I would like to hear this speech if it was broadcast.

I really hope that those of us on the left understand this speech clearly and recognize that there are good things about the United States amid the flaws. We get so caught up in protesting every little thing and fantasizing about revolution that we never take time to think about the things that make the U.S. good despite all the wrongs done in our name.

I definitely hope that people on the right understand this speech and, at long last, recognize that waving a (made in China) flag in someone's face or in front of a camera, putting a bumper sticker on their SUV, and tying a yellow ribbon on a tree doesn't make them any more patriotic than anyone else. I also hope they realize that whitewashing history a la Lynne Cheney and planning wars of aggression a la Dick Cheney are the least patriotic things that can possibly be done.

Obama's spine is diminishing by the minute. It would have taken all of two sentences to point out that Clark was merely stating an obvious point: military service is neither required for, nor is particularly relevant to being president. Even though Clark fell all over himself in his statement drooling about how great a hero McCain is, he was still predictably savaged by the right-wingers with their faux outrage. People need to make this point more strongly so we can start eroding the vacuous military bootlicking that plagues our political discourse:

1. The US has not been involved in a war of strictly national defense since World War II. All subsequent wars (with the possible exception of Korea) are widely acknowledged to be flawed or outright mistaken.

2. We have an all-volunteer military, which means that it is a career choice like any other. For all intents and purposes soldiers are employees of a corporation.

3. It is ridiculous to confer hero status on people who are performing a task that is not constructive, even if those people are risking their lives doing so.

4. Those who argue that soldiers should not be vilified because they are "just doing their jobs" should realize that they should not be lionized for the same reason.

5. Godwin's Law rears its ugly head - if all soldiers are heroes no matter what the larger goal of the war, do we grant the same status to German WWII vets?

Note that none of the above points are necessary to make the same point that Clark made - namely that there is no relation between piloting a helicopter and running a country.

Besides the clarity and good writing, Obama's speech on patriotism reminds me that one good thing about not thinking about yourself ALL the time (not that he doesn't EVER think about himself; if he didn't he wouldn't survive) is that it frees up your mind to think about other things.

On this patriotism discussion: Peter Beinart's recent article in Time magazine is the best I've read on the subject.

Dear brothers and sisters,

Once I heard someone say that the truly great democratic leader is one who dreams a great dream for us. As one whose first presidential vote was for Jack Kennedy, and whose last presidential vote maybe for Barack Obama, I have been gratified, at times stunned, by Obama’s eloquence.

Is he a perfect vessel for social justice? Was Lincoln?

One of the incidents involving Lincoln's nomination in 1860 was his message to his supporters at the Republican convention that they not trade promises for convention votes and that he would not be bound by their promises. They ignored his message. After he was nominated and elected, he somehow kept every deal they had made. He was a lawyer for the railroads who was an authentic populist, who mocked those who believed the right of property was equal to the rights of individuals.

As Obama does a gandy dance* around some of the difficult issues that have been used by the right to push back the clock, not beyond the two Roosevelts, but beyond Lincoln, we might just cut him some slack. A littler obfuscation on gun control, for example, may be painful to some of us, but it might be appropriate, although the NRA apparently, hasn't been fooled. A little distancing from Wes Clark’s blunt, but accurate assessment of John McCain's service career, isn't the same as drinking cool aid.

Ironically, during the 1960 campaign, my eldest brother, an Air Force officer, complained about Kennedy's war record. "The only thing he did is get his PT Boat run over by a Jap destroyer."

This is not the first time in this campaign that Obama has shown amazing insight and grace with his analysis of a complex problem. His first speech on race, when he tried to explain Rev. Wright's anger, is, and will be, a classic. Rev. Wright repaid him by a self-absorbed display of petulance that nearly destroyed Obama's campaign.

I expect that some of the response to his message on patriotism will reflect the same destructive anger that marks Rev. Wright and so much of the Vietnam protest. Those protestors who burned the American flag they may have actually prolonged the war and insured the birth of the Nixon-Reagan-Bush era.

Obama chooses not to burn the flag, but to waive it. God bless America, the beautiful.

johnklotz.blogspot.com

*"Gandy dancer" refers to the footwork of railroad workers placing and resetting ties on the rail road.

How sad that Barack Obama, or anyone else, has to "prove" his patriotism to suit the NeoCon/Right Wing elements of the country and the Republican party. "Patriotism" to these fascists requires no analytical thinking, no comparative nor contextural analogies nor anything even approaching a true value judgement of what constitutes "patriotism".

Patriotism requires us to love and promote our country, but, the true patriot uses his brain and conscience, as well; blatant jingoism serves no one well, except the "my country, right or wrong" crowd. To his great credit, Senator Obama has correctly rejected that blind-fealty-is-patriotism argument.

Whenever I see a Republican waving the flag furiously with one hand, I always look to see what the other hand is doing. Usually, that other hand is doing something dishonest, illegal or underhanded. That's just the way Republicans are.