American Patriotism Is On Life Support. Let’s Revive It Again

Today, displaying the flag makes you a right-wing extremist, white supremacist, or any number of false stereotypes. Why is that?

[b][i]I love America, our flag our patriotic music, parades, fireworks, bar-b-ques, the whole shebang.[/i][/b]

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Musicman · 61-69, M

It started with Obama. He tried making it illegal to fly an American flag saying it offended people. My dad went out the next day and had a flag pole installed and flew the flag daily until his death. The Democrats are just a evil vile stench on the land. If seeing the American flag offends them then they are more than welcome to leave the country for a flag they like better.

JSul3 · 70-79

@Musicman Your comment is BS.

Fact Check: Obama doesn't avoid the flag
FACT: Other presidents have spoken in venues without the flag.
Carole Fader
Many Times-Union readers want to know:

An e-mail shows a photo of President Barack Obama at a news conference with no American flags behind him. The e-mail says it's intentional and that he's the first president to display a lack of patriotism at such events. Is this true?

The photo accompanying the chain e-mail was taken at a May 27 news conference in which Obama addressed the Gulf oil spill. Normally, in a White House location (this was in the East Room), flags are behind the president - any president - as numerous photos show. In this case, no flags are visible in the photo. A look at the video shows no flags even when the camera fully zooms out.
But to say that Obama shuns American flags and that he is the first president to eschew the red, white and blue is just plain inaccurate.

And there are many examples to back this up.
In addition, there are photos of other presidents at news conferences without flags, including Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. As Snopes.com points out, "due to other factors (e.g., an event's nature or its being impromptu, or its being held at an unusual location), an opportunity to set up U.S. flag backdrops may be missed or skipped."

Oh, about that chain e-mail photo from May 27? Close-ups reveal that Obama is wearing a flag pin.

Musicman · 61-69, M

@JSul3 Your "fact checking" is a croc of crap! Online liberal trolls don't impress me.