The flag-pin controversy is still stupid, but that’s no excuse for getting the facts wrong:
[Obama] has repeatedly been forced to address false rumors that he will not recite the Pledge of Allegiance, place his hand over his heart during the national anthem or wear an American-flag pin on his lapel. He wore a flag pin for Monday’s speech.
(Emphasis mine.) In fact, as I’ve noted before, the flag-pin “rumor” is absolutely true:
“You know, the truth is that right after 9/11, I had a pin,” Obama said. “Shortly after 9/11, particularly because as we’re talking about the Iraq War, that became a substitute for I think true patriotism, which is speaking out on issues that are of importance to our national security, I decided I won’t wear that pin on my chest.”
Not to put too fine a point on it, but his exact words were “I won’t wear that pin on my chest,” so it seems justified to conclude that he wouldn’t wear that pin on his chest. Certainly he’s changed his mind, and even denied that he ever said it, but that doesn’t make the “rumor” wrong.
ASIDE: If they really wanted to tell the whole story, they would point out that the whole flag-pin controversy, stupid as it is, resulted from Obama’s own too-clever-by-half effort to impugn the patriotism of people who do wear flag pins. Since the story is about smears on a person’s patriotism, that seems relevant. But if they can’t tell the whole story, I would settle for them getting the facts straight.
(Via the Corner.)
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