Patriotism

During the democratic debate last night (4/16/2008), one of the viewer-submitted items featured a woman who questioned Barak Obama's patriotism because he chooses not to wear a flag pin at all times.  Obama went into a slightly stammering response about why he thought he was very patriotic, which was one of his poorer answers of the evening.  This is how I wish he would have responded instead.

"My dear lady, I truly am sorry that you feel that way.  But I am afraid that there is nothing I can say that is going to change your mind.  If you really and truly are the kind of person who will make a decision about who should be your next president based on their choice of jewelry, I just can't argue with that.  In fact, I think that I'd rather not have your vote.  Furthermore, you probably shouldn't vote at all, as you clearly lack the cognitive tools required to make an informed, intelligent decision."

Of course, this drips with the elitism that Obama is also often accused of.  Well, I think that Jon Stewart put it best the other night on The Daily Show.  Why don't we want a president who is, you know, elite?