Hypocrite Or Unpatriotic? - You Decide
By Jamie Sunday Feb 24, 2008 3:30pmDuring Friday night's Real Time, Republican Congressman Jack Kingston took to the airwaves to echo the right wing talking points of Obama being "not patriotic enough". One of the memes that Kingston brought up was about Obama not wearing his lapel pin. Let's take a look at people not wearing their lapel pin:
(click for larger view)
How interesting. That looks like Rep. Jack Kingston talking about Obama not wearing his lapel pin. What's missing? Jack Kingston's lapel pin.
So does this make Kingston unpatriotic, a hypocrite or just plain stupid.
Of course this isn't the first time Kingston played a game of "open mouth, insert foot". A little over a year ago, Kingston said if families couldn't survive on the old minimum wage then they needed to work longer hours. Just a month before that he was crying that working a 5 day work week in Congress would "take away from families". I guess his family is more important than yours or mine.
(cross posted at IntoxiNation)
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I've decided. He's an IDIOT!!
It makes him a flaming douche bag.
Jesus wept, next the republican/neo-cons will be asking how many muslims Obama's killed to measure how patriotic he is.
Unpatriotic, hypocritical or stupid? I'd pick the last two.
I'm allowed to pick two, right?
Oh yeah, and what maxson said.
He's too stupid to know what a hypocrite is. So he's just plain stupid.
Chicken Little - NOT!! @ 1:
Wellll...with apologies to Groucho Marx...
"Ladies and gentlemen...Rep. Kingston may look like an idiot, and sound like an idiot...but don't let that fool you...he really IS an idiot".
People who question other peoples patriotism should have their patriotism removed.
Bill Maher could have used a gong every time this guy opened his yapper
douchebag
Has anyone figured out yet why there's been 2 straight weeks of all-conservative panels on Real Time?
Matt Taibbi's brief attempt to insert sanity into the discussion aside, the entire show this week consisted of David Frum and Jack Kingston spouting an uninterrupted stream of bullshit into the camera.
Honestly, do people give a good goddamn what people are wearing in their lapel? I'm pretty happy if people just keep their pants on.
He's almost as bad a Chimpy to listen to. I could not believe his responses, if I was Maher I would have told him "get the fuck out of my studio".
Do you have to take a stupid test to be elected in the republican party?
God, give them a bone, even a fake bone, and they bark and bark for hours. They have taken this campaign down to the level of floor dust. They are barking about a damned pin for god's sake. You mean that's all they can find to throw against Obama? This ought to be a breeze of an election for him if he gets the nomination.
I hope Obama stays above the crap and continues to campaign as a statesman. That's what is really chaffing their butts.
Repuglican Jack From Georgia Revealed to be Part of the ‘Kingston Tree-o’
and maher is STILL an asshole for letting that exchange go on.
So anyone not wearing a flag is not a patriot? Guess that would cover most Americans at any given moment.
I think he was probably afraid to wear the lapel pin, given Maher's 'new rules' segment about people who DO wear them. A link to Maher's rant about that might be a good thing to add to this post.
I wonder where all those lapel pins are made, too? Does it make you unpatriotic if your patriotic lapel pin is made in china?
Maybe all the lead paint from all of those patriotic lapel pins has poisoned our congressional representatives. Good thing they all have excellent health insurance.
Is there some kind of cloning farm where the GOP harvests these nuts?
They get crazier by the day. I can't image what kind of bubble that jackasses like this grew up in. Not only is he completely devoid of any common sense, but he's completely devoid of any of the values that make us Americans...it's like he's from another planet.
pissed off patricia @ 14:
it's the "unmitigated hypocrisy test" that they take. having no shame, they really don't care how stupid they sound or how dumb is the idea they are trying to promulgate.
they can't even understand what I just typed. :<[)
Another Neo-Con for Keith Olbermann's WPITW honors. Wear it well Jack-Ass!
pissed off patricia @ 17:
Oh don't you know, those US car magnets or the US window flags count. Seriously though anyone that even takes this no flag lapel == unpatriotic should be kicked in the head.
Why don't they just get themselves swastika armbands and be through with the pretense.
Nothing shows patriotism like wearing a piece of shit pin made in China...
CoIntelPro @ 16:
No, I think he, like a lot of progressives, is finally getting the message that, if you just let the right-wing nutcases run off at the mouth, they show themselves up for what they are.
Didn't you ever see the final scene of BOGART in The Caine Mutiny???
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9KlQPX1qiE
Fanon @ 19:
that would be china!
I knew the neo-cons would use this false patriotism act. Pure post 9/11 crap from the party of Abramoff, Cunningham, Delay, Libby, Craig, Doolittle, Gonzales, and Rumsfeld.
Every time I have seen him on with Mr. Maher, it has been evident that he is either; 1, Incredibly stupid and ignorant, or 2, He spouts the party line with the intent of incredibly stupid people drinking his cool-aid.
Can't get too worked up about bullshit criticisms from wingnuts.
But is it too much to ask for them to come up with some NEW bullshit criticisms once in a while?
There is no reason that you can't be unpatriotic, a hypocrite and just-plain-stupid all at the same time. Not one of these attributes contradict any others. My vote goes for Jack Kingston in all three categories. Hey, if this were the Oscars, Kingston could be C&L's No Country For Old Men.
Every time I hear a progressive talking about Bill Maher with any kind of reverence I just want to gag. Maher is just another self-righteous, self-important, holier-than-thou cock-sucker. He reminds me of Dennis Miller - thinks he's always the smartest guy in the room and really isn't nearly as clever as he thinks he is.
I think some politicians are politicians because they are just too stupid to qualify for any other job. This guy may be one such politician. Just smart enough to repeat what his $$ backers tell him to do, but not smart enough to free wheel on their own.
Pericles @ 26:
excellent thought, good supporting example. To his credit, maher is more open-minded than most assholes.
Kingston is an idiot, a genuine nut case. Greenwald at BNF was testifying at Congress about something-or-other (maybe our use of private mercenary forces to do our military's work), and Kingston grilled him in a way that revealed his (Kingston's) deep stupidity and distrust of anyone daring to question how our government conducts its foreign policy business.
I'm sure if you searched for video of this testimony at BNF, you'd find it. It's unbelievable. People that stupid should be banned from running for office.
Hypocrisy: don't leave home without it.
Lapel pins are to politicians and yellow magnetic ribbons are to those who've never served.
Maher also let him go unchecked on the "Democrat" Party thing. The asshole was spewing all kinds of shit without a peep of correction from anyone.
Plain stupid
Let's see: Obama went to arguably the finest and most rigorous law school in the country, where he devoted three years of his life to studying our nation's laws, which are the very thing that makes us a nation. He became enough of an expert on constitutional law - again, the foundation of our nation - to teach it to others. Then he ran for state and and national office so that he could put his hard-won knowledge to use in service to our country, when he could have had a far easier life and made a shitload more money going into the private sector.
"Not patriotic enough"? I guess I don't understand the question.
I thought the american flag lapel pin thing was one of the types of notices that various groups of people use to show others what type they want and where? You know, the guys that can't wear a hanky just so and just such a color with their fancy, albeit empty, suit? No?
I don't have a flag lapel pin, I don't put bumper stickers on my car and I don't have those magnet ribbon things (I drive a vette. I'm not about to put anything on my car even if it would stick), oh, and I don't own a flag and flagpole. Does that make me unamerican?
jimijazz @ 28:
Obama did not place his hand over his chest at one S-SB singing and they excoriated him for it.
Obama explained the false-patriotism behind the pin-wearing and it washed away.
This is the repeated-attack scenario being played out and maher is an asshole for letting them use his show to play it out.
This shit is pure Rovian and the repugs will definitely attack the Dem frontrunner, which right now appears to be Obama.
They must have a treatment for athlete's mouth.
Doublethink is a form of trained, willful intellectual blindness to contradictions in a belief system. Doublethink differs from ordinary hypocrisy in that the "doublethinking" person deliberately had to forget the contradiction between his two opposing beliefs — and then deliberately forget that he had forgotten the contradiction. He then had to forget the forgetting of the forgetting, and so on; this intentional forgetting, once begun, continues indefinitely. In the novel's notes, Orwell describes it as "controlled insanity".
Interesting, if you take Kingston's name
Remove the letters S and T
And add an L
...Just a coinkeedeenk?
Is this it? Is this the important news of the day???
"Lapel pins"?
Who gives a sh*t?
God help us.
Fanon @ 12:
It's like a comedian said what is with all those magnetic stickers that say I support the troops that's like having a sticker saying don't shoot puppies in the face if you supported the troops you'd get them out of a war that is for all the wrong reasons.
The rep congress critters don't have a talking point that doesn't make them look utterly stupid. It's a phony symbol they like to protect the flag but trash the constitution go figure??
here is a d-head that makes one toothed, 1st cousin marrying, southern crackers look brilliant...
I got one of lapel pins from a veterans organization but the tag on the pin said made in China not even the eagle is from this country anymore
Rusty Shackleford @ 40:
He was also editor of the Harvard Law Review. No small feat. I can't think of anyone this country needs more right now than a person who majored in Constitutional law. Maybe he remembers the way it used to be and can put our constitution back together again.
Cheap red tie: $5 at a second hand clothes store.
Bad haircut: $12 at the local strip mall.
Being able to say one thing and do another: priceless.
is this lapel pin some kind of joe mccarthy loyalty oath kind of thingy?
Not to defend him, but he wasn't 'on the job' so to speak, so I wouldn't expect him to be wearing one.
Everybody gets one pass.
The other thing missing in that photo is Kingston's clown nose.
I'm just glad he's a repug. If he was a Democrat, I'd be switching parties in a heartbeat.
The repugs can associate with such ignorant, blind judgment. They seem to do it all the time.
What an idiot.
Linda @ 35:
People that stupid should be banned from reproducing! LOL!. SNAAAARK.
Wanna know what's scarey...that nut would agree with that statement.
"So does this make Kingston unpatriotic, a hypocrite or just plain stupid"
These aren't mutually exclusive categories, as Kingston so illustratively demonstrates.
When exactly did wearing these little pins become some sort of unwritten law? Have the elected officials always worn them or did it begin after 9-11? If wearing one of them is all you have to do to be thought of as a patriot, the terrorist might want to be making some purchases. It might come in handy if they get caught. That's just how insane this whole thing seems to me.
You know, if he doesn't like it here in America, he can just get the hell out. That goes for all the republicans who hate our freedoms and liberty so much.
Forget his foot, that mouth is big enough for a boot.
I'd be happy to volunteer one.
I vote for idiot. Yeah, numb-nutted idiot.
How can these nutbars go on a national program and spew the same lies, distortions, and bullshit? How can Maher just let it go?
Where is it written that a candidate must wear a flag pin?
What was Obama's quote regarding the pin?
"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, I decided I won't wear that pin on my chest.
"Instead," he said, "I'm going to try to tell the American people what I believe will make this country great, and hopefully that will be a testimony to my patriotism."
The picture everyone shows of Richardson, Edwards and Hillary crossing their heart was during the singing of the National Anthem, not the Pledge. Many, if not most people do not cross their hearts during the National Anthem.
Liberal AND Proud @ 56:
I make a noise just like that every morning when I clear my sinuses.
To Rusty - #40, very good points.
ysbaddaden @ 45:
What do you mean, the race of warrior aliens or what you need TP for? That's an insult to both!
Man, I always look forward to watching this show, but this past weekend when I got to take it all in, I said to myself, "Self, this is the largest amount of unchecked Republican bullshit-talking-point-spewing I have ever seen on this show. Crooks and Liars is going to be buzzing." And VOILA!
I think people are right, Bill needs to lay off the 420 until after the show. Maybe just one hit before taping from now on. I'm all for catching a little buzz to calm the nerves, but he was definitely blazed this past episode.
It was if Kingston had formed a little lego-y brick out of each obfuscation he got in there, and was building around him a little lie-lego fort that was reeeeally tall by the end of the show.
gempei @ 64:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDpzbmHMcEQ
Guys like this need to be referred to as "label pin patriots".
OVER AND OVER AGAIN.
If we repeat the phrase "lapel pin patriots" enough, then it will become synonymous with these hypocritical idiots and maybe they shut their mouths.
We need to start pushing these phrases to label the Republicans. It's the same thing that they have been doing to the Democrats for YEARS (i.e. "cut and runners")
I say it's time to give them some of their own medicine.
Some pin manufacturer in China is smiling today.
CoIntelPro @ 16:
I know this is going back a while but I stopped paying attn to Maher when on his old show on ABC, Ollie North was one of the guests, and he was ranting and was upset because someone lied to congress, and Maher didn't call him on it.
I thought my head was going to explode. I mean how often do you get an opportunity to call out a hypocritical liar like that?
One's patriotism in the US is in question by default if said person isn't white. So if Obama doesn't praise Uncle Sam at the drop of a hat he is unpatriotic, and unless Kingston burns a flag he isn't unpatriotic.
IgnoranceIsNotBliss @ 42:
Nah, you own an American car....a badass American car. =)
Question: Just HOW in the world did people show their patriotism prior to 9/11? It seems to me that lapel pins are a decidedly post 9/11 phenomenon.
Is this fellow a paid lobbyist for the flag lapel industry?
What we're seeing here is Republican framing patriotism here. Patriotism is wearing a falg lapel pin. What we need to do is reframe the issue. Are people who aren't committed to upholding the constitution patriotic? Is an economic traitor patriotic? Is one who misrepresented a national security threat to conduct nation building in Iraq patriotic? Are those who tolerated such a misrepresentation patriotic?
I say we give these flag wavers who meanwhile stabbed this country in the back a true test for determining patriotism. Don't argue within the framework the Republicans set up, reframe the tests for determining patriotism. The Republicans want flag lapels as the sole test of patriotism because they fail on the other tests.
ChrisM70 @ 67:
Nah, we already have a perfectly good word for them, that has served us well for generations. Surely, you recall the term "pinhead"....?
ysbaddaden @ 66:
How dare you expose footage of my first day at a minimum-wage job.
I have never wore a lapel pin, neither has my father, my uncles, my cousin, my best friend, etc.....yet, we have all served our country with pride and distinction. Reich-wingers = ass clowns. Fact.
Bill Hicks sums things up pretty well, as he always
doesdid:http://youtube.com/watch?v=aBCkm9-LvRg
WARNING: LOTS OF OBSCENITIES
Jesus. the 19% will buy anything. Can't we give them the South and let them secede? You make em stupid, we make em Republican stupid.
How do people this stupid get through the day without somehow fatally injuring themselves?
Clown.. Neither a hypocrite or unpatriotic.. only a clown.
If a reichwinger shoves his foot in his mouth couldn't accuse them of kinky foot sex
Or only if they wiggle their toes too?
The Baptists will think they're dancing.
I gotta go now, I think my anti-depressants are about to knock me cold.
I guess what all these fine, patriotic Republican halfwits want is Obama to have been a draft-dodging deserter.
CoIntelPro @ 43:
Why you guys are bashing Maher for letting these intellectually challenged neo-clowns come on his show? There's nothing wrong for these hapless jerks making asses out of themselves.
It was one of the worst RTWBM shows I've witnessed. Frum is an abomination. For what reason is he relevant? If I see another show like this, I'll just drop him.
Comment #74: "The Republicans want flag lapels as the sole test of patriotism because they fail on the other tests."
I like it!
Having dealt with what we have seen going on in the oval office these past seven plus years, I would say this is like a Rove plan. Find your guys weakest point and project that on your opponent. That's exactly what this silly pin thing is all about. Could anyone in this administration have conducted themselves less patriotically?
Kingston is a typical neo-con chickenhawk. He has failed to demonstrate his patriotism by volunteering for service in a combat zone. His chosen "patriotic" task in this time of war seems to be to question the patriotism of non-Republicans.
I'm from Georgia and these idiots kill me. I live in a state where a supposed minority
that provides the overwhelming financing for the rest of our clod hoppers can't
even elect a democratic majority. Dems in Georgia, please start to vote! Stop making us
look like idiots when our backwoods citizens show up at the polls more than we do!
You know, in this age of very busy lives, I take comfort that all I need to do to be patriotic is remember to wear a 20 cent Chinese made lapel with the American flag on it.
Udon Nomee @ 75:
HA!
This is instructive in how an American fascism would appear. American fascism would be different from Nazi-era fascism, chiefly in that 1) Americans don't have a historical tradition like Germany does of war and violence to build on that occurred on our homesoil. The last war we fought that was waged on U.S. soil against a foreign power was 1812-1815. Of course, we had other wars and genocides that culminated in Wounded Knee in 1890, but the 1812 war was the last one fought on someone else's terms in U.S. history. The Mexican War was most assuredly on our terms. 2) American fascism would be built around style, not substance. It would focus on tangible symbols like the flag, the Pledge, the cross, the military, the Constitution (while ripping the Hell out of it). 3) American fascism would also wrap itself in patriotism, and remember also that fascism itself was born in the South, as the infamous Klan.
American fascists would do precisely this, focusing on a candidate's lack of patriotism while opening themselves up to an easy retaliation. The only saving grace for American democracy is that most American fascists are too old and lack the street-brawling spirit. No real counterpart to the S.A. has emerged from America. Now, those Russian dudes on the West Coast may prove to be the 21st-Century S.A. It's the perfect scam, and would serve to trap the U.S. in our own weakness. Most American fascists are white-haired, physically and emotionally unfit people to impose their vision on America. Fortunately.
I noticed that Republican Congressman Jack Kingston doesn't have a cross on lapel either... Why does he hate god so much?
the pin's at the cleaners. his brain is in the toilet.
Sat next to an older man at a theater recently. He was sporting "the pin" on his lapel with obvious pride. I had on my peace button. He refused to make eye contact despite my best efforts.
He probably drove home and jumped right in the shower to get rid of the smell of "that DFH" who sat next to him.
And yet Kingston won his election bid. Why do people vote in fools like this?
of course the most appropriate place for that pin is . . .
john bourne harbour @ 97:
got your point...
As I was watching, I was waiting for Bill Maher to say this. I'm kind of disappointed that he didn't....
I can almost hear the YouTube qustion for