Actions mean more than lapel flag pins

Like Barack Obama, I don't wear an American flag lapel button. When it became fashionable shortly after 9/11 for men to wear them, especially politicians and television personalities who often are more about form than substance, I never jumped on board. I didn't see any extraordinary patriotism coming from the men now all of a sudden wearing flag buttons on their lapels, just grandstanding and showmanship. I suspect that many of them don't even vote.

True patriots wore those buttons long before 9/11, and many were veterans of World War II who were not only proud of their country but their role in defending it.

I'll further confess that I am not especially proud of our country. Please excuse my parents for raising me to have high standards about certain things. Though we are the greatest country in the world, I think we can and ought to do a lot better job in how we treat our citizens as well as how we treat those living in other countries. I associate "American flag lapel button" pride with smugness and arrogance, not with the will to bring "liberty and justice" to all Americans.

Instead of being proud, I am very grateful to be an American. I am fortunate to be an American by accident of my birth. For that, I give great thanks. Does that attitude make me unpatriotic?

So if you castigate Obama for his candor and honesty, castigate people like me too. I pay my taxes, vote in every election and try to be a good citizen in as many ways as I can. Like Obama, I would like to think that actions speak louder than words ... or lapel buttons.

George Peternel

Arlington Heights