After Presidential candidate Barack Obama's "National Anthem snub" the question that many are asking is "Is Obama a patriot or a political grandstander?"
By now most people have heard about Obama's "Sometimes He Does, Sometimes He Doesn't" as explained by an Obama spokesperson.
They further explained on Inside Edition, "In no way was he making any sort of statement, and any suggestion to the contrary is ridiculous." That's his campaign's reasoning for him not holding his hand over his heart at Senator Tom Harkin's Steak Fry event on September 16 in Indianola, Iowa.
A minor debate has ensued that his failure perform the traditional etiquette constitutes evidence that Barack Obama is unpatriotic and therefore unfit to hold the office of president. This is based on the idea that the gesture of dissent was intentional.
In all fairness since the definition of patriotism is in question here let's allow for clarification. According to the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006
PATRIOTISM - devoted love, support, and defense of one's country; national loyalty. [Origin: 1720-30; PATRIOT + -ISM ]
So the question remains does Obama's position support that definition? Is he a Patriot?
This isn't Obama's first protest though! In an interview with KCRG-TV in Cedar Rapids, Iowa Barack Obama states that he doesn't wear an American flag lapel pin because it has become a substitute for "true patriotism" since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
By now most people have heard about Obama's "Sometimes He Does, Sometimes He Doesn't" as explained by an Obama spokesperson.
They further explained on Inside Edition, "In no way was he making any sort of statement, and any suggestion to the contrary is ridiculous." That's his campaign's reasoning for him not holding his hand over his heart at Senator Tom Harkin's Steak Fry event on September 16 in Indianola, Iowa.
A minor debate has ensued that his failure perform the traditional etiquette constitutes evidence that Barack Obama is unpatriotic and therefore unfit to hold the office of president. This is based on the idea that the gesture of dissent was intentional.
In all fairness since the definition of patriotism is in question here let's allow for clarification. According to the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006
PATRIOTISM - devoted love, support, and defense of one's country; national loyalty. [Origin: 1720-30; PATRIOT + -ISM ]
So the question remains does Obama's position support that definition? Is he a Patriot?
This isn't Obama's first protest though! In an interview with KCRG-TV in Cedar Rapids, Iowa Barack Obama states that he doesn't wear an American flag lapel pin because it has become a substitute for "true patriotism" since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.