FAIR and a Lapel Pin

I'll be the first to admit that I am currently out of the loop with the presidential campaign; albeit it has been going on since the last re-election and one can get out of the loop in one day (or one hour it seems) I am woefully under informed. I wish this wasn't the case, but honestly term papers and mid terms are taking a priority at the moment. But I did watch the Daily Show today! Besides the fact that Lynne Cheney is going to be interviewed tomorrow--and I am excited about that--I took away the knowledge that Mr. Obama is catching hell for not wearing an American flag pin on his lapel. Somehow this has made it evident that he is not ready to be president. In my email I got a report from FAIR (10/10/07) criticizing reports for reporting on such a petty issue:

The New York Daily News (10/5/07) similarly compared Obama to "the average college sophomore who has lately discovered political activism," and also suggested that Obama "did more damage to his White House hopes than a bomb bursting in air."

and later:

Actually, if candidates' "position papers and stump speeches" did receive serious and probing attention from the press, attention spent on frivolous issues like Obama's missing pin or Hillary Clinton apparently bizarre laughing wouldn't be so distressing. Serious political issues are on the table: possible war with Iran, new revelations about the White House sanctioning torture, congressional debate about warrantless wiretapping and so on. Does anyone in the media really think that Barack Obama's years-old decision about wearing a flag pin really compares to those stories?

While the New York Daily News compares Obama to a sophomore I would consider the reporter of the same mind of that stereotypical newb reporter who turns an issue of style into an issue of a candidates credibility. Isn't the media as a whole acting like a gossip mill by drawing attention to something that would have more relevancy in a high school election?

Yes, I am under informed, but do I really need to know that a presidential candidate isn't wearing an American flag? Should my decision on the leadership of my country be based upon this? The media seems to be answering with a "Yes! How dare you even ask that question?"

Well, maybe they just don't want to talk about the possible war with Iran or the White House sanctioning torture because they think it wouldn't interest me. Well, whether it would interest me or not, I would feel rather secure knowing that the media is telling us important things that we should know even if we don't want to know instead of supplying more sophomoric conversation pieces made for the water cooler. I get enough water cooler conversation from the Daily Show.