Does Obama Hate the Flag?

I'm being inundated with emails from people who know my views on politics and think that this information would be good for my blog.

The email starts off asking "Who is Obama?" It then goes on to say that he's the son of a radical Muslim father and a white atheist mother. It then goes on this tirade about how he refuses to say the pledge, turns his back on the flag, was sworn into the Senate on the Koran, etc...

Now, I'm not an Obama fan, but let's get some things correct. Obama is the son of a Muslim, but I would find it hard to believe that he is a radical Muslim considering he married a white atheist. Muslims just don't do that. Obama's mother is white, so as I've said before, this qualifies Obama to be considered one of the white candidates in addition to being the black candidate.

Furthermore, Obama did not swear on the Koran. Vice-President Cheney did the swearing in ceremony and they used a Bible. Can you really image Cheney holding the Koran with a smile on his face? Perhaps if it was full of money or shotgun shells.

The flap about the flag, however, must have stemmed from the photo of him in Time magazine and shown in the photo at the top of this post. The photo was taken during a fund-raiser for Tom Harkins of Iowa. In the photo, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, Senator Hillary Clinton, and Ruth Harkins are seen holding their right hand over their hearts while Obama has his hands folded in front of him.

I would hardly consider this to mean that Obama hates the flag and turns his back on it. If this was true, only atheists from Montgomery County would vote for him - and I think he needs more votes than this.

And in all fairness, President Bush hasn't done such a great job with his Pledge of Allegiance. In this photo, he's either really hungry or he's making his own gaff.