On Obama
The other day I was speaking to my mother who had, in turn, spoken to an old family friend. The friend said something to the effect of, "Obama is not patriotic," and then backed that up with he does not salute the flag and he does not pledge allegiance. As a result, a vote for Obama is a vote for someone who is anti-American.
As a quick side note, I think it is interesting that G.W. has influenced the nation so wholly that to do anything in direct opposition to the majority opinion (or perceived majority) is anti-American. Don't support the president's policy, you're anti-American. Don't support tax cuts, you're anti-American. Don't support the wars, you're anti-American. I think we forget that to be American is to have a wide variety of thoughts, ideas, and etc. and as a result anti-American has become a part of the vocal lexicon when we disagree with how an individual chooses to express his or her individual patriotism.
Back to Obama.
Obama is not patriotic because he chooses to express himself... how?
Well, I went online and looked up the whole not saluting the flag (something I am as likely as not to do) and he does not recite the pledge of allegiance (again, something I am as likely as not to do... I mean, walking across campus I don't stop nor do I turn toward the giant flag near the administration building). However, as I looked online I came across: http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2007/11/obama-says-flag.html.
Essentially, what this does is take the whole flap back to its origins. Obama and (at the time) the other Democratic Party candidates. Obama was filmed not saluting the flag when everyone else was doing so. When asked about this, he said, "That was during the national anthem," he went on to say, "I was taught by my grandfather that you salute the flag during the pledge of allegiance and you sing during the national anthem." Truth told, this is a good rule of thumb. Fortunately, at the link above (copied here) you can watch the video of the event in question and read his comments.
So, once I'd established this information and the origination of the accusation, I called my mother back who'd read a newspaper my dad had handed her. This newspaper is highly conservative and is definitely anti-Democrat. The outcome, after reading it, was that my mom had come to her own decision that the information she'd received from the family friend originated through the newspaper she'd read (a gift from some people that my parents know and not something they want ... even though my dad reads it whenever it shows up). However, knowing where information comes from and with support of the information I found, the determination was that information (outside of being highly inflammatory) was more about the Revered Wright and about anti-Democratic sentiment with mudslinging and yellow journalism.
As a result, I was for the man before, and am still for the man now.
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