Obama Responds to "Flag" Photo

This is from the Baltimore Sun. Barack Obama responding to a viral email making the rounds stating that he is less than a patriot because he doesn't have his hand over his heart. And if you don't trust his words, you can read the Washington Post piece that debunks the entire non-issue.

Obama responds to flag photo

MUSCATINE, Iowa - The photo continues to circulate on the Internet and a voter here this afternoon asked Sen. Barack Obama to explain why he did not have his hand over his heart in front of a giant American flag when the other candidates standing next to him did.

Calling the viral e-mail a "classic dirty trick," the Illinois Democrat told his supporters to correct the record and that the image is not what it appears to be.

"This is just so irritating," Obama responded. "This was not the Pledge of Allegiance.
This woman was singing the Star Spangled Banner. Now, I was taught by my
grandfather that you put your hands over your heart during the Pledge of
Allegiance. The Star Spangled Banner, you sing. So that's what I did."

The photo was taken this summer at Sen. Tom Harkin's annual steak fry in Indianola, Iowa.

"These aren't the only e-mails that are going out," Obama said. "You've got e-mails saying that I'm a Muslim plant that's trying to take over America and this and that and the other."

Obama, speaking to about 350 people in the gymnasium of a community center, advised a polite response to those sending around the message.

"If you get this e-mail from someone you know, set the record straight," he said. "You don't have to curse them out, just tell them that they are misinformed."