43 comments

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  Captain America T. Patriotic

  3 months ago

  Picking up a piece of garbage from a public park is more patriotic. I hate the assholes who even ask these questions. They seem out to get dumb responses.
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  balthus

  3 months ago

  Wearing a flag pin DOES mean you are more patriotic. Just like wearing glasses makes you smarter!
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  Eric

  3 months ago

  Wow, I've never posted until now after many years of reading Taegan's site. If the basis of the question is taken at face value, it further proves why the Euros think we are a bunch of idiots. A pin equals patriotism? Well, I guess it's the furthering reduction of the soundbite. People can just look to see if the politician has a pin to tell whether they are American enough. Ugh.
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  dorothy59

  3 months ago

  Other things that make you patriotic include: Having a "support our troops" bumper sticker on your SUV, watering every day so you have the greenest lawn in the neighborhhood, and going shopping after a major national tragedy.
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  ducdebrabant

  3 months ago

  The way I see it, if I don't have that second martini, the terrorists win.
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  glutz78

  3 months ago

  that about sums it up.
  
  if there was ever any doubt that we're totally fucked.
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  Oh Oh

  3 months ago

  Buying a flag pin made in China makes you patriotic. I love America.
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  some guy

  3 months ago

  What an idiotic question. That's like saying "6 in 10 of those surveyed think a yellow ribbon indicates a person has a relative serving in a war."
  
  Of course the respondents would choose a flag pin--so much easier than DEFINING what patriotism is.
  
  What a shallow, easy-answers country we can be. Doesn't make me confident about the problems of the next few years...
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  ducdebrabant

  3 months ago

  The question to me isn't whether a flag pin makes you look patriotic. All other things being equal, it does. The question is, if you're NOT wearing one, does anybody asume you're UNpatriotic. I certainly hope not.
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  Forrest

  3 months ago

  Well, I think 6 in 10 Americans are hopelessly shallow, superficial and have no depth in their understanding of true patriotism.
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  jgrillo

  3 months ago

  Yes, Americans have no understanding of what patriotism is...only the great one, your candidate, does! So let it be written, so let it be done.
  
  Who are we to try to define to these people what true patriotism is? To some, it is a flag lapel pin, to others it's military service, to others it's community service. It is whatever you want it to be...it isn't just the flag on the lapel, it is a demonstration of pride to some...maybe if they are proud of their country in their minds they are certainly patriotic...but I am not going tell someone a flag pin is patriotic or unpatriotic or neither.
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  glutz78

  3 months ago

  Can we get that broken down among Republican/Democrat?
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  Cody

  3 months ago

  This just in: Six out of ten Americans feel that a flag-pin makes you more patriotic, while the other four realize that just like ribbon magnets on vehicles, flag-pins are empty gestures and meaningless when it comes to actual policy and actions.
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  vwcat

  3 months ago

  I think flag pins are stupid and shallow symbols. They are for armchair generals who seem to think you have to cover yourself in the flag to be patriot rather then doing anything of real substance to help your country.
  Shallow and stupid and just a piece of jewelry.
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  ducdebrabant

  3 months ago

  All symbols are shallow -- flag pins, bumper stickers, peace symbols, crucifixes -- until invested with meaning by the emotions that underly them. Sometimes a symbol (any of the above) is really a symbol of patriotism or idealism or faith, and sometimes it's a piece of tribal chauvinism, and sometimes it's a shallow kind of one upmanship. But where would we be if we had no symbols at all? If we can't have that flag on the lapel, why not take it off the flagpole too?
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  dj

  3 months ago

  well said, i agree with you.
  i for one am not a big fan of the flag lapel pin... but on the other hand, i am wearing a t-shirt right now with a stylized version of my state seal on it.
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  dmorin211

  3 months ago

  It almost feels like this is what Romans did when their empire started to crumble. Instead of looking at the real issues of a bloated military, corrupt bureaucracy, and an unimaginable division of haves and have nots, they played games involving patriotism and who was more "Roman." Fast forward 1,500 years and instead of worrying about our deficit, our reliance on foreign oil, our monetary debt to China, our economy, and a host of other concerns, we are playing parlor games in our head worrying about who is or is not wearing a flag pin. So, this is what happens to the citizenry when they refuse to accept the truth-America is crumbling....sad day for all of us.
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  Robert

  3 months ago

  Good insight. Our country needs help and the big issues are not being addressed.
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  jcb0103

  3 months ago

  I can't believe 6 in 10 Americans said that wearing a pin is patriotic. Do you mean to say that if I wear a pin and then go out and denigrate the USA I am patriotic because I wear a stupid pin? No wonder the world laughs at us.
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  pojucan

  3 months ago

  No, it's the other way: Does not wearing one make you not patriotic? but nobody would ever ask that.
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  Robert

  3 months ago

  The whole lapel flag pin thing started with Nixon's cronies who invented a way to try to defend him and make him seem more patriotic when he was busted for Watergate. You couldn't make that up!
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  Land of the Free

  3 months ago

  Patriotism is telling the TRUTH about the history of your country and hoping that in doing so, others will wake up, listen and look to see how one can improve the situation. It means standing back and trying to take a view of your country from various vantage points and being secure enough to admit what's problematic. . . even when it is not emotionally comfortable.
  Most American have their heads up their a----- , drinking beer, eating themselves into oblivion and hating anyone who doen't fit their mold/version of history . Amazing, if you do all that and wear an American flag pin, you are a true patriot. I'm fascinated.
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  jgrillo

  3 months ago

  OK Einstein, but what if my beer is domestic beer? I'm fascinated by those like you who prefer to find every fault this country has and forget the positives. Kind of like a nagging woman when it comes to patriotism. I'm fascinated that you try to dictate to me what patriotism should mean to me.
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  Land of the Free

  3 months ago

  No one is telling you how you should think. Maybe if you put down your beer and read
  critically, you would see that. The last time I checked, this was forum where individuals can post their thoughts and ideas. Just because you don't care for mine and the way I think does'nt mean it's going to change. Calling me names is not going to change the way I think either.
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  justcorbly

  3 months ago

  I didn't notice any pointing to faults in that post. What I saw was someone acknowledging one of the positives of american life -- free speech -- to stand up for honest and truthful discussions about America. If you think lieing is a prerequisite of patriotism, then you're beyond hope and reason.
  
  Meanwhile, you sound like the kind of guy who'd drink domestic beer just to prove a point, even though he like an import more.
  
  And, oh, yea, nice sexist touch with that "nagging woman" thing.
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  Corey

  3 months ago

  What a stupid question. Of course it is patriotic.
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  middleman

  3 months ago

  Take heart. The survey indicates that there is a more complicated view by Americans.
  
  "Protesting U.S. policies you oppose is also patriotic, according to two-thirds of those polled.
  
  On that, there is something of a partisan divide. Democrats are nearly twice as likely as Republicans to see protest as very patriotic."
  
  6.6 in 10 think this is a form of patriotism, while only 6 in 10 note the flag pin. Not bad.
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  Land of the Free (ks)

  3 months ago

  Whew! There's a speckle of hope after all!!
  Thanks for the more critical analysis of this article, midddleman
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  sunny steve

  3 months ago

  Adlai Stevenson had just finished a speech at a campaign stop in 1956. A man in the crowd shouted, "Senator Stevenson, you have the vote of every thinking American!". Stevenson responded, "Yes, but I need a majority!"
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  middleman

  3 months ago

  How'd that work out for him? ;-)
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  ducdebrabant

  3 months ago

  Well, we're still quoting it. How much do you remember from Eisenhower's speeches?
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  KISSman

  3 months ago

  Wow, that's completely idiotic. No wonder why Obama is sporting that flag pin everywhere. Apparently 6-in-10 people are simple-minded fools.
  
  My neighbor has not 1, not 2, not 3, but 4 American flag stickers on the back of his SUV. By these folks' standards, he's must be more patriotic and must love America more than everyone else on my entire block combined. LOL
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  middleman

  3 months ago

  I don't know. There seems to be little measure of degree of feeling.
  
  If asked, I'd likely respond with a reserved yes that people who wear flag pins are demonstrating a form of patriotism. I like the flag, and don't mind people wearing it as a symbol of pride.
  
  The difference is, I don't want it to be a lithmus test of patriotism. I imagine a large percentage polled would have answered no if the question were "do you have to wear the pin to be patriotic?"
  
  I live and work in Texas and very few people wear the pin. I'm sure they are not all godless commies.
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  jeb

  3 months ago

  Ask yourself one question: "Are you wearing a flag pin (right now)"
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  No

  3 months ago

  So, six in ten American's are retarded. That's up from the previous metric of one in four.
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  Steve-O

  3 months ago

  If people care about the flagpin, Obama will find a good excuse to Wear it again. Maybe he should make a suit out of a flag, to be on the save side...
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  TCinLA

  3 months ago

  Further proof that Mencken was right when he said "Nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American people."
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  hemerson

  3 months ago

  6 in 10 Americans aren't that bright.
  
  6 in 10 people on Earth probably aren't either.
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  Tagg

  3 months ago

  And this goes to the heart of Bob Herbert's column today in the NY Times and some of my own observations. You can read more here....http://www.tagg-lines.com/2008/07/bread-and-circuses.html
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  Vince

  3 months ago

  I, as an American, am humiliated.
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  NewCitizen

  3 months ago

  The very fact that this is an issue or deemed to be a relevant question is pathetic
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  framecop

  3 months ago

  Six in 10 Americans are SENSORS who only go by what they SEE, which is why those idiots can think that someone like Bush who "LOOKS MORE COMFORTABLE IN HIS SKIN" than Gore and Kerry would be worth their votes instead of the other guy who looks either too STIFF or ARISTOCRATIC with the wind-surfing and all.
  
  Keep going by what you SEE Americans, and keep getting the terrible government that you deserve, fools.
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  NewCitizen

  3 months ago

  This is the first time I think I've ever agreed with you!
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