Video: Obama heckled over the pledge of allegiance
posted at 5:53 pm on August 5, 2008 by Allahpundit
I don’t mind beating up on him over the flag lapel pin because (a) it’s an issue entirely of his own making and (b) his motives in wearing and not wearing it are so cynical that he deserves some grief. But I hate the fact that he takes flak about the pledge for having once absentmindedly neglected to put his hand over his heart. I’ve done that too, I’m sure, so add me to the “disloyal” category. The worst part of this may be how stupid it is: Even if you think his feeling for America is such that he might blanch intuitively at saying the words (which I don’t), surely he’s willing and able to feign a smile and force himself through it in the name of getting elected. So what does it prove? Nothing. But the tool who showed up today at his town hall needed to see it and Obama couldn’t risk getting indignant. All things considered, he played it pretty well.
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plant
trailortrash on August 5, 2008 at 5:56 PM
I think the “reporter” did the right thing in the article I read.
wish I could see the video.. sighs.
upinak on August 5, 2008 at 5:56 PM
Staged so Barry could let us all see him do it.
BrianBoru on August 5, 2008 at 5:58 PM
I believe Obama is a patriot. Actually, he reminds me of the New England Patriots going into the Super Bowl last February where a victory was a foregone conclusion.
radjah shelduck on August 5, 2008 at 5:58 PM
How nice for Barry. He had an opportunity in a public place with cameras rolling to prove he says the pledge.
amerpundit on August 5, 2008 at 6:00 PM
It’s probably a setup, but, be that as it may, you are not a candidate for President. You are not on stage with other people with their hands over their hearts. You don’t have a staff to remind you of protocol of each event. In short, you’re not Obama so to compare yourself forgetting to put your hand over you heart at a Yankee’s game during the National Anthem is not comparable.
TheBigOldDog on August 5, 2008 at 6:01 PM
What a lout. If you have to look up the word “subtlety” the you should not be debating a nominee on national TV. Someone needs to figure out who that guy is and put a “kick me” tag on the back of his shirt.
Immolate on August 5, 2008 at 6:03 PM
Setup.
Dusty on August 5, 2008 at 6:04 PM
Small world! I did the same exact thing once when I was standing in front of the national press with Hillary Clinton and Bill Richardson at an event for Tom Harkin when I was running for POTUS! Just like Barak!
Citizen Duck on August 5, 2008 at 6:04 PM
You’re staring into the Truther abyss now. If he wants to make a big show of saying the pledge, he doesn’t need a phony heckler to get him to do it. He’d just get up there and do it at the start of his speech.
Allahpundit on August 5, 2008 at 6:04 PM
We teach them to take their patriotism at second-hand; to shout with the largest crowd without examining into the right or wrong of the matter, exactly as boys under monarchies are taught and have always been taught. We teach them to regard as traitors, and hold in aversion and contempt, such as do not shout with the crowd, and so here in our democracy we are cheering a thing which of all things is most foreign to it and out of place, the delivery of our political conscience into somebody else’s keeping. This is patriotism on the Russian plan.
- Mark Twain
MB4 on August 5, 2008 at 6:05 PM
yawn.
Chakra Hammer on August 5, 2008 at 6:06 PM
Yes, except even presidential candidates have absentminded moments. McCain’s had them, as has Barack “57 states” Obama. What’s your alternative theory for why he forgot to cover his heart that time last year? That he wanted people to think he has contempt for the country and its flag?
Allahpundit on August 5, 2008 at 6:06 PM
why did he remove the flag from the tail of his jet?
Chakra Hammer on August 5, 2008 at 6:06 PM
Not if his dual purpose is to make the right look like a bunch of nuts smearing his patriotism. This was a twofer.
TheBigOldDog on August 5, 2008 at 6:06 PM
Remember…he already thinks we’re ignorant. sigh
becki51758 on August 5, 2008 at 6:09 PM
I’m thinking the “internal polling” data his camp is doing isn’t pretty, so this doesn’t surprise me as un-expected or spontaneous. I still think by September he’s dragging his daughters to every speech and by October they will have bought a dog, too.
Marcus on August 5, 2008 at 6:09 PM
True…no one should ever interrupt like this. It’s ridiculous. And yes, Obama seemed to handle it like a champ.
Oh, I disagree. I think that was worse than the flag lapel pin issue. I can say with certainty I have never forgotten to place my hand over my heart at the pledge, or the National Anthem.
With even more certainty, I can say if I were running forPresident of the Unite States, I would never forget to do so. I’m not saying he did it purposely, but forgetting is inexcusable in his position.
JetBoy on August 5, 2008 at 6:09 PM
Heres the problem: If the media and leftoid rangers out there never ever ever give the GOP or the HitlerBush any benefit of the doubt at any time on any issue, and reflexively assign the worst and most conspiratorial evil chimpian oilwar motives behind everything from 9/11 to the President eating a pretzel to the VP’s hunting accident, then it is difficult to come down on people who think and believe that this dude is an Obama plant.
I personally dont think that it is. But I cannot begrudge somebody who does think that. I may shake my head at such a person and suggest they put down the bong at least until the next commercial. But i can…as “they” are so very fond of saying…understand where it comes from. and hey, its just asking a question, right?
Dissent = patriotism. Therefore by such twisted, but now commonplace, “logic,” theres an 80% chance this heckler was planted by the Secular Messiah.
Mike D. on August 5, 2008 at 6:10 PM
Maybe next time a heckler can say he doesn’t love his country so Barry can forcefully say, “actually… YES I DO SIR.”
Chuck Schick on August 5, 2008 at 6:10 PM
Why? If you see someone doing something wrong, would you stop them or let them keep doing it?
This is the problem with America today. To many people letting crap go on by as we either ignore it or just refuse to acknowledge it.
upinak on August 5, 2008 at 6:12 PM
Bull crap AP. He didn’t “forget”. He thought he could get away with it, back when he thought he was so radical/cool. Advisers no doubt told him about it, but when it became an issue he listened. Kept the flag protest going too long.
Like when he said “Israel is a friend of Israel”. That was a Freudian slip – not a slip of the tongue. You can see him having “that” conversation with some of his buddies.
Mix up France with Germany, sure. Mexico with South Africa. But how does and AMERICAN not say AMERICA when he means to say AMERICA!
Agrippa2k on August 5, 2008 at 6:12 PM
I saw the video of B. Hussein saying the pledge. He not only did not place his hand over his heart, he grabed his crotch and turned away. The man obviously hates America, just like his mentors have. He hangs with people who hold this country in low regard. The change he has in mind and will not articulate is one most of us would find distasteful. If he wants to give reparations to ancestors of slaves in this country, the money should be accompanied by a one way ticket to the homeland of choice and a note saying sorry you failed to make it in the land of opportunity, but you were victimized by your own thinking.
Zelsdorf Ragshaft on August 5, 2008 at 6:13 PM
Well, I can see him forgetting to put his hand over his heart at the beginning–I’ve done that before. But did he forget for the entire Pledge? I’ve never done that! I usually remember by the third or fourth line, and he should have also, if it’s really not an issue.
Anyone know?
Vanceone on August 5, 2008 at 6:13 PM
In the beginning of a change the patriot is a scarce man, and brave, and hated and scorned. When his cause succeeds, the timid join him, for then it costs nothing to be a patriot.
- Mark Twain
MB4 on August 5, 2008 at 6:14 PM
Patriot: the person who can holler the loudest without knowing what he is hollering about.
- Mark Twain
MB4 on August 5, 2008 at 6:14 PM
“Waitwaitwait … What’s everybody yelling about?”
WE LOOOOVE YOUUUUUU!”
“Are you with the Press?”
hahahahahaaaa He didn’t even realize what He did, yes m’Lord, the Press loooooves youuuuuu!
Tony737 on August 5, 2008 at 6:16 PM
laissez-faire Capitalism yes, laissez-faire leadership NO.
Obama is not a leader!
elraphbo on August 5, 2008 at 6:16 PM
plant
Kaptain Amerika on August 5, 2008 at 6:17 PM
We have a bastard Patriotism, a sarcasm, a burlesque, we have no such thing as a public conscience. Politically we are just a joke. The true patriotism, the only rational patriotism, is loyalty to the Nation ALL the time, loyalty to the Government ONLY when it deserves it.
- Mark Twain
MB4 on August 5, 2008 at 6:17 PM
Whatever the intent of the “young man”, Obama came off fine here.
Spirit of 1776 on August 5, 2008 at 6:19 PM
He ‘preciates it. It’s that deep south of Hawaii accent.
Hening on August 5, 2008 at 6:20 PM
Ugh! And there’s that woman again, to His right, as I said on the thread above:
Smug, nose up in the air, better than you.
Tony737 on August 5, 2008 at 6:22 PM
Allahpundit:
Especially since you are aren’t even supposed to put your hand over your heart for the pledge of allegiance.
DaveS on August 5, 2008 at 6:22 PM
Sorry AP, but I don’t think we’re off into Trutherville when wondering if this was a plant similar to Hillary’s “Iron my shirt!” plants at her rallies.
Django on August 5, 2008 at 6:23 PM
Gallup Tracking
MB4 on August 5, 2008 at 6:23 PM
uh yeah, if you consider letting the crowd run your agenda a good thing.
This was a good example about just how easy it is to manipulate this guy.
elraphbo on August 5, 2008 at 6:25 PM
Sorry DaveS, but YOU DO
JetBoy on August 5, 2008 at 6:25 PM
Had to get the America hating liberals firmly in his camp somehow…
SaintOlaf on August 5, 2008 at 6:26 PM
MB4 on August 5, 2008 at 6:23 PM
Gallup is not “internal polling”.
DaveS on August 5, 2008 at 6:27 PM
Could be a plant, like the fainting women, but it seems real. “Waitwaitwait … holdonholdonholdon … nonowaitwaitwait.”
Notice how it happens right after He gives the signal? As soon as He touches His ear, it happens! Lefties, do you see how silly that sounds? Just like your silly ides that Bush had an earpiece during his debate with Jon Cary.
Tony737 on August 5, 2008 at 6:27 PM
I dont think it was a plant either but Obama sure did jump on it quickly
Im not sure that is what the guy originally did. It seems to me that Obama had a heckler and then started the pledge to mock him.
William Amos on August 5, 2008 at 6:29 PM
Anybody notice how he put his head and his eyes down during the “Under God” part? Any body language experts out there?
Hunt035 on August 5, 2008 at 6:30 PM
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/election_20082/2008_presidential_election/daily_presidential_tracking_poll
Django on August 5, 2008 at 6:30 PM
JetBoy on August 5, 2008 at 6:25 PM
I’m sorry, I got confused by the post… you’re right. You aren’t supposed to put your hand over your heart for the national anthem, which is what was occurring during that famous photo of Obama.
DaveS on August 5, 2008 at 6:30 PM
Heck, I dunno. Perhaps he thinks putting one’s hand over one’s heart is a “a substitute for I think true patriotism“?
Doesn’t seem to be beyond the realm of possibility to me.
Citizen Duck on August 5, 2008 at 6:31 PM
One can wonder.
wise_man on August 5, 2008 at 6:31 PM
Oh golly, thank you so much, I wasn’t aware of that.
MB4 on August 5, 2008 at 6:32 PM
Pretty lame pledge.In my opinion Obama is not a patriot.
apoole on August 5, 2008 at 6:34 PM
Patriotism is usually the refuge of the scoundrel. He is the man who talks the loudest.
- Mark Twain
MB4 on August 5, 2008 at 6:34 PM
Did Mark Twain ever have patriotism and “patriotism” pegged. Some things never change.
MB4 on August 5, 2008 at 6:35 PM
This is like “bizarro-day” for me, I’m disagreeing with people I usually agree with. Where do you see that you’re not supposed to put your hand over your heart for the National Anthem?
JetBoy on August 5, 2008 at 6:35 PM
I dont worry about Obama not saying the Pledge of Allegiance. I worry that he pledges more to the social programs that he believes in.
Thats not the America that I knew.
William Amos on August 5, 2008 at 6:38 PM
MB4
Thanks for the Mark Twain quotes! I for one appreciate them!
Neocon Peg on August 5, 2008 at 6:39 PM
Well played on this one, sir.
BadgerHawk on August 5, 2008 at 6:39 PM
JetBoy on August 5, 2008 at 6:35 PM
LOL… where did you get the idea that you ARE supposed to? :-)
This is just a silly thing to pummel Obama for, in my opinion.
DaveS on August 5, 2008 at 6:40 PM
OK… you’re right
I still think this is silly though.
DaveS on August 5, 2008 at 6:43 PM
I have to agree with you here. I have a really hard time imagining that I ever forgot to put my hand to my heart during either the pledge or our national anthem.
It’s something I don’t even have to think about.
Sure, it’s likely just a mistake like his 57 states comment, but that doesn’t make either of them an excusable mistake.
1. It was one “plant” at one rally, not plants plural.
2. It wasn’t even a Hillary plant; it was a radio station prank that the Clinton campaign wasn’t a part of.
Esthier on August 5, 2008 at 6:44 PM
What pledge does a Citizen of the World say?
aero on August 5, 2008 at 6:45 PM
his reciting of the pledge is about as unbearable as his speeches.
could he sound any more… insincere?
rosewaning on August 5, 2008 at 6:45 PM
Obama totally owned that guy
Baphomet on August 5, 2008 at 6:47 PM
It’s silly if you take it as proof that he hates America (not silly if you use his “friends” to try to make that claim), but fitting it in with a series of other mistakes that a child wouldn’t have made isn’t all that silly.
Esthier on August 5, 2008 at 6:48 PM
Notice how Obambi immediately jumped into the Pledge without giving the audience behind him the opportunity to respectfully rise before he was halfway through? Seems to me it was something he just wanted to get through as quickly as possible. BTW, Obambi, the flag was behind you – aren’t you supposed to be FACING the flag? That is why I don’t think it was a plant. With his poll numbers slipping every day, people want to know just who he is. They are no longer blindly following him, IMHO.
Neocon Peg on August 5, 2008 at 6:50 PM
Kumbia….
upinak on August 5, 2008 at 6:51 PM
Frank Marshall Davis never taught that youngster to salute anything Red White and Blue.
Might have even instilled an incipient antipathy.
Might be that O! has yet to “fully refine” his position.
Stephen M on August 5, 2008 at 6:51 PM
Sorry Allah, I don’t buy that baloney. The average person may forget to put his/her hand over their heart but not a presidential candidate. I was a soldier for 35 years and I never failed to stand at attention and salute during the playing of the national anthem. I did this whenever it was appropriate and for as long as necessary . . . even in the rain and snow standing along side my care during retreat on a military installation. This guy is not simply a random citizen; he’s asking the nation to let him be its protector and keeper of the faith. No, this is not a simple lapse, it’s a defining moment and this man is at best negligently inattentive.
rplat on August 5, 2008 at 6:52 PM
+1
Neocon Peg on August 5, 2008 at 6:54 PM
Once elected O! will at last “refine” his position.
At that time we will all be required to stand and salute the flag of his Presidency, you know, the round one – O! Glory.
Stephen M on August 5, 2008 at 6:56 PM
I’m always right! haha…
Yeah, Obama wouldn’t do that on purpose…it goes in the same bin as “he’s a Muslim” and the birth certificate thing. But doesn’t the Senate open with the pledge every day? You’re right…it’s just something you don’t “forget”.
JetBoy on August 5, 2008 at 6:57 PM
Plant/setup/fake/staged…Clinton all over again.
Vigilante on August 5, 2008 at 6:58 PM
I bet he stayed up last night to practice in front of a mirror…
d1carter on August 5, 2008 at 6:58 PM
Dave S I feel sorry for people like you who are just uneducated. It’s not necessarily your fault, but it is sad when you don’t even try to learn.
Sec. 4. Pledge of allegiance to the flag; manner of delivery
Mazztek on August 5, 2008 at 7:00 PM
Anyone else notice that Barack looked comfortable throughout the entire Pledge, except when he said “under God”?
CultureWar on August 5, 2008 at 7:02 PM
AllahP, I look at Obama’s history, influences and friends. Rev Wright said “…God Dam America…” Ayers was a terrorist who wishes he could bomb more and has pictures of himself dancing on the flag. And is proud if it.
Obama is a member of the Senate, on the campaign trail, going through all the fourishes before the anthem and the pledge, and yet he decides to stand there slouching with his hands folded on his crotch.
That’s not absentmindedness. That’s a pattern.
Mazztek on August 5, 2008 at 7:04 PM
The heckler has the added benefit of making us look stupid. Like the Hillary plant made us look sexist.
Darth Executor on August 5, 2008 at 7:12 PM
When I was in elementary school, we never put our hand at our heart for the anthem–just for the pledge.
If I was taught that way, I suspect others were too. I think it’s enough that people stand respectfully and men uncover.
However, thanks to you guys for providing the code. This is gonna sound weird, but I have big boobs, and I don’t like to grab them in public. I think it looks sloppy. That’s why I’ve been standing at attention with my hands at my hands at my sides all these years instead.
For the record, I attended a religious girls school in Texas in the early 60′s, so we were pretty conservative. When we did the Pledge, we held our right hands perpendicular to our hearts, like a chest level salute for civilians. I liked that, because we didn’t have to grab our boobs. When we were all lined up doing the heart-salute in our little uniforms, we looked pretty sharp.
I think I’ll try to revive this custom. I liked it much better than public self-groping.
juliesa on August 5, 2008 at 7:13 PM
hammers and sickles all around
saved on August 5, 2008 at 7:20 PM
Disrupting the candidates’ events in almost always something done by lefties. McCain is constantly disrupted by lefties, and Obama is occasionally disrupted by lefties. Lefties try to shout down speech they disagree with; righties let whoever has the podium have their say.
I really hate when some of our folks use lefty fascist tactics.
juliesa on August 5, 2008 at 7:21 PM
Totally a plant.
NeoKong on August 5, 2008 at 7:24 PM
Unlike the One I am a vet, mother of a vet and widow of a vet….I would never forget to place my hand over my heart. (It’s more difficult for me to remember to place hand over heart and not salute!) Beyond that I was raised in a ‘patiotic’ family and either my Granny or my Father would have laid me out had I not done so. It’s all about your upbringing and respect for where you and yours come from. I have absolutely NO forgiveness over this issue. He is running for POTUS….he should not need a staff member to remind him of this protocol!
dustoffmom on August 5, 2008 at 7:31 PM
I question the timing.
Virus-X on August 5, 2008 at 7:31 PM
non issue.
the next mccain attack?…here she comes, from the pen of McCain operative Mike Duncan.
pie in the sky utopians…heh.
DrW on August 5, 2008 at 7:45 PM
What, no Amen at the end?
At least that’s the way we always did it when I was growin’ up.
The Ugly American on August 5, 2008 at 7:55 PM
If all we had on Obama is that he’s somehow secretly anti-American, we’d be fu*ked. C’mon, we have a lot of substantive policy differences with him that we share with a lot of independent, undecided voters (see Drilling) that we should be hammering home. But the more Obama is seen being bullied for being “anti-American” or a “secret Muslim, his middle name is Hussein ya know!”, he just gains respect and cred with independent voters. He loves it. He feeds on it. Let’s cut off his supply.
malan89 on August 5, 2008 at 8:03 PM
I’ve never heard that.
malan89 on August 5, 2008 at 8:04 PM
Vid of the heckler getting grilled by, I think, some press reps.
Dusty on August 5, 2008 at 8:10 PM
Its people from the Obama camp.
It looks staged to me now. They were waiting to run this guy down right after this. And his angry denuciations were a bit over the top.
William Amos on August 5, 2008 at 8:24 PM
Another thing stolen from Hillary… planting people in the audience to stage a certain point…
CCRWM on August 5, 2008 at 8:33 PM
[William Amos on August 5, 2008 at 8:24 PM]
Yeah, maybe. I giving it the benefit of the doubt. His name should come out eventually now that his face is on tape.
Dusty on August 5, 2008 at 8:35 PM
“I’ve done that too, I’m sure, so add me to the “disloyal” category.”
Your file has been updated.
Kevin M on August 5, 2008 at 8:41 PM
Barack’s Pledge as a Citizen of the World:
I pledge allegiance to the world
And every country in it.
To global redistribution,
For which I stand,
One world,
Under Marxism,
With impoverishment and squalor for all.
aero on August 5, 2008 at 8:54 PM
Blanch? Uh, don’t anyone tell Timothy Noah.
Attila (Pillage Idiot) on August 5, 2008 at 9:10 PM
A compliment for Allahpundit from the Jayster: You are one of the most intellectually honest bloggers around. Sometimes too much, but certainly a model for others. I disagree with you about 20% of the time, but respect your opinions 100% of the time.
Jay on August 5, 2008 at 9:58 PM
Right, because the Democrats have never planted anybody at any of their events or debates.
/sarc
fossten on August 5, 2008 at 10:05 PM
“Feisty crowd. Feisty…”
^^^^^Code word to begin the staged scene.
fossten on August 5, 2008 at 10:09 PM
I don’t know if it was staged however It did look forced.
Perhaps he needed the sound bite and video for his next “Look at me, I’m Abraham Kennedy” ad.
Claypigeon on August 5, 2008 at 10:18 PM
Well played.
Mark Jaquith on August 5, 2008 at 10:41 PM
Remember everyone, if you disagree with him you are a Truther.
Capitalist Infidel on August 5, 2008 at 10:48 PM
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