Raise the (Red) Flag?

It's going to be a long season in politics. And I though the baseball season was long. Of course it is always longer when my team is not doing well. So how many people do we have running for President of the United States now? Maybe it would be easier to count the number of people who are not running. Does anyone care that the national conventions are not until next summer? The primaries are not until early next year. Of course with all the states trying to one-up each other, the first primary may be tomorrow. Debates are all over the place. The Democrats are debating each other and so are the Republicans. Every time I look at tv news I see pictures of these people everywhere. At this point no-one knows who will be the parties choices. Every five minutes there is a new poll telling us who is the front-runner. How many millions of people are in this country? I have not been asked my opinion yet. On the other hand maybe that is just as well. They may not want to have my opinion on this because I have not really found a politician that I really trust. They all say the same thing. But they all leave me empty because they never really say anything.

Maybe that is why the press is having a hard time finding any real issues to discuss with these people. When the press zones in on whether or not a candidate is wearing an American Flag pin is more important than issues, I tend to zone out on the press. Does wearing that pin make the candidate a better American? How about a better candidate? Does it really show that one person or another is more patriotic? It has become a big issue because Barack Obama has stopped wearing that flag. Why focus on that? It is hot outside. How many of the men running for president have we seen coatless, sleeves rolled up, tie loose shaking hands with the people in the crowds? Some other candidates have been seen not wearing a flag pin. No-one said anything to them.

There are so many more important issues that we have to worry about. Real issues which concern all of us. This raises a big red flag to me. We need to move this country forward in the right direction. That direction should be decided by the American public. We cannot decide who will be the best leader of our country based on what they wear. Many people wear pins to show support of various issues and causes. Patriotism is not a flag pin. Patriotism is love, support and defense of one's country. All the candidates are patriotic in their own way. Let focus on the important things.