Lou Dobbs and his American flag lapel pin.

[Cyrano]

Let me admit right up front that I have never watched Lou Dobbs. But in switching channels, I've seen his American flag lapel pin. And it tells me everything I need or want to know about him.

IMO, anyone who needs to "announce" on their lapel that they are an American is either a pandering politician, or a screaming asshole.

The lapel pin crap started back in the Vietnam era. Nixon and his cohorts started wearing it to say "I am a real American and you're not." And here we are, 40 years later, still being branded by these people as "unAmerican." (Even some Dems wear one as a defense mechanism.)

The point is that the Republican Party has claimed the American flag as their private property. And we were stupid enough to let them get away with it. And over time, they have made a mockery of everything our flag is supposed to stand for.

I've touched on this subject about every six months since I've been on DU. But I really think it's time for an all out push to reclaim the flag. Someone suggested that we all get flag lapel pins and wear them upside down. Not a bad idea.

Any other suggestions?

[DemBones DemBones]

1. I think it would be smarter to wear flag lapel pins

the usual way, to show that we love our country, too. (My love is getting stretched mighty thin lately but that's another story.)

If we wear them upside down, we'll be called communists, not patriots.

Of course the country is in distress but people on the right don't accept the idea that the flag should ever be turned upside down. They never learned flag etiquette. They don't know that Bush autographing flags is completely wrong, that the flag is never to be written on. They'll leave a flag flying on their car's antenna or on a flagpole at their house until it's nothing but strips of cloth and think that's OK but foam at the mouth if they see a flag upside down.

[stark6935]

2. He used to be credible

but now he just rambles about stuff most people aren't that worried about currently, and comes off as a lost Alzheimers patient

[DemBones DemBones]

3. We could get peace symbol pins to wear below our flag pins.

If we wear them below, nobody can say we're putting it above or beside, i.e., equal, to the flag.

It's the same principle as our bumper sticker back during the Viet Nam war, which had a flag image and the words "AMERICANS AGAINST THE WAR."

I saw the other day that the peace symbol, originally the nuclear disarmament symbol, is 50 years old this year.

Of course there are people who insist it's a Satanic symbol so maybe a pin saying "US OUT OF IRAQ" would be better. Or, "WHO WOULD JESUS BOMB?"

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

4. "Patriotism is the most foolish of passions and the passion of fools." Schopenhauer

Lou Dobbs, and his flag waving ilk, are a fools.

[SpiralHawk]

6. "Phony chickenhawk patriotism is the last refuge of scoundrels" - Samuel Johnson (adapted)

[Sequoia]

5. I say we wear French Flag pins.

If it weren't for them the American Revolution would've failed or dragged on longer. That war was really a civil war, and so many civilians were killed just for being a Tory or Patriot.

[lame54]

7. Check out this weeks Top 10 Conservative Idiots - #10 - I think you will like it

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/top10/327

[Cyrano]

8. Thanks, lame54. Just read it. There's just no sewer deep enough for these creeps.