OBAMA: Lack of Respect or Just Stupid?

On September 18, Tom Harkin held his annual Steak Fry in Indianola, Iowa.

Every election year, Harkin invites Iowans to meet the democrat candidates to a feast, organized this year at the Warren County Fairgrounds.

For $25, you get a steak and a generous serving of stump speeches.

18,000 people attended the event.

In the photo essay of the steak fry posted on TIME, this photo and caption appear:

Tom Harkin's Iowa Steak Fry


Respect
Senator Barack Obama, Governor Bill Richardson, Senator Hillary Clinton and Ruth Harkin stand during the national anthem.

RESPECT?

Is that supposed to be a joke?

Obama doesn't look very respectful.

He has a problem with flag pins. We know that.

When he was on the Tonight Show last Wednesday, Obama talked to Jay Leno about losing his flag pin and deciding not to replace it. He considers it a symbol of fake patriotism in some cases.

Obama said:

Now the truth is that I wore a pin right after 9/11.

When I took it off, I lost it.

I didn't replace it even though I have terrific respect for those who wear it because I think a lot of politicians will put their flag pin on and then act in a real unpatriotic manner.

I mean you had Alberto Gonzales wearing a flag pin the whole time he was shredding the Constitution. And What I want people to do is to judge me by how I act.

OK. I'll judge Obama by how he acts.

At Harkin's Steak Fry, he's acting disrespectfully.

Maybe he's not being disrespectful. Maybe he's just ignorant. Is he unaware of proper etiquette during the playing of the national anthem?

§171. Conduct during playing

During rendition of the national anthem when the flag is displayed, all present except those in uniform should stand at attention facing the flag with the right hand over the heart. Men not in uniform should remove their headdress with their right hand and hold it at the left shoulder, the hand being over the heart. Persons in uniform should render the military salute at the first note of the anthem and retain this position until the last note. When the flag is not displayed, those present should face toward the music and act in the same manner they would if the flag were displayed there.

Looking at that picture, in addition to his flag pin, I also wonder if he has lost his hand and heart and respect for what the flag symbolizes.

Does he consider putting one's hand over one's heart during the playing of the national anthem to be fake patriotism?


(h/t: NewsBusters, Moonbattery, and Dad29.)