>Hi Mike,
>
>>Why shouldn't liberals, or anyone else, "lash out" when their patriotism is questioned? Don't you think it's offensive? Blindly defending the government is not my definition of patriotism. Loving one's country is a lot better definition. I don't see how being satisfied with misgovernment is unpatriotic. I also don't agree that only those who have served in the military are patriotic. You didn't say that but the thought is out there, and in fact has been injected into the presidential campaign.
>
>In principle, I agree with you and I'd be extremely bent if someone questioned my patriotism. The weird thing is that Obama brought this up without anyone questioning his patriotism.

John, its delusional to suggest that Obama "brought this up without anyone questioning his patriotism". These smears are normally reserved for whisper campaigns, comparable to the McCain "fathered an illegitimate black child" story in SC in 2000. But its remarkable how mainstreamed this stuff has become. With 'fair and balanced' Fauxnews at the forefront of the smearing with their "educated in a madrassa / muslim" story that was quickly debuked. Yet i still get emails from my wingnuttia buds who pass that krap on. Not to be deterred, Faux recently gave us the "Terrorist fist jab" gem. Hell, those tools bypassed the "is he patriotic?" conundrum and went to labelling him a terrorist. Saves time that way. Faux also gave us the "he came out of the closet as the domestic insurgent he is", "manchurian candidate", "hussein hussein hussein", "he swore on the Koran while taking the oath" charge, lapel pins, pledge of allegience 'concerns', and poll questions such as "Does Obama show proper patriotism for someone who wants to be pres?" (CNN).

And there's MSNBC, AP, and CBS giving life to these stories. Plus the usual suspects like Jonah Goldberg, NYTimes Kristol, Rush, Hannity, and Beck do their part. Claiming no one questioned his patriotism is simply bizarre.