The pundits and gaseous phonies who embarrass this profession every day make me ashamed to be a journalist. Does disgust at their antics make me an enemy of press freedom?
Because many of us felt revulsion at the jingoism and cheerleading of the mainstream media during the run-up to the Iraq war doesn't make us any less appreciative of the First Amendment, does it?
It's possible to argue that love of this country led to widespread disappointment with the institutions that failed us most during our nation's march to folly five years ago.
The media establishment deserves to be tarred and feathered for its craven response to the Bush administration's power grab in the aftermath of Sept. 11.
But as hard as many of us who toil in the media are on our own profession, no one has ever demanded we turn in our press badges because we're embarrassed by modern journalism's misplaced priorities.
If only we had as clear an understanding of patriotism as we do of journalism, the First Amendment and the limitations of its practitioners.
If we did, we wouldn't question the patriotism of a citizen like Michelle Obama for a second. We'd be too conscious of the log in our own eye to presume to remove the splinter from hers.
Earlier this week, Michelle Obama's patriotism came under scrutiny because she had the gall to speak honestly about the complex emotions that she, a black woman who has struggled from the working class to a position of privilege in society, feels at this moment in American history:
"Hope is making a comeback and, let me tell you, for the first time in my adult life I am really proud of my country. Not just because Barack is doing well, but I think people are hungry for change," she said speaking at a rally in Milwaukee.
That's the entirety of 44-year-old Michelle Obama's seditious comment. What a subversive she revealed herself to be by not waving the flag as vigorously as her critics -- the phony patriots who have no problem passing judgment on other people's patriotism.
Of course the unholy triumvirate of right-wing radio, cable TV punditry and the blogosphere weighed in instantly, pronouncing Michelle Obama guilty of insufficient gratitude to America. She was called unpatriotic and un-American.
At MSNBC, commentator Pat Buchanan, the former Nixon speech writer, asked how a woman educated at Harvard and pulling down big bucks could possibly have any ambivalence about the America he was obliged to respect.
Mr. Buchanan wanted to know how the wife of the Democratic presidential frontrunner could possibly transmit "patriotic values" to her daughters if she didn't manage to get choked up when the Berlin Wall fell in 1989.
Over at Fox News, a panel of old grumpy white guys -- plus Juan Williams -- wondered the same thing. Why didn't Michelle Obama celebrate the fall of the Berlin Wall? Why was she only "belatedly" proud to be an American?
Cindy McCain, the wife of Republican frontrunner John McCain, couldn't wait to get in an under-scripted dig in at her rival for First Lady: "I am proud of my country. I don't know about you, if you heard those words earlier, I am very proud of my country," she said in the syntax of a proud Stepford Wife.
Pretending to be ignorant of a political opponent's position is a proud American tradition. It is convenient for Barack Obama's ideological opponents to pretend that Michelle Obama is the second coming of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg.
Conservatives who argue that waterboarding is a "benign" interrogation technique feel no shame in passing judgment on Michelle Obama's patriotism.
Ideologues who started a war that will accrue trillions in debt and undermine American military readiness for decades have the nerve to call Michelle Obama unpatriotic?
The hypocrisy of Michelle Obama's most vociferous critics is stunning, especially when it is she who best exemplifies what it means to be an American.
She left a lucrative job in the private sector to work in public service. By all accounts, she is a very involved mother and supportive wife who works tirelessly to strengthen her family. She has no political ambitions.
But if the hand-wringing in the media is to be believed, Michelle Obama is lacking in patriotism. If patriotism is truly what her critics describe it to be, then patriotism is a virtue only a scoundrel could love.
First Published: February 22, 2008, 5:00 a.m.
