Nothing raises Barack Obama’s hackles like questions about his patriotism. When he chose not to wear a flag pin he said “I decided I won’t wear that pin on my chest. Instead 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.” Notice he said “what will make this country great”, rather than “what makes this country great”, but we’ll let that slide.

According to Obama, patriotism has nothing to do with whether or not he wears a pin, but with the words he utters.

Earlier this week a seven year old girl asked why he wanted to be President. He replied “America is no longer what it could be, what it once was.” He went on that his vision of America is “to be kinder, to be gentler.” See Video. Apparently, he share’s his wife’s view that America is a “downright mean” country.

Did love of country inspire Obama to declare on foreign soil “I know my country has not perfected itself. At times, we’ve struggled to keep the promise of liberty and equality for all of our people.”?

He couldn’t resist including in his speech on patriotism how as he “got older, that gut instinct - that America is the greatest country on earth - would survive my growing awareness of our nation’s imperfections: it’s ongoing racial strife; the perversion of our political system laid bare during the Watergate hearings; the wrenching poverty of the Mississippi Delta and the hills of Appalachia.”

Are Americans to trust in his patriotism when he can’t even give a speech about patriotism without ifs, ands or buts? Do those words imbue devoted, love, support and defense of one’s country?

It’s like saying to your child “I love you, except for when you were two and threw tantrums, when you lied at the age of 6 and spilled juice on the couch last night. Really, can’t you be more perfect?”