My Elitism

For reasons too lame to list, progress on what was supposed to be a down and dirty piece on Obama, Clinton, and Elitism has been almost totally derailed. So we all may have to content ourselves with the following observation:

Flag lapel pins should not be mandatory for US politicians. They should not be mandatory for anyone. They should not be the product of social pressure. They should not be understood to reflect on anyone's resolution to care more, or call upon the public to acknowledge how much more they appear to care. There is nothing wrong with a flag lapel pin, although I would not wear one regularly unless I were in the flag lapel pin manufacturing business. But we have got to make ourselves admit that the lapel pin is a tacky little thing that is only ennobled by the flag put on it, and that the more patriotic work you want the flag to do, the more the flag is actually diminished by its puny size and the cheapness of the tin it's pressed upon.

On the plus side, as refreshing as it would be to see politicians actually drape themselves in jewel-bestudded sashes of red, white, and blue, in only a few moments everyone would have one, patriotism would fuse with fashion, and instead of mandatory tacky little things we would swim in a creped-up sea of tacky enormous things. The best the lapel pin can say for itself is that so far it has shown no signs of slyly getting any larger. The worst it can say for itself, however, is what it so quickly has threatened to say for the wearer: "Rest assured, I'm just as American as I was before this fad made me have to metaphorically (but only metaphorically) prove it."

Comments

[tom]

If I could have one wish granted, it would be this:

a Hillary operative reads your post quickly and thinks "hey, make the lapel pin bigger!" At Hillary's next event, she's got a Stars and Stripes the size of a cereal box on her chest.

It'd be just like Matt Dillon in Something About Mary, where he gets giant chompers after overhearing Cameron Diaz joke how she loves a man with big teeth.

[Sweet Lou]

Flag lapel pins dive deep in to societal codes, which tend to be more complex and less forgiving than legal codes.

It seems rather simplistic and divorced from reality to say that flag lapel pins should or should not be mandatory. They are. Except when they aren't. Why is that?

Looks like an excellent topic for a doctoral dissertation -- or even a field of study -- in political theory.

[Kevin]

As a non-American, the way all your politicians suddenly started wearing those twee little badges in 2001 was rather comical, to be honest.

We joked that it was in case they got lost - whoever found them new where to send them back to.

It seems to me that anyone who doesn't wear one probably has better judgement than either those who feel they have to due to peer pressure, or those who actually really feel it's a meaningful statement of something-or-other.

[artwebster]

I agree with you that wearing a flag lapel pen should not be mandatory. I have never worn one and never would because, like bumper stickers, they really don't say anything. My problem was with Obama's answer to why he was not wearing one. He said he had other ways of showing his patriotism, as though his were somehow superior. Obama cannot help oozing condesension, which again was reflected in his San Francisco fundraising remarks.

[Snowshoe]

The issue with Obama and Hillary should not be with their refusal to wear a pin but with their distain for the principles and values of the coutry itself. In the way that Ronald Reagan's public expressions of love for the country and it's values inspired pride. These candidates through their satements and actions do the exact opposite.

[Doug Ptacek]

What principles and values of our country have Obama and Clinton shown disdain for?

[Alan Menius]

All the flag decals in existence cannot conceal the disdain for the principles and values evidenced by the actions of Bush et al (including both parties in congress) as they have systematically trampled upon our rights, freedoms, looted our treasure and stolen for the next hundred years any reasonable hope for peace and prosperity from our children and grandchildren. People, pay attention, listen, and above all- act now.