Mayor Ed Koch on Obama

Former New York Mayor Ed Koch commented yesterday on the Obama American Flag Pin controversy.  While Koch may no longer be a household name, and may not be terribly politically relevant, his comments were nevertheless insightful and, for ThinLine, spot on. This is part of what Koch said:

But Obama's justification simply jarred me. He wore the flag pin "right after 9/11," but then stopped. He mentioned as his excuse the country's deplorable failure to provide all the medical care veterans need. In fact, that issue didn't arise until years later. He has made the key to his platform that he was against the war with Iraq. But following 9/11, we went to war with the Taliban in Afghanistan, a regime harboring al-Qaeda. Al-Qaeda publicly took credit for the World Trade Center terrorist act which resulted in more than 3,000 deaths of innocent civilians in New York City, Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C. The war in Iraq came in 2003, so what we are hearing from Obama is a confused statement mixing up the two wars. Does he now believe the United States response of waging war in Afghanistan after 9/11 was wrong? Does he believe the U.S. flag now belongs only to supporters of the war against Iraq, which war he opposed?

I have always believed it is a mistake to let your opponents claim that they are true defenders of patriotic symbols such as the U.S. flag, whether in the Vietnam War or currently the war in Iraq. I have never doubted the patriotism of my opponents who take a position on a war that is different than mine. Obama's presidential campaign opponents have said they will not criticize him. I will. And so, I think, will voters in the 2008 election.

Really.

How many times have Democrats, including Obama, called out Republicans, and with justification, for claiming that any critical comment about the war is “unpatriotic.” 

Who are they, we say, to decide what is patriotic? 

And, likewise, who is Obama to say.

ASK OBAMA WHY