Proud to be An American

Now that Obama is King:

It’s not unusual to see a flag in liberal provinces, of course. But in the Bush years of sanctioned torture and war built on deceit, many Americans withdrew from overt displays of patriotism. Some said they were ashamed of their country.

While following the length of the Lewis and Clark Trail several years ago, I was struck by the huge number of flags in places like rural Missouri, Iowa, South Dakota and Montana. On Indian reservations, the same thing – though often with tribal symbols superimposed. But in the major cities along the trail, St. Louis and Portland among them, I was hard-pressed to find a flag in front of a home.

I wondered whether urban Americans, overwhelmingly Democratic, had something against the flag, or if they felt the country was no longer theirs. Now you can ask the same question of the other side of the political spectrum.

Obama, the candidate, tried to explain why he initially stopped wearing a flag pin in 2007. No doubt, he was speaking for a lot of fellow citizens. “Shortly after 9/11, particularly as we were talking about the Iraq War, that became a substitute for, I think, true patriotism,” he said in 2007. “I decided I won’t wear that pin on my chest.”

I had a teacher, many moons ago, who used to reply to students bragging about very minor accomplishments: "Do you want a medal or a chest to pin it on?"  Barack Obama never had a teacher like that.