Barack Obama Won't Wear a Flag Pin

Thu, Oct 4, 2007 at 1:00:24 pm PST

I’m now beginning to put some credence in the idea that Barack Obama is nothing but a stalking horse for the Hillary Clinton campaign, because nobody could really be this stupid: Obama Stops Wearing Flag Pin.

His excuse is straight out of Nutroots 101: “Dissent is patriotic! Not that old flag thing!”

WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama says he doesn’t wear an American flag lapel pin because it has become a substitute for “true patriotism” since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Asked about it Wednesday in an interview with KCRG-TV in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, the Illinois senator said he stopped wearing the pin shortly after the attacks and instead hoped to show his patriotism by explaining his ideas to citizens.

“The truth is that right after 9/11 I had a pin,” Obama said. “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,“ he said in the interview. ”Instead, I’m going to try to tell the American people what I believe will make this country great, and hopefully that will be a testament to my patriotism."