“I said, you know what, I probably haven’t worn a flag pin in a very long time. After a while I noticed people wearing a lapel pin and not acting very patriotic.”“My attitude is that I’m less concerned about what you’re wearing on your lapel than what’s in your heart. You show your patriotism by how you treat your fellow Americans, especially those who serve. You show your patriotism by being true to our values and ideals. That’s what we have to lead with is our values and our ideals.”
Exactly — it’s not what you say, it’s what you do. A simple message, no? But there is more, much more, to it than this.
But let me digress for a moment.
Mark has a round-up of the reaction from the other side. It illustrates the old saying: It’s the hit dog that howls.
That said, Obama’s declaration got me thinking about how there are only two REAL parties in this election cycle:
- Flag Party
- Constitution Party
One party pledges allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. The other party pledges to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States of America.
One party promises rule by emotion (fear), spectacle and symbolism. The other party promises to rule by law, using the blueprint laid out by the founding fathers, to protect the rights and liberties of individual Americans — whether they’re in the majority or not.
One party pushes new, liberty-restricting amendments — like the anti-flag burning amendment. The other party promotes the amendments we already have — like the First Amendment — amendments that have stood the test of time, history and our culture.
But wait — there’s even more:
The real difference between these two de facto parties is this: Members of the Flag Party know what’s at stake. But Constitution Party members? Not so much. They don’t even know they’re members of their own party! They have no demonstrated ability to frame the nature of their philosophy, or even the nature of the opposing arguments in the current election cycle — security vs. liberty, words vs. actions, symbols vs. reality.
Even Obama, in yesterday’s comments, didn’t (or couldn’t) lay out the boundaries of this battlefield — although he did come close.