On Obama's "Unpatriotism"

This is a comment to an article about the false chain email claiming Obama
didn't say the Pledge of Allegiance. It is a really well written response.
Please read:

After a little more research, one discovers that he did recite the pledge and that this wasn't some sort of ant-patriotic gesture at all; he just
merely didn't have his hand over his heart during the national anthem. Many
people do it without even thinking about it. I've done it. In fact, here's a
picture of Obama with his hand over his heart during the Star Spangled
Banner: http://graphics2.snopes.com/politics/graphics/anthem3.jpgMaybe
it was an accident.

Moreover, I think that people who compose emails like
this and distribute them around the web to spread like wildfire (God save
SoCal) should re-evaluate their attitudes and conceptions about patriotism
and what is good for our nation. In the age of 99-cent yellow-ribbon
magnetic stickers and other perfunctory excuses for patriotism, our people
need to wake up and stop supporting patriotism. They need to actually be
patriots. Standing with your hand over your heart during a song about a
battle doesn't excuse you from going to the polls or supporting measures to
provide veterans with the resources they need. Flag pins and traditional
gestures are political passivism, not political activism.

And another thing: So what if his name is Barack Hussein Obama? I didn't choose my name (not that there's anything wrong with it). The real issue here has nothing
to do with his name. The problem conservative Americans have with Obama is
that he isn't a middle-aged white man whose concerns lie in big business.

Also, Obama is not and never was a Muslim. This is an idiotic fallacy most
likely based on his name. His father was raised Muslim but is a pronounced
atheist, and Barack himself is a member of the Church of Christ.
No, no, the fact of the matter is that Barack Obama is a reasonable man of integrity
who is concerned with the health of our public school systems, the
protections of basic health care for those who could not otherwise afford
it, initiatives to break dependence on oil, preventing telecommunications
companies from censoring the internet and demanding a fee for content, and
demanding that the Paris Hiltons of America still pay their estate taxes.
So I challenge anyone to tell me why Barack Obama is such an awful
candidate for president without spewing some ill-informed rhetoric stained
with party loyalty dogma for once. Because quite frankly, Obama has my vote
before any of the current Republican candidates. Maybe it's a good idea to
vote for a candidate in the presidential elections for reasons other than
their political party.