QUESTION OF THE DAY: Should Barack Obama Continute to Wear a Lapel Pin?

“Senator 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.”

That was the lone question asked by a Pennsylvanian Nash McCabe during the twenty-first Democratic debate that set it off. From that day forward throughout the campaign Barack Obama would be confined to wearing the lapel pin. Although he gave a remarkable answer, calling this a “manufactured issue that our politics have become obsessed with”, he gave in. He wore the pin, not as a sign of patriotism but as a shield to deflect the arrows launched at him by his detractors who would impugn his patriotism every chance they get.

So did this actually work? Now that the lapel pin is on in full form, will this reassure anyone who would second guess his loyalty to the American flag? Sure, if by reassure you mean give those already predetermined to find loopholes in his love for his country something else to look for as proof that he’s not a patriot. From being accused of prowling around with terrorists to having to produce a copy of his birth certificate to prove that he was born in the United States, the doubt and distractions continued, leaving one to ask what exactly is the purpose of the pin if yet again and again doubts about his patriotism would take center stage.

So if I had to give President-elect Barack Obama a peace of humble advice, I’d say this – loose the darn lapel pin! As a community organizer, a state and US senator, and now as the future president of the United States, you have helped the poor, serving your state and also your nation. Continute to show your patriotism by your deeds.