Obama and Patriotism

This diary is an effort at brainstorming a response to the coming Rightwing meme.

You can find a whiff of it here fronted this Sunday am on MSNBC:

Obama may face grilling on patriotism
No flag pin, no hand over his heart: Is he exposed?

Sen. Barack Obama's refusal to wear an American flag lapel pin along with a photo of him not putting his hand over his heart during the National Anthem led conservatives on Internet and in the media to question his patriotism.

Now Obama's wife, Michelle, has drawn their ire, too, for saying recently that she's really proud of her country for the first time in her adult life.

Conservative consultants say that combined, the cases could be an issue for Obama in the general election if he wins the nomination, especially as he runs against Vietnam war hero Sen. John McCain.

Naturally originating from the bowels of the far right wing press, MSNBC is the first that I've seen carrying this into the MSM, but they won't be the last. Two helpful players in all this nonsense are Rep. Jack Kingston (R-Ga)

And Roger Stone...Yes, that Roger Stone.
Per TPM Cafe:

On Friday night's Bill Maher show, Rep. Jack Kingston (R-GA) claimed that Barack Obama refuses to say the pledge of allegiance to the American flag.

The AP's Nedra Pickler asks disgraced Republican dirty-trickster Roger Stone for his opinion. Stone you'll remember is the guy who got caught making threatening phone calls to New York Gov. Spitzer's (D-NY) elderly father and last month set up an anti-Hillary group with the acronym C-U-N-T.

Surprisingly enough, Stone thinks the answer is yes.

Both Stone and Kingston are rotten sources for this, of course, so the question becomes why are suddenly words from this fetid crowd becoming worthy of ink?

The answer is perceived balance. I've been watching MSNBC for a week or so and their coverage seems literarily one day hit Obama, the other day hit HRC.

It's silly and childish but I think their idea of balance is to write hit jobs in equal portion for either candidate. In any case, it will be coming down the pike so we might as well learn how to turn this on it's head.

First, I think we affirm love of country and separate that from symbol. For example, "I love my country, I don't need a flag pin to show it. My love is here (touching heart), not in some pin on my label. I've seen too many scoundrels hide behing the symbols of patriotism, while doing great damage to this country. You'll see many Republicans who wear this pin, supporting an administration that has cut funding for Veteran's benefits, left our poor and elderly without healthcare, and left a city to drown."

Something like that.

As to Michelle's pride thing, again, separate pride of country from love of country.

Example:

"I've always loved my country, there's not a day goes by that I don't love my country. But, like Michelle, I've seen my country do things I'm not proud of. We love our children, but their are days when we are not proud of them. If we can't understand that distinction, how can be begin to correct it?"

Last I'd say it's time we question the nature of what the Republicans and, in particular, far right wingers mean by 'patriotism'.

If it's simple love of country, great, we're all on the same team. But if it means,  starting wars we don't need to start with a refusal to talk with other countries out of a ill formed sense of grandeur and pride--that's not patriotism, that's delusional. The Christian community has a wonderful word for this kind of behavior--it's not patriotism. It's hubris.

I'm sure others here will have some great ideas too. Have at it!