From email smears to misleading pictures making the rounds, Barack Obama’s critics have tried, with varying degrees of subtlety, to argue that the Illinois senator somehow lacks the requisite patriotism to be president.<\/p>\n
Yesterday, the AP’s Nedra Pickler tackled the charges<\/a>.<\/p>\n Sen. Barack Obama’s refusal to wear an American flag lapel pin along with a photo of him not putting his hand over his heart during the National Anthem led conservatives on Internet and in the media to question his patriotism.<\/p>\n Now Obama’s wife, Michelle, has drawn their ire, too, for saying recently that she’s really proud of her country for the first time in her adult life.<\/p>\n Conservative consultants say that combined, the cases could be an issue for Obama in the general election if he wins the nomination, especially as he runs against Vietnam war hero Sen. John McCain.<\/p>\n “The reason it hasn’t been an issue so far is that we’re still in the microcosm of the Democratic primary,” said Republican consultant Roger Stone. “Many Americans will find the three things offensive. Barack Obama is out of the McGovern wing of the party, and he is part of the blame America first crowd.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n I can appreciate the newsworthiness of the trend, especially given the way partisan outlets like Fox News have tried to make this nonsense a central issue of the campaign. And Pickler does note some of the flaws with the effort to smear Obama.<\/p>\n But why, then, quote Roger Stone? The AP’s Nedra Pickler asks disgraced Republican dirty-trickster Roger Stone for his opinion. Stone you’ll remember is the guy who got caught making threatening phone calls to New York Gov. Spitzer’s (D-NY) elderly father and last month set up an anti-Hillary group with the acronym C-U-N-T.<\/p>\n Surprisingly enough, Stone thinks the answer is yes.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
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\nJosh Marshall notes<\/a>:<\/p>\n