And the beat goes on...as the never ending Democratic primary slogs ahead. Seems my fellow Tejanos went for Clinton in way big numbers and apparently the news is that Hillary wins in the state she was supposed to win. The state she led by as much as 20 points three weeks ago. Ah Bartleby. Don't get me started on the fickle swing of campaign narratives and so-called momentum, it'll change soon enough, I'm here for more important reasons: to give out a coveted Wet Burrito Award.
Unlike perennial W.B.A. winner Ruben Navarrette Jr. -- or, Junior as I like to call him -- who remains consistently and comfortingly transparent in his role as "Token Op-ed Brown Boy Who Just Happens To Be A Conservative," L.A. Times columnist Gregory Rodriguez is at least more nuanced in his right wing blatherings. That is most of the time. And for sure not two days ago, when in his latest column Rodriguez chastised Barack Obama for not wearing an American flag pin on his lapel, and thus, Gregory believes, continues to appear unpatriotic and unelectable:
If Barack Obama really wants to rise above the "old politics of division," he might want to start by putting that American flag pin back on his lapel and retracting his all too earnest explanation as to why he took it off in the first place.
No, not because he should seek to appease his conservative critics who are absurdly questioning his loyalty to the country. But because it could help heal the festering division over the meaning of patriotism in America while also beginning to make up for the Democratic Party's self-imposed patriotism deficit.
What an idiot. "All too earnest explanation?" You mean a principled stand and a refusal to acquiesce to patriotism as defined by hypocritical conservatives? For those of you unaware of this made up flag "controversy" I'll let Bill Mahrer tell the story. He's much funnier than I am:
New Rule: Show me a man wearing an American flag pin in his lapel, and I'll show you an asshole.
Last week we had the first genuine controversy of the presidential campaign: the shocking news that Barack Obama doesn't wear an American flag lapel pin, so apparently he and America are no longer going steady. "No lapel pin, Senator? It's like not wearing pants. Why don't you just stab the Statue of Liberty in the eye while bitch-slapping a 9/11 widow?" Another in a series of bullshit non-stories that have zero effect on the troops, the war or anything in the real world -- or, as Fox calls it, "Breaking News."
A reporter in Iowa asked Obama why he doesn't wear the pin and Obama explained that, to him, wearing the pin had come to seem like a "substitute for true patriotism." Bravo, Senator. And then, in yet another shining example of why the media is part of the problem, ABC's Claire Shipman said, "TMI, too much information -- all he had to say was, 'Don't judge me by what I wear, move on.' He played into the idea that he's not ready for prime time." What, schoolgirl? "Too much information?" What is she, 12?
Rodriguez argues that for political expediency Obama would be wise to embrace symbols of patriotism. Like I said, what an idiot. And the winner of this week's Wet Burrito Award. Deservedly so. And for those of you still unconvinced of the stupidity of the flag pin and the hypocrisy of right wing flacks (and certain Highspanic L.A. Times columnists) check out a Republican congressman talking about Obama and his flagless commie lapel, it doesn't get any clearer:
In 1939, everyone who was anyone in the die Reichland wore swastikas on their lapels. Anyone who didn't was suspect.
Why should this era in America be different?
We're living in a cheesy remake of "Cabaret," with no shortage of lead actresses with signs of alcoholic fetal syndrome, and each time there is a crowd shot, a greater proportion of the people in it are wearing military uniforms.
Posted by: L. Pelon | 08 April 2008 at 09:09 PM