Of Pins and Patriotism

The American political scene is truly remarkable.  As we all know, we’re at war, in the midst of a conflict in Iraq that has cost hundreds of billions of dollars and thousands of American lives.  While one can debate whether the Iraq war was a legitimate response to attacks by al Qaeda in September of 2001, there can be no debate that there is a strain of Islamic fundamentalism that supports terrorism, and that adherents to that ideology do wish to do additional harm to the United States.  Meanwhile, the housing market is slowly collapsing, threatening to take the broader economy down with it.  Millions of Americans lack basic health care.  And our nation’s debt is at its highest point in American history.

In short, there is no dearth of serious issues to address for those candidates who seek the presidency in 2008.  And yet the latest cause c