama is inexperienced because it is this inexperience that may enable him to mix things up.

No, I’m not just parroting his “Politics of Hope; Politics of Change” rhetoric.

Not that he has, but I would embrace Obama pontificating on the true meaning of patriotism. How it’s not a lapel pin, or the placement of a hand. Fervent patriotism and excessive nationalism are essential components of a fascist state. I don’t make the claim that we live under one, since I realize I am free to suggest we are and not end up in a gulag. Neo-fascist, maybe. I understand why people claim we are. A quick overview of the “14 Characteristics of Facism” should be enough to make anyone question the claim. Where has flag-waving gotten us? I can look at the unquestionable erosion of civil liberties under the Bush administration and admit that we are not moving in the right direction.

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I am, by my own nature, not a traditionalist. For a number of years, my mom, sister, and I would go to mass on Christmas Eve and pick up food at Carls Jr. afterwards. We didn’t get fast food all that often, so getting a burger was a bit of a treat. But mostly, I cared about the tradition. One year, my mom didn’t want to go to Carls after mass. I don’t recall throwing a tantrum, but I certainly asked “please?” and was upset about it. I was still fairly young, but by this point I was only attending mass on Christmas and Easter. That was the last time I ever attended a mass, outside of the ones I was forced to attend at my Catholic high school. Don’t respect a minor tradition that meant something to me, I’m not going to respect yours.

So I can respect how simple shows of patriotism mean something beyond the literal act to a huge number of people. It does bother me that children are forced to pledge allegiance on a daily basis. Especially the “under God” part that, contrary to popular belief, has not been there forever. 1950s religious revival, product of the red scare. Remember to point that out to people who refuse to accept that the U.S. was not “founded as a Christian nation”, who are unaware that the Founding Fathers were predominantly Deists, and that “In God We Trust” on all our currency is also a product of the 1950s.

When we pledge allegiance to the flag, I would hope we are all aware that the flag is an inanimate object. It is a symbol, but what does it symbolize – are we pledging allegiance to the ideals of America, or to the status quo? I want the candidate who believes in freedom and opportunity regardless of what he wears or where he puts his hands. I wouldn’t even shit on the guy who wants to “take the country back for Christ.”

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