Obama Sheds the Flag Pin for the Debate

What's missing from this picture?

On Tuesday, Barack Obama claimed to be proud to don an American flag pin on his lapel.

[A] Vietnam era veteran presented it to him on the ropeline as Obama made his way to the podium at the start of the event.

"I was just handed this," Obama said. "It's a flag pin. I think I'll go ahead and put that on."

He then did just that.

"I appreciate your service," Obama told Philip Fiumara, Jr., a Vietnam era veteran and undecided voter, according to the campaign.

"Thank you so much. It means a lot coming from you, and we are grateful to you."

Apparently, it didn't mean enough to Obama to prompt him to wear it on national TV.

At last night's debate, Obama went sans American flag pin once again.

Nash McCabe, a voter, posed the question in a video: “Sen. Obama, I have a question, and I want to know if you believe in the American flag. I am not questioning your patriotism, but all our servicemen, policemen and EMS wear the flag. I want to know why you don't.’’ And ABC News moderator Charles Gibson explained the point of the question:

“It comes up again and again when we talk to voters. And, as you may know, it is all over the Internet. And it's something of a theme that Sens. Clinton and McCain's advisers agree could give you a major vulnerability if you're the candidate in November. How do you convince Democrats that this would not be a vulnerability?’’

“Well, look,’’ Obama said, “I revere the American flag. And I would not be running for president if I did not revere this country.

“I would not be standing here if it wasn't for this country…. There's no other country in which my story is even possible. Somebody who was born to a teenage mom, raised by a single mother and grandparents from small towns in Kansas, you know, who was able to get an education and rise to the point where I can run for the highest office in the land, I could not help but love this country for all that it's given me.''

“And so, what I've tried to do is to show my patriotism by how I treat veterans when I'm working in the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee,'' Obama said, "by making sure that I'm speaking forcefully about how we need to bring this war in Iraq to a close, because I think it is not serving our national security well and it's not serving our military families and our troops well. talking about how we need to restore a sense of economic fairness to this country, because that's what this country has always been about, is providing upward mobility and ladders to opportunity for all Americans.

“That's what I love about this country. And so I will continue to fight for those issues. And I am absolutely confident that during the general election, that when I'm in a debate with John McCain, people are not going to be questioning my patriotism; they are going to be questioning, how can you make people's lives a little bit better?

“And let me just make one last point on this issue of the flag pin,’’ Obama said. “As you've noted, I wore one yesterday when a veteran handed it to me, who himself was disabled and works on behalf of disabled veterans.

“I have never said that I don't wear flag pins or refuse to wear flag pins,'' he said. "This is the kind of manufactured issue that our politics has become obsessed with and, once again, distracts us from what should be my job when I'm commander-in-chief, which is going to be figuring out how we get our troops out of Iraq and how we actually make our economy better for the American people… to beat back these distractions.’’

What's a simple way to eliminate this "manufactured issue"? Wear a flag pin.

True, Hillary wasn't asked about her lack of a flag pin, but Hillary didn't make up a lame story about "losing" hers. She didn't accuse others who wear the pins of being frauds, making the pins a symbol of phony patriotism.

I bet that Vietnam vet would have been deeply honored to see Obama wearing the American flag pin that he gave to him only a day earlier.

Obama just used it as a prop on Tuesday. The vet's gift didn't mean a lot to him. Obama ignored the point of the vet's gesture and chose to exploit the moment, a temporary display of solidarity. It was political theater, posturing and posing, and nothing more.

There's no question that Obama himself has turned this into an issue.

It's the actions behind symbols that make them powerful. Actions matter, but so do symbols, as representations of those actions.

Obama's stubbornness when it comes to wearing an American flag pin speaks to his arrogance, as if he's too good to wear one. It's as if he doesn't want to be associated with people who proudly wear the pin as an expression of their allegiance to America and their love for their country.

Obama gets upset about being called unpatriotic, yet he doesn't hesitate to level those charges against others.

October 17, 2007:

Obama said, "I didn't replace [the lost flag pin] even though I have terrific respect for those who wear it because I think a lot of politicians will put their flag pin on and then act in a real unpatriotic manner."

"I mean you had Alberto Gonzales wearing a flag pin the whole time he was shredding the Constitution. And what I want people to do is to judge me by how I act."

That's exactly what I'm doing -- judging Obama by how he acts.