After the tragedy of 2001, no matter where you looked in the U.S., you saw the American flag. On front doors and shop windows, magnetically attached to cars and affixed in various ways to the clothing of American men and women. This country reeked of patriotism and the desire to right the wrongs that had been committed against us. People offered me lapel pins to stick on my shirt pocket. They offered me patriotic stickers and other little trinkets that would allow me to display my love for my country. I turned them all down. I knew that all of this patriotic fervor was only temporary and just as quick as you saw flags strewn here and there as far as the eye could see, you would eventually see garbage trucks vomiting reams of red, white and blue. And you did. Or at least, I did. What happened? After a few months, did we just tire of being so patriotic? Toby Keith says he’s going to put a boot in the ass of the enemy (whoever they may have been at the moment), and we decide he pretty much summed it up and got back to our regular routine.

In his most recent commentary, Lou Dobbs criticizes other public figures such as Katie Couric, Barack Obama and Bill Moyers for not being in full support of wearing patriotic garb. Dobbs mentions the fact that Obama put away his lapel flag pin. Obama states that “his words will be a testament to his patriotism”. Dobbs then says that, “any politician of any political party who believes their words can be an adequate substitute for the symbolic power of the American flag is sadly arrogant and horribly mistaken.” This suggests to me that Lou seems to think that it isn’t what a man says, it’s what he wears. You want to galvanize the country? You want to cure America of all its ills? You want to make this country a better place to live? Well, that’s all fine and good, but where’s your pin, Barack?

All of this reminds me of the Seinfeld episode where Kramer refuses to wear the A.I.D.S ribbon before participating in a a marathon. A mob turns on him for refusing the pin, and eventually he gets his ass kicked before finishing the race. Why didn’t he just put on that damn pin? Didn’t he know that he wasn’t really supporting the cause without the pin?

A symbol without action is nothing. It’s not a symbol. It’s a trinket, a knick knack. Christians who where the cross but never act in a “Christian way” are not Christians, are they? A Klansman who wears the robe but never burns crosses or terrorizes innocent folk isn’t really a Klansman. He’s just a dumbass in a pointy white hood and robe instead of being a dumbass with a purpose! The tragedy of 9/11 brought Americans together. Everyone said, “Let’s put our differences aside for now and focus on the enemy, focus on winning this war against terror.” And that is what we all did…for a little while. Then, when things settled down, we went right back to hating each other. That’s real patriotism for you. My grandfather fought in the second world war. There was an explosion of patriotism during that time as well. “Let’s put away our differences and focus on the real enemy, those damn Nazis!” The war ended. America won. And my African-American grandfather came right on back to the segregated south. True patriotism seems to have a very short shelf life.

You don’t want to wear the pin, fine with me. I could give a damn about a stupid pin. It doesn’t mean a thing without action. True patriotism is in blood, sweat and tears, not accessories.