If it is, then that is the single biggest problem with liberal public relations. We liberals are as patriotic as anyone, perhaps more so. Intellectually we feel, 'we don't have to wave the flag. We are patriotic.' Well, that's wrong!

It's all about appearance, about impression. Flying the flag doesn't make you a loyal American, but it makes you appear as one. If someone in Wyoming sees newspaper pictures of a liberal rally in New York, and there is not one person carrying the stars and stripes, then the impression is, 'bunch of hoodlums'. Throw in a couple of flags, a grandma or two, and all of a sudden the world gets a different feeling

The Viet Nam rhetoric worked back then. It is passe, it just doesn't work today.

This country was founded by liberals. They called themselves patriots. Today we are thought of as the "antis", the "insurgents" and even "the reds". Joe McCarthy is long gone, but he planted the seeds. 'America love it or leave' it is the motto of the conservative right. Where do they get the right to say that? Who said this is their domain?

Next time you call a Talk Show, start the conversation off with, "Hi, I'm an American flag waving patriot. I also am a liberal." Rush or Sean or Ollie won't know what to say.