To no one’s surprise, Republicans this week trotted out what promises to be one of their primary lines of attack against Barack Obama in the fall, should he win the nomination: the notion that he has a patriotism problem.

The Associated Press inexplicably gave largely unfiltered voice to conservative wack-job Roger Stone’s accusation that because Obama refuses to wear an American flag pin on his lapel; because he was photographed singing the National Anthem without his hand over his heart; and because his wife may not have swelled perpetually with pride through the Reagan/Bush/Clinton/Bush years, that he’s possibly a member of the Fifth Column who’s somehow out to get America rather than lead it.

To his enormous credit, Obama quickly shot back. He said, “When we start getting into those definitions of patriotism … I will come right after [Republicans who] presided over a war in which our troops did not get the body armor that they needed, or [sent] troops over who were untrained because of poor planning, or are not fulfilling the veterans benefits that these troops need when they come home, or [are] undermining our Constitution with warrantless wiretaps that are unnecessary.

“That is a debate that I am very happy to have,” Obama added. “We’ll see what the American people think is the true definition of patriotism.” (more…)