Wow, so glad to see you are all doing your right of sharing your opinion. But lets look at it on a human level. Tear away politics, tear away religion, and lets remember that we are all people. You think they're stupid and wrong and they think the same of you, in each one of your minds your all right. Lets band together as PEOPLE as HUMANS and abolish this party system, abolish this Government and become people again who don't argue of Flag pins. A neighbor who helps the other, a kind soul who listens to a strangers bad day, stop the fighting and bickering and then the truth you will see. That we all breath, we all die and its time to stand UP! And say WE THE PEOPLE are going to fix this STOP WAITING, STOP SITTING ON YOUR COMPUTER BLOG FIGHTING. GO TO THE STREETS AND DO SOMETHING! PAINT A SIGN BE HEARD, but also listen. Please people of America, people of the world Band together and lets make this world one hell of a place to live. Last I checked its the only one we have. And it doesn't matter what your beliefs are we are all in the same race, and then we die. Grasp that we ALL will DIE, in the same race. Why spend it fighting!

Peace and Love
F.M.

Well Glory be, look whos wearing one now. B. Hussein Obama is an asshole too. I always thought so but now he's proved it to you all. Just like he's a gonna prove to all us typical racist, jesus believing, gun toting clingers on that he's a patriotic douchebag afterall. Bwwwaaaahahhhaha
Maher you are such a prick.

I'm confused.
Bill sez: "Show me a man wearing an American flag pin in his lapel, and I'll show you an asshole." Very decently, he also acknowledges: "I'm sure there are exceptions," and then he goes on to forget the exceptions by judging everyone who wears a pin:
"When I see the little flag right here, the first thing I think is, you voted for, and still like, George Bush, the man who has gotten more troops unnecessarily killed and maimed by failing to plan for their mission, by pushing their units to the breaking point, by letting his corporate enablers like Halliburton, Bechtel and Blackwater rape and pillage not just the Iraqis, but our own army."
Uh, that must have been some other body:no, no, child it wasn't me. Besides, I have no problem if that's the "first" thing you think. But if it's the only thing you think, that would be a problem.

Then 'Tipspal' sez: "Bill Maher is totally correct. I'm tired of people who judge others by whether or not they fly the flag (or wear a flag pin)."
Really? So, just what do you think you and Bill and everybody else is doing?

Then Eric Arthur Blair treats us to a lecture on the Flag Code that ends with: "Instead of an amendment, how about attaching an appropriate schedule of fines and penalties to the Flag Code?" Great idea! Instead of going thru all that tedious 'constitutional' stuff let's just declare flag "desecration" illegal and make people pay for their lack of patriotism. Tell you what, I bet we could get the Chimp-In-Chief to issue one of those Executive Orders and in 24 hours we could start fining the shit out of people. Orwell would be so proud.

I love Bill Maher.He's the biggest reason I look forward to Friday night. But Bill is like too many other liberals who seem to think that Dubbya's gravest sins have to do with shoddy planning and poor management skills. ( Hello, Paul Berman, George Packer, Christopher Hitchens, et al.)

The invasion of Iraq was, by any known legal or moral standard, a crime.
Given that the President and the Vice-President were in possession of all relevant evidence regarding any potential Iraqi threat to the United States, or the lack thereof, it defies reason to believe that these men would honestly feel that invasion was the only option available to them. All this bullshit about the "mismanagement" of the occupation is just that: Bullshit.

I think William Penn put it well:
"A good end cannot sanctify evil means;nor must we ever do evil that good may come of it."

Bravo Eric Arthur Blair !

Does this mean if we wear a peace sign upside down we are for war?

As the man said, "Much Ado about nothing".

Don't we have more important subjects to spend our time on?

All these comments, and only Jefferson's Guardian mentioned the Flag Code. It's readily available on the internet and worth a reading.

Flag Code, Section 4:

"(i): The flag should never be used for advertising purposes in any manner whatsoever. It should not be embroidered on such articles as cushions or handkerchiefs and the like, printed or otherwise impressed on paper napkins or boxes or anything that is designed for temporary use and discard. Advertising signs should not be fastened to a staff or halyard from which the flag is flown."

"(j): No part of the flag should ever be used as a costume or athletic uniform. However, a flag patch may be affixed to the uniform of military personnel, firemen, policemen, and members of patriotic organizations. The flag represents a living country and is itself considered a living thing. Therefore, the lapel flag pin being a replica, should be worn on the left lapel near the heart."

It occurs to me that the hacks and wonks wearing the pins are using the flag to advertise their insincere patriotism.

Furthermore, paragraph (g) of Section 4 states: "The flag should never have placed upon it, nor on any part of it, nor attached to it any mark, insignia, letter, word, figure, design, picture, or drawing of any nature."

I've seen photos and news clips of the shrub autographing flags. This is, plain and simple, desecration.

Instead of an amendment, how about attaching an appropriate schedule of fines and penalties to the Flag Code?

ZeroPointField: Paul Krugman is a polite gentleman and let the loudmouth dominant the conversation. Maher should have intervened so the audience could have heard what Paul had to say, but he gave 'nothing to say' free reign on that segment. What happened to his bowtie?

Flags, pins, bumper stickers, etc. are just another form of jingoism. The super-rich and the ruling class get a good laugh out of it as they plot more nefarious schemes.

Let's widely publicize this little rant in October of 2008. It should be worth at least an extra million votes for the Republicans.

Not funny. Sad and true. The flags and patriotism are for idiots and should have been gone a long time ago, like the 19th century.

But my kids are still learning this crap in school. That they should be waving flags and writing letters to soldiers.
The letters should be going to the White House and to Congress.

"wearing the pin had come to seem like a "substitute for true patriotism" is still just a sound bite.

When sound bites are "too much information" we're really in trouble intellectually.

Bet when Bush tries to endlessly link Iraq to 911 she doesn't scream "too much information! Just say 'don't judge me. I screwed this country and Iraq royally for financial gains for my buddies' and move on.

Bravo, Bill Maher! Too many politicians and pseudopatritos have come to the conclusion that by wearing the pin, they don't have to do anything truely patriotic...like questioning corrupt leaders. They're also most likely to belong to the same lot who believe it's right to elevate a symbol of freedom above freedom itself.

The fanatical worship of symbols, such as the flag, is a key component in the establishment of fascism and the indentifying of possible scapegoats (see the 14 points below). It's all part of the plan. The freedom of America lies within its people, unfortunately most of them are asleep.

This should be required reading:

http://www.oldamericancentury.org/14pts.htm

It's the idiot, stoooopid. Welcome to Pavlovia. As someone who has been ridiculing Pavlovian Patriots for wearing their little flag lapel pins, ever since 9/11, when the fashion became des rigeurs, I'm glad to see Bill Maher finally speaking up about this shallow, mindless practice.

It takes a village to impeach an idiot.

Bill first said these words on his show that airs Friday Night on HBO.
The Rabies frothing Tucker Carlson was on it, and did not let the Respected Mr. Krugman get in a word edgeways.

Why Bill bothers with these hypocrites is beyond me.

The real reason Obama does not wear a pin and why we shouldn't wear a pin or put "support the troupes" on our vehicles without adding "impeach Bush" is because it is code for "support Bush and elect another neo-con." They are critical of Obama over this non-issue because they want to insure that America thinks there is only one viable way to think about war.
By the way, I did not think this was all that funny. It seemed to me to be more of an angry rant. I like listening to Steve Colbert and Bill Maher for the occasional bit of humor, but look to Common Dreams, Reuters, BBC, newspapers, and NPR for real news. Television has never really informed us, which is why it is such a perfect medium for Republican propaganda.

Greatest lines I've seen on this site in the 2 years I've been reading "the flag is just a symbol. You're getting pissy about a brooch, you drama queens, one that was probably made in China. It's probably leaking poison lead on you right now." Bill certainly has a way with words.

Has anyone else noticed that the flag patch displayed on military uniform right sleeve is shown with the star field forward (as in the upper right hand corner) When I did my time, 68 - 72 the flag was always displayed with the star field in the upper left corner. Why and when did this happen? another pissy conspiracy from the costume queens, no doubt.

J Conrad: Bravo for those outstanding quotes. How true they are!

"Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel"

Samuel Johnson

"Patriotism is the willingness to kill and be killed for trivial reasons."

Bertrand Russell

"You're not supposed to be so blind with patriotism that you can't face reality. Wrong is wrong, no matter who says it."

Malcolm X

"Patriotism is the virtue of the vicious."

Oscar Wilde

"Patriotism is a pernicious, psychopathic form of idiocy"

George Bernard Shaw

And I said, patriotism is a lie used to make working class slaves die in wars created by their wealthy masters.

Youthpary,

You forgot perhaps the most important item: fake democracy.

You are the best Bill,
You just tell it like it is.
The only pin I wear is "Frodo failed Bush has the ring."
Judith

MAHER
2008

See you on Friday.....

Jack37. Just a bit of English grammar here. It is equally accetable to view "the family" in singular or plural. The Brits will say my family are.... while in the USA, we say my family is...
However, I do agree that the MSM is doing a terrible job of telling it like it is, or are, or ...

Ah, me. In the middle of Appalachia is a badly weathering sign that reads "Bush." Those who planted the sign cannot afford to maintain it, yet they continue to support the guy they voted for, and would vote for him again if they could - and they wear their flag pins, and further enrich those who are turning a buck from them and the magnetic junk they also sell.

Great article. Anyone heard from Dennis Miller lately? (snide sarcasm...)

Americans wear US pins inside the US, where there is so much false patriotism, it makes you want to puke. Those American who do venture outside the US (very few) dare not wear the US pin because they know how much Americans are hated overseas. I am Canadian. It's amazing how many Americans wore a Canadian flag on their backpacks when traveling so they would not be recognized as Americans. Pretty sad, eh?

US is all bout packaging and illusion. There is nothing real about it, except of curse the wars, death and destruction brought about by its policies.

Bill Maher is totally correct. I'm tired of people who judge others by whether or not they fly the flag (or wear a flag pin). Also what about all the "Support the Troops" ribbons on the cars? Someone is making a lot of money on these little tokens and the money IS NOT going to the troops. Wake up America!

THANK YOU MR. MAHER. I AM SICK AND TIRED OF ALL THESE IDIOTIC, TREASONUS, BENEDICT ARNOLDS HIDING BEHIND OUR FLAG, LIKE WOLVES IN SHEEPS CLOTHING! lET ME ASK YOU: IF YOU WERE REALLY A TERRORIST, WOULDN'T YOU BE THE BIGGEST FLAG WAVER IN AMERICA! I REST MY CASE.

Note to Jack37:

"Media" is both singular AND plural.

See:
The Columbia Guide to Standard American English
The American Heritage Book of English Usage.

Gauranteed way to shut up the flag pin people: wear the thing upside down. An upside down flag signifies mortal danger. Ditto for the bumper and lawn displays during "patriotic" holidays.

Great job, Bill. As usual your message is right-on and as far as humor, is without peer. Please keep providing your insightful and candid commentary to a level-headed segment of the population so in need of a few laughs.
For all posters to CD, The United States Flag Code formalizes and unifies the traditional ways in which we give respect to the flag, and includes the provision that it can be flown upside down only as a distress signal. It was traditionally used this way in earlier maritime days to indicate a ship in distress.

How fitting.

Perhaps Mr. Obama, if he so chooses, could reconcile by pinning his flag upside down.

(I, personally, have always placed my US flag postal stamps upside down, since the Supreme Court handed the election to Dubya, to indicate the same thing.)

Bill Maher. Keith Olbermann. Jon Stewart. Stephen Colbert.

My "Mt. Truthmore " of media voices that perfectly distill the upside-down times we live in. Humor and sarcasm are absolutely vital tools to strike at the heart of our problems.

Only the court jester(s) can speak the truth...

I bought a tee shirt with the American flag on the front that read 'Proud to be an American'! I only wore it a couple of times right after 9/11. After the Iraq invasion I have left it in the closet. It just seems hypocritical to wear something like that in public. Mostly because I am no longer proud of my country. Instead I opted for an anti-war bumper sticker with a yellow ribbon that reads 'bring the troops home now'! But, I have lost numerous ones in the car wash having my car washed (I always forget to take them off). The new puppy we have chewed on another one when we traded vehicles. So, it no longer is usable. So I had to get online and order some new ones. This time I laid in a supply of them. It's obvious the war isn't going to end anytime soon. So I am prepared.

I just ordered a case of lapel flag pins last week and now I have to go and read this article. Anyone want some? I'm selling them real cheap.

RE: PEOPLE WHO 'NEED' TO READ MAHER LEAST LIKELY TO?

frank1here October 13th, 2007 5:33 pm
"Unfortunately, the people who need to read this the most are the ones least likely to read it."

Easy to feel about progressive journalism in general; but re Maher, I disagree: he is not a 'progressive' comedian in the narrow sense that only progressives notice him - his 'edgey' political humor occupies a niche in the American commercial comedy market, including talk show t.v. And, therefore, it has a 'currency' and viewership that - in a mainly right wing culture - progressive opinion typically does not.

IMAGINE THEY GAVE A VOTE AND NOBODY CAME...except the Christian Right?

Every American HAS to wear a flag pin...its where Cheney is putting the tracking devices and microphones...

BOYCOTT !!DEMAND BUSH BE IMPEACHED AND THE TROOPS BROUGHT HOME OR WE WILL NOT VOTE IN THEIR PRIMARYS OR ELECTION !!IMAGINE THEY GAVE A VOTE AND NOBODY CAME !!

DEAR MR.BILL MAHR,WHAT IF THEY HELD A VOTE AND NOBODY CAME ??THEN THEY COULD NOT LIE TO US ABOUT WHO WON !SHOULDNT WE BE DISCUSSING 'BOYCOTT'BOYCOTTING THE NEXT ELECTION,INSTEAD OF DISCUSSING WHOM WE WILL VOTE FOR ??

I am sick of seeing people ride around in their bourgeois cars with yellow ribbon support our troops or american flag crap plastered all over their cars. You look at them and can see that they do not even have a clue. My american flag magnet ribbon says "just pretend it's all ok" which is basically what's happening.

I work for an employer that gives us uniforms. After 9/11 we were issued Flag pins. Mine keeps getting turned upside down from my seatbelt. Somehow I like it upside down. We seem to have taken the flag to display it for all the wrong reasons.

not only are the lapel pins,bumper stickers and flags in the yard bullshit,but the idea of patriotism itself.just as a reader pointed out that questioning the planning of the mission misses the point, so to does questioning meaningless displays of patriotism.we must take the brave and necessary step of abandoning nationalism,removing our borders,and reaching out to all humanity with love,peace,truth,tolerance and humility.i can already hear the ridicule from all the phony liberals who dont have the gut s to die for the what they supposedly believe.we are all going to end up in a hole in the ground,so lets die for something real.

nice to see you posting here Bill.
I am fed up with getting edited at Huffington Post.
what about all those assholes who still have W stickers on their SUVs? and "GOD BLESS AMERICA" stickers? like the rest of the world doesn't get a blessing? and the new one is "WIN THE WAR." do you think they really support the troops? would they go to Iraq and fight and die for whatever the hell it is we are trying to accomplish at this point? would they send their children? hell no. great show last night. I've had insomnia for a week so I stayed up and watched it live instead of tivo. does tucker carlson EVER shut up? love ya! Sadie

The Dixie Chicks said it best in Shut up and Sing.
This article is a 'direct' quote from his Friday 12 Oct summation.Thats why its so short.

zhongman

Maybe most of America was willing to go along with the deception, not knowing that it was a deception. If I thought mushroom clouds over America were imminent, that is certainly enough to make ME "go along". But by the time that claim was made, many other empty claims had been made and I was not deceived. I was instead horrified that America had been lied to by its president and he was upping the fear ante.

White Rose, sure we were lied to, but we seemed more than willing go along with the deception. Just like BlackWater, when we were scared, we just started shooting and will "let God sort them out."

Bill the mission was against all domestic and international law and was tragically supported by the people of the USA who were lied to by their leadership through the sock puppet press.

LOL - great piece, Bill :-)

I wear a lapel pin; it's a Mao pin from the 1960s. It looks good next to the Lenin pin. My baseball cap has more Mao memorabilia another of Lenin, and a Russian nuke submariners badge. My dilly bag is similarly adorned, with a lot of Ike and Vietnam-era badges, but the one badge that gets the most evil eyes is "God is Dead". I'm waiting to see when I am denied entry into an airport.

Great article and laffs by Bill, but I sense more anger there than is usual for Bill.

Only real Murricans wear flag pins. This is Murrica, dammit. This is the land of the secure and the home of the fearful. Oh say can you sigh? Bill Maher can move to America if he doesn't like phony patriotism. This is Murrica, dammit.

Right on Bill. Flag pins are for idiots like Lou Dobbs.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/10/09/dobbs.Oct10/index.html

Now I know why Kucinich has been ignored so much! He's NEVER worn a flag pin to my knowledge, for the reasons Maher listed.

Waving the flag—or wearing the flag—is the perfect way to show your love of country in this age. It is a wonderful labor-saving device, and used properly, it'll prevent a lot of tiresome mental activity, too.

And to squelch the lefty who's critical of what's going on, just stick that lapel in his face!

Hey buddy - freedom isn't free!

It costs $3 - the price of this bumper sticker I have on my stoopid truck.

Isn't wearing a flag pin in your lapel the modern day equivalent of a belt buckle enscribed with "Gott Mit Uns"?

I really really enjoy it when people are called assholes in public. Or shit for brains, for that matter. There's something to be said for not being diplomatic, but truthful and unadorned.

As usual, Maher is right on target. Unfortunately, the people who need to read this the most are the ones least likely to read it.

The title of the article says it all. Hannity (himself pinless) is OUTRAGED that Barack HUSSEIN Obama can't put symbols over substance the way a Real American should.
Well, how do we fight such pinheadedness? Hillary decides to just go along to get along, let the knuckledraggers have their way on flagburning. But that's no answer. That just encourages them. Then you get all this piffle about the ten commandments, prayer in school, in god we trust, one nation under god, etc. etc. Dare to call them on it and get your patriotism and morality called into question. Well, I think it's more noble to weather a storm of hate mail and death threats than to bear the weight of society's sanctimony day after day.

Have not watched network news for many, many years; made me want to smash the TV, so had to give it up. Now the cable news is much the same. Only watch Keith Olbermann, Bill Maher, Daily Show and Steven Cobert for the news.
Bill Maher has been a favorite for a long time, he really says it like it is.

Arvy October's comment is so true. Spent 11yrs in Europe and always came across Americans wearing Canadian pins. Personally, I would have thought Finnish pins would have been the safest bet; I still have mine.

Scathingly funny, but loose with key facts. (Key facts ignored by the hot air blowing in from the right too, how ironic is that?) Corporate "enablers" control the military. The patriotic entity doesn't exist. Losing troops, lack of plans, murder? Yes of course, but profits soared.
Bill's message is a slight to your intelligence: "Nothing wrong with the military, it's those darn companies and Bush" Wrong!

This article is one of my all time favorite demonstrations of the value of the first amendment.

BILL,DO YOU HAVE THE BUMPERSTICKER that says"do the world a favor..give george w. bush a blowjob!"on the back of your politically-correct hybrid car ?i likethat bumpersticker.....

Bill Maher hit the nail on the head on this one. What an incredible non-issue. It's like people who claim to be Christians, wrap themselves in the flag, and recite passages from the Bible. Look beyond the superficial folks and look at the behavior.

Citizen 1: Lighten up at little. Bill probably couldn't fit everything into one article. It's hard to smile these days. This article will at least help me get through today so I can still fight again tomorrow. Every little bit helps.

I usually like Bill Maher, but did I miss something important here where he says: "...George Bush, the man who has gotten more troops unnecessarily killed and maimed by failing to plan for their mission,...".

OK Bill, where is the part that says that this mission itself was illegal, immoral and unnecessary?

I loved this article! Bill Maher says and writes what I think, and he makes me laugh at the same time. I can remember going to the corner store during WWII, holding my mother's coupon book, to get a few groceries. People made large and small sacrifices then. Today, we are in a war created by a lunatic administration. Most people don't care because they are too busy "doing their thing." Thank the goddess for the people who have the courage to speak out against the insanity.

If these same things had been done by Bill Clinton, he would have been tried as a war crimnal and hung. At times, I feel that humanity has not evolved since people lived in caves. Maybe my grandchildren's generation will help to right the world; that is, if they are still able to breath the air and drink the water, and speak with a free voice.

In former GDR (East Germany) all apparatschiks used to wear a lapel pin of the GDR.

The reason the "flag pin" controvery endures beyond even 15 minutes, is that we have as many as 50% of the voters in this country who WANT to hear about it.
Limbaugh, Coulter, Hannity, and the policy-wonks at the RNC know this. Why bother with talking about anything of substance they can get tripped up on when they can just bluster that, "well, not wearing the flag is just about the same as burning the flag"?

Never mind this isn't true and makes no sense. It works well for them and energizes their base. It's very important that we not "misunderestimate"
these people. (again)

It's nice to find humor in these horrid times, and we should thank Bill for giving us a chance to lighten up. But we shouldn't lose sight of what he is saying. Such as, "let's be honest: this generation doesn't do real sacrifice or even pay for our own wars. That's what grandkids are for! No, we do flag pins and bumper stickers." And says Bush, "the man who has gotten more troops unnecessarily killed and maimed by failing to plan for their mission, by pushing their units to the breaking point, by letting his corporate enablers like Halliburton, Bechtel and Blackwater rape and pillage not just the Iraqis, but our own army."
This isn't funny, It's true.
Hoa binh

Really good article. Its so true.Everything about America is fake.Fake patriotism, Fake wealth, fake beauty, fake smarts, fake stars, fake military power, fake politicians, fake culturalism, fake understanding of what is going on in the world. Fake liberty, fake freedom....open your eyes America look around, your "unbeatable military" is getting its ass kicked by iraqis with ak's c'mon!

Great slam of the media which is more than entirely deserved---they are as guilty as BushCo of this catastrophe and grease its wheels every day. NOTE TO BILL: THE WORD "MEDIA" IS PLURAL. GET IT? Media/are, Medium/is....

I GAVE UP WEARING FLAG PINS..JULY 4,1990..WHEN I NOTICED MINE(flagpin) SAID"MADE IN CHINA" and since july 4,2000 it can rightfully be called "false-flag pin"

Americans wear their own flag pins?! You gotta be kidding. I only see USans with Canadian flags plastered over every square inch of there clothing and belongings.

I guess even their phony brand of 'patriotism' is strictly reserved for display within the 'land of the free and the home of the brave' where it incurs less risk of any uncomfortable challenges.

Right on Bill! Now about that apology to Nader...