I pledge allegiance, to the flag, of the United States of Obama … huh??

**Posted by Phineas

Jeez, and I thought the Creepy Kids’ Choirs were carrying the cult of personality too far:

(Photo Credit: Fox News.)

A Florida Democratic Party outpost has taken down an American flag depicting an image of President Obama after a group of veterans complained that the flag had been desecrated.

The flag was flying underneath an American flag outside the Lake County Democratic Party headquarters. Instead of stars, the blue field featured an image of President Obama’s face.

That infuriated local veterans like Jim Bradford, the office manager at the Veterans Memorial at Fountain Park in nearby Leesburg.

β€œI couldn’t believe that anybody in their right mind would desecrate the American flag that way,” he told Fox News. β€œIt was disrespectful.”

β€œIt’s a cult of personality to show his face, like Stalin or Mao,” said former Marine John Masterjohn in an interview with the Orlando Sentinel. β€œIt’s despicable. They don’t realize how sick they are.”

Nancy Hurlbert, the chairwoman of the local Democratic Party, removed the flag after a group of veterans staged a protest outside her office.

β€œWe’re proud of our president and we didn’t realize it was in violation,” she told the Orlando Sentinel. β€œI am the chair and I will take responsibility for this.”

You know what? I believe Ms. Hurlbert when she says she didn’t know this likely constituted desecration.

What bothers me though, is that she didn’t see anything wrong with, in essence, promoting veneration of The Leader. In America, we hold dear the ideas and ideals of our Founding; we respect the offices and the people who hold them, but the officeholders are subordinate to the ideas. We pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States, to what it symbolizes — individual liberty, constitutional government, the rule of law — not to the man or woman who holds the office. When someone joins the military, they swear this oath:

I, [name], do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.

They don’t swear to defend George Washington, FDR, George W. Bush, nor even Barack Obama.

That an official of a major American political party can’t see the real problem is kind of scary.

via The Jawa Report

(Crossposted at Public Secrets)

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