Eugene Volokh notes that Barack Obama used to wear an American flag lapel pin, but no longer does (h/t Eric Muller). Obama’s explanation: "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." Apparently, Volokh doesn’t buy into Obama’s argument:
Wearing a flag pin is not supposed to be an explanation or an
argument, just as "I love you" is not supposed to be an explanation or
an argument. It’s supposed to be a traditional statement of affection,
powerful because it’s cliché.If you’re in the sort of relationship in which you’ve never made
such a statement — and here flag pin wearing is a little different than "I love you," since most citizens who love their country don’t
routinely say it — then you can indeed show your love in other ways.
Returning to the analogy, you hear occasionally of old-fashioned
couples who’ve never fallen into the "I love you" habit, but who love
each other nonetheless.Yet if you used to say this and then you stopped, the symbolic
message is pretty powerful. And that’s true even though many people say ‘I love you’ without meaning it (just as there are some who wear the
flag pin but are just opportunists, not patriots). Even if this abuse
of the phrase weakens its symbolism, an outright renunciation of the
phrase retains its symbolism just fine.The American people want a President who loves their country and who
expresses that love, at an emotional as well as an intellectual level.
For better or worse, a President Spock won’t get elected. Candidate
Obama should know that.
What a bizarre response.
First, Orin Kerr posts a follow-up post in which he suggests that Volokh is simply saying it’s a bad political move by Obama, then disagreeing, because Obama’s trying to get the Democratic nomination, not the Republican one. If that really is all that Professor Volokh is saying — that Obama’s decision will cost him political points among gun-toting idiots who still believe Saddam Hussein masterminded 9/11 — then yeah, he’s right, but he also forgot to tell us that apple pie is delicious, television character Greg House likes Vicodin, and snow is cold and sometimes also slippery.
But the thing is, I don’t think that’s what Volokh is saying. First, he wrongly assumes that it’s possible and not merely an absurd delusion to love one’s country. But now isn’t the time for a "patriotism is bad and also stupid" rant. Volokh only hears occasionally of old-fashioned couples who aren’t in the habit of repeatedly saying to each other "I love you," and only they can indeed show their love for each other to each other in other ways. In what universe is that "old-fashioned"? And more to the point, why can’t other people show their love in other ways besides emptily proclaiming it?
And then, well, I must have missed the class in school where we learned that cessation of repetitive saying qualifies as a symbol. Perhaps he means to say that it’s a "pretty powerful" message by negative implication. But okay, the flag as a signifier signifying something approximating "I <3 USA" is no longer worn — that’s a far cry from the signification of the hearting of the USA being "outright [renounced]." Especially since Obama, you know, expressly stated that he does heart America (and explained that he doesn’t want to cheapen his true love by using the empty or corrupt signifier which false patriots have made their own). That is, (if one wanted to get cute with words, one might say that) Obama outright renounced Volokh’s imagined outright renunciation.
Also: isn’t the common understanding that clichés are not powerful? That they’re empty and meaningless? "He gave 110% out there today" is a common sports cliché. "Laughter is the best medicine" is a common well-being cliché. Drugs are better medicine than laughter, which is not in fact medicine at all, and 110% effort out of a possible 100% is an athletic impossibility (unless we add points for steroid use for people like Barry Bonds?) — boy. yeah. powerful.
Accidental Blogger 
2 responses to “Breaking News: Obama Hates America! (Joe)”
Thanks Joe, for posting this story and also for explaining that “I <3 USA” means “I ♥ USA” in emoticon lingo. I learn something weird everyday.
I heard the no flag pin on the lapel = doesn’t love country crap yesterday on the news. Found it hard to believe. Now I find it even more puzzling that a law professor in a leading US university can’t tell the difference between a gimmick and a nuanced approach to “patriotism.”
I don’t buy Orrin Kerr’s explanation either. I don’t read Volokh Conspiracy any more. I used to when I first started reading blogs, when Bush-Cheney were in full bloom and when only a few of us were screaming bloody murder. Very soon I decided that the mostly right wing legal blog was not my cup of tea and I stopped reading. But I became somewhat familiar with the majority position on V.C. including Eugene Volokh’s own, regarding war, national security and liberals in general. Your take on his comment is probably the correct one. Funny, even after Bush’s misadventure in Iraq has been thoroughly discredited, this silly (Fourth of July on Monday, Wednesday, Friday of the week and 9/11 on others) approach to governance and leadership has not entirely deserted some people’s mindset.
I don’t know much about Volokh but I did gather from my early readings that he had emigrated from Russia (the USSR?). Which is why I found the following comment by Marianna Moss so apt:
Also, it is ironic for Eugene to associate flag-wearing with patriotism, because, in the country of his origin (from where I am a refugee as well), all adults were required to attend the May Day and Revolution Day “demonstrations,” where large crowds of people carried flags and Marx/Lenin/Brezhnev/name the current leader portraits to demonstrate their patriotism and love for their county. Exactly no one in the crowd felt any love for the country or its leaders (and for good reason), but carry flags they did.
I can only assume that Eugene left that god-cursed place before he can remember any of that happiness (the almost non-existence of an accent seems to point in that direction). Otherwise, it’s hard to explain how someone with that background can equate phony displays of patriotism with actual patriotism.
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It’s strange that Volokh chooses to compare the lapel pin wearing with the declaration of ‘I love you’ by a husband to his wife. Why not make a comparison with the once-ubiquitous but now much reduced display of the yellow ‘Support the Troops’ ribbons on the backs of gigantic SUVs, Hummers etc.? I’ve noticed a drop-off in those. Does that mean that people love their country any less or that they are tired of simple jingoistic displays supporting the troops while engaging in actions which do anything but actually support them?
Symbols are not meaningful in themselves, their absence or removal could mean something or nothing at all. I think that this flap over something as silly as the presence or removal of a ‘standard’ patriotic symbol might have its good side, since it will have awoken a deeper re-examination of what constitutes true patriotism as opposed to fake, whether patriotism of the ‘Rah-rah’ variety is really warranted in this day and age. Obama may have lost some votes that he never had in the first place, from Volokh’s conclusion. Big deal!
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