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Obama's Tuzla

By wt

When Hillary was caught embellishing her Tuzla story, the media lampooned her for a few days or weeks and then let it drop. And then, out of nowhere, Bill Clinton brought it back up, made MORE misstatements, and refocused the media on it for an extra day or two.

Similarly, the Obama flag-pin controversy has essentially flown below the radar for a long time. While some people are genuinely upset about the fact that Obama doesn't wear a flag pin, most people just haven't gotten up in arms about this.

But Obama has now accused his critics of lying about his remarks regarding the flag pin issue. And that, I think, changes the subject from one about flag pins to one about credibility.

"Then I was asked about this in Iowa," Obama said. "And somebody said 'Why don't you wear a flag pin?' I said, well, [(1)] sometimes I do, sometimes I don't. I said, although I will say that sometimes I notice that they're people who wear flag pins but they don't always act patriotic. And I was [(2)] specifically referring to politicians, not individuals who wear flag pins, but [(3)] politicians who you see wearing flag pins and then vote against funding for veterans, saying we can't afford it."

Obama continued, saying "so I make this comment. Suddenly a bunch of these, you know, TV commentators and bloggers (say) 'Obama is disrespecting people who wear flag pins.' Well, that's just not true. Also, another way of saying it is, [(4)] it's a lie."

The actual full quote from the Campaign Spot is this:

"You know, the truth is that right after 9/11, I had a pin. 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. Instead, I'm going to try to tell the American people what I believe will make this country great, and hopefully that will be a testimony to my patriotism."

Compare the two quotes.

First, you'll notice that he now claims he sometimes wears a flag pin, when before he claimed he never wears a flag pin because doing so is, somehow, not "true patriotism."

Second, you'll notice that that he now claims he was talking about politicians, specifically, wearing flag pins but then voting against veterans. But before, there was no mention of politicians, nor was there any mention of their votes. And really, "speaking out on issues" related to national security is something citizens do, not politicians. Politicians vote.

Third, you'll notice that Obama adds an extra qualification to people he supposedly criticized earlier -- that they have cast a vote against veterans, for example. But why not mention this earlier? Apparently, wearing a flag pin is fine. And it's fine not just for individuals, but even politicians. They aren't pretending to be patriotic, as Obama suggested before. Now, it's only an issue of whether they wore a flag pin AND voted against veterans.

Fourth, Obama accuses bloggers of lying. That accusation is misguided and unfortunate. It is he, like Bill Clinton, that brought this issue to the forefront now, after it was dying down. His misstatements and contradictions are obvious. And he should be held accountable.

And certainly, he should be careful about calling his critics liars when they so clearly have the goods on him.

Full post as published by Expressio Unius on April 28, 2008 (boomark / email).