Questions of patriotism plague candidates ahead of July 4 (Feature)

Washington - The issue of patriotism has been placed at the forefront of the US presidential campaign this week as the United States celebrates its independence. Both Democratic candidate Barack Obama and his Republican rival John McCain have aggressively pushed back on questions of their service or dedication to the United States. Obama, who would be the first African-American president, has had the most serious problem. Since his campaign's inception in early 2007, the Illinois senator has been the target of a series of false rumours that raise suspicions of his loyalty to the country. Initially spread through the internet, the claims include that he has refused to recite the US pledge of allegiance - a practice in most US schools - and will not wear a US flag-pin. Another repeated claim is that he is a Muslim, and even that he attended a radical Islamic madrassa school during a four-year spell in Indonesia as a young child. Obama is in fact a Christian, though he comes from a non-religious family and was only baptized as an adult. His father was a Muslim from Kenya but abandoned the family when he was aged two. Obama was raised mostly in Hawaii by his mother and grandparents. The internet rumours have slowly turned into a regular narrative that can be heard in neighbourhoods across the country. Some of the talk is earnest, others make passive references - a teenager in Washington joking to friends that Obama sought 'Jihad on America,' for example. Obama's campaign has become increasingly concerned, launching a website - www.fightthesmears.com - that is dedicated to rebuffing any and all falsities. The current rumour being knocked down is that Obama was not born in the United States. The site provides a picture copy of his birth certificate - he was born in Hawaii - and encourages supporters to send their own emails to counter 'right-wing smears.' Obama himself has become occasionally indignant at mainstream reporters who have raised the smears on the campaign trail, but he took up the issue in detail earlier this week in a broad speech on the meaning of patriotism. 'At certain times over the last 16 months, I have found, for the first time, my patriotism challenged - at times as a result of my own carelessness, but more often as a result of a desire by some to score political points and raise fears about who I am and what I stand for,' Obama said. 'I will never question the patriotism of others in this campaign, and I will not stand idly by when I hear others question mine,' he said at a rally Monday in the aptly named town of Independence, Missouri. McCain is no stranger to smears himself, after a bitter 2000 campaign for the Republican nomination against President George W Bush. Anonymous opponents of McCain famously spread rumours that the Arizona senator had fathered an illegitimate child. McCain, regarded as a war hero after being held captive and tortured for five years in Vietnam, launched his own 'truth squad' this week to counter any efforts to denigrate his long military service record. The move came after former NATO commander Wesley Clark suggested McCain's military experience did not qualify him to be president. 'I don't think riding in a fighter plane and getting shot down (in Vietnam) is a qualification to be president,' Clark said on Sunday, sparking a furore among McCain supporters who demanded an apology. Obama rejected Clark's comments and has regularly said he has the highest respect for McCain's military service, but both candidates' sensitivity highlights the importance that patriotism questions can play in US politics. A late attack on the military service record of 2004 Democratic candidate John Kerry - a war hero in his own right - was in part credited with costing him the general election against Bush. Obama turned the issue back on voters Wednesday, calling for Americans to engage more in public service to their country as they reflected on US independence on Friday. 'Loving your country shouldn't just mean watching fireworks on the fourth of July,' Obama said. 'Loving your country must mean accepting your responsibility to do your part to change it.'

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pseudochristianJul 4th, 2008 - 14:42:24

Absolutely beyond doubt, the nazis were christian, albeit of a fanatical sect, similar to the 9/11 persons who are from a fanatic muslim sect. Fanatics of all breeds usually advocate killing in the name of their God, to hopefully provide some 'moralistic' cover for themselves as they violate the tenets of their so called 'faith'. Throughout human history more people have been killed, maimed, tortured and raped in the name of religion than in the name of anything else. The nazis combined their spiritual faith, christian, with rabid nationalism just like some Americans do, and they were very much into waving flags and banners just like some narrow-minded Americans, because the appearance of being a patriot means everything.

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BEST WISHES TO ALL AMERICANS FROM THE UKJul 4th, 2008 - 16:18:43

I sincerely wish every American a very happy and proud JULY 4Th and that you have all had an enjoyable Independence Day.

YES ! It was on the 4th July 1776 that you declared independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain and the great United States of America was born, the Land of the Free.

YES ! You kicked the British up the arse and simply said 'enough is enough' and sent them packing back to their piddling little Island.
You sure did an excellent job on those red coated scumbags. It was Britain`s Vietnam.

Britain lost America through TAXES, but Holy Cow, they never gave up and have crucified their own people ever since. Our entire life is spent paying the buggers back.

America - a nation which all the world should be grateful to. OK you make your enormous cock-ups, but who has`nt - if you`ve never dropped a catch, you`ve never played baseball.

GOOD LUCK TO YOU ALL
From a very admiring Brit.

PS - I have posted an enormous load of shit in these columns, which has really pissed you all off ( well, mostly the Dummycrats and their chocolate drop candidate ) - but it is all in good fun and the above sentiments are truly meant to every one of you - including that idiot NOHARNESS.

Now I`ve sent you my kisses, back to the ring - watch this space.

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NoharnessJul 4th, 2008 - 16:22:17

Oh, yes! Here is the other little goad that is a favorite of the Marxists. If you call them out for the lack of patriotism, as obvious as it is, then they turn the tables on their opponent by implying that he or she is a fascist and a racist. Especially if the opponent is a Christian the Marxist then feels positively obliged to voice such an implication--assuming the Marxist does not simply call you a Fascist to your face. This trick works astonishingly well at stifling speech.

Do you love your country and are proud of its history? Then you are a brainless low brow who loves to goosestep around the village square by torchlight. It is a lie, but it is only a useful lie when real patriots run in fear from it. This is the favorite trick used by the professors in American halls of academe.

Here is the truth. It is the Democrats who are behaving as sheep. It is the Democrats who want Americans totally reliant upon the government for their survival. It is the Democrats who constantly imply that anything you do for yourself or for your own is a dirty business. And while it might be necessary, you should be ashamed of it and you should be forced to atone for it by paying more taxes, by 'volunteering' and by making a public demonstration of shame for your success.

Have you noticed that the Marxists are no longer the ardent defenders of the First Amendment and free speech? That is because free speech is getting in the way of their ambitions. Marxism is accepted now. It's mainstream. Now they need political correctness and acquiescence to achieve their ambitions. Nowadays they need every tool they can find that will help them stifle speech. They do not want the freedom of speech and they value religion only so long as it helps them get their way.

Here is the truth. Socialism has been an abject failure everywhere tried, including the Unite States.

I think it is time for us to have a monstrous great dose of the truth. Let us withdraw our objections to becoming slaves owned by the state. Let us fall silent. Let the Marxists in this country have their way. Let us learn the hard way about how well socialism works.

Vote for the HONEST Marxist. Vote Obama.

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ASTONISHING !Jul 4th, 2008 - 17:51:47

You wish a guy a happy 4th of July and get in return a mange pot of political garbage about Marxism ! It is such a hotch-potch of literary flotsam that it could only be equalled by the survivor of a gallon of 100% proof in his cardboard box under the Brooklyn Bridge.

This guy would give a two hour political oratory at a funeral.

He should move to London where Karl Marx is buried under a big lump of moss covered concrete with his big ugly head stuck on top of it. The pigeons use it as a primary crapping station before they fly off to Trafalgar Square and finish shitting over poor old Nelson.

OK ESS PEE - I wanna see it - get yer scalpel out and go to work on this
intangible pile of rubbish. Quiet frankly, it gave me a headache.

Are you there NO-H ? A HAPPY 4TH OF JULY !!!!!!!!! These pages will not print Russian, I`ve tried it.

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NoharnessJul 4th, 2008 - 18:47:37

Read the post ahead of the kindly Brit, Astonished, you moosetwit.

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nopeJul 5th, 2008 - 01:31:58

it's moosetwat

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Sucks to be youJul 6th, 2008 - 06:51:22

'Absolutely beyond doubt, the nazis were christian, '

You are flat out wrong. They believed in Friedrich Nietzsche's 'super man' and that they were beyond morality.

', and they were very much into waving flags and banners just like some narrow-minded Americans, because the appearance of being a patriot means everything. '

We wave our flags because we have the best country in human history. you object because you are a jealous idiot.

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Cheers to the motherland.Jul 6th, 2008 - 06:53:31

'BEST WISHES TO ALL AMERICANS FROM THE UK'

Thanks.

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KathyJul 8th, 2008 - 11:34:46

A heartfelt thanks to the Brit and good luck to you and yours also.

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