Flags, Patriotism, and Obama
I'm a newby to blogging and have never before written a full post, but after sifting through a variety of exchanges about the whole flag pin issue, there's something I believe is going unsaid, or at least going undeveloped.
On its surface, the question of why Obama "refuses" to wear a flag pin is clearly a flimsy, manufactured wafer of a controversy, one which is parasitic upon the kind of political symbolism and image-production that has facilitated the degeneration of political discourse, undermined critical thinking, and helped to erase the already tenuous line between MSM and propaganda (the same production of symbolism that Bush and Co. have more or less successfully crafted ever since they first hired Hollywood directors to stage their media appearances back in 2000.)
But I think the flag-pin issue actually speaks to something essential about Obama and the importance of his candidacy: he understands what is so perverse about a political culture where a fashion accessory, more patronizing than patriotic, can carry more meaning than supporting a range of policies that threaten to undermine our country. (And by "undermine our country," I mean everything from undercutting whatever "moral leadership" we may ever have enjoyed, to sacrificing the types of civil liberties and human rights that are purportedly our country's founding principles, to severely weakening our economy, to failing to provide our citizenry with proper health services and quality education, to increasing the exploitation of our natural wildernesses, to throwing our federal government's own balance of powers into disequilibrium, to compromising the ability of our military to be effective in cases where it's actually needed, etc.)
If Obama's decision to not wear a flag pin has any relevance whatsoever, it is that he understands how bad the past 8 years (at least) have been for the overall health of our country, and he is challenging the meaning of "patriotism" by contesting the vapid yet insidious political symbolism that has substituted the image of a flag for true concern over the path of our nation.
One last thought: like many, I remember in the few days that followed 9/11 not just the sense of collective shock, vulnerability and grief, but also the warmth that complete strangers extended to one another as a gesture of healing. I've never seen people in East Coast cities so outgoing and friendly, so willing to break with insularity and smile or talk to whomever. That genuine mourning, and all its promise of civic fellowship, was a beautiful moment amidst chaos that was soon supplanted by a frenzy of compulsory flag-mongering that exuded compensation for weakness and silenced real conversation. At least so far, the chaos seems to have won.
How I wish that my country could be the country of those first few days. Thankfully, there's every reason to think that Obama shares that vision.
On its surface, the question of why Obama "refuses" to wear a flag pin is clearly a flimsy, manufactured wafer of a controversy, one which is parasitic upon the kind of political symbolism and image-production that has facilitated the degeneration of political discourse, undermined critical thinking, and helped to erase the already tenuous line between MSM and propaganda (the same production of symbolism that Bush and Co. have more or less successfully crafted ever since they first hired Hollywood directors to stage their media appearances back in 2000.)
But I think the flag-pin issue actually speaks to something essential about Obama and the importance of his candidacy: he understands what is so perverse about a political culture where a fashion accessory, more patronizing than patriotic, can carry more meaning than supporting a range of policies that threaten to undermine our country. (And by "undermine our country," I mean everything from undercutting whatever "moral leadership" we may ever have enjoyed, to sacrificing the types of civil liberties and human rights that are purportedly our country's founding principles, to severely weakening our economy, to failing to provide our citizenry with proper health services and quality education, to increasing the exploitation of our natural wildernesses, to throwing our federal government's own balance of powers into disequilibrium, to compromising the ability of our military to be effective in cases where it's actually needed, etc.)
If Obama's decision to not wear a flag pin has any relevance whatsoever, it is that he understands how bad the past 8 years (at least) have been for the overall health of our country, and he is challenging the meaning of "patriotism" by contesting the vapid yet insidious political symbolism that has substituted the image of a flag for true concern over the path of our nation.
One last thought: like many, I remember in the few days that followed 9/11 not just the sense of collective shock, vulnerability and grief, but also the warmth that complete strangers extended to one another as a gesture of healing. I've never seen people in East Coast cities so outgoing and friendly, so willing to break with insularity and smile or talk to whomever. That genuine mourning, and all its promise of civic fellowship, was a beautiful moment amidst chaos that was soon supplanted by a frenzy of compulsory flag-mongering that exuded compensation for weakness and silenced real conversation. At least so far, the chaos seems to have won.
How I wish that my country could be the country of those first few days. Thankfully, there's every reason to think that Obama shares that vision.
