McCain's Rick Monday Politics

This is just embarrassing. Denver Post columnist (and reason contributor) David Harsanyi reports that the McCain campaign is making political hay out of unused miniature American flags:

This morning, Republicans tell me that a worker at Invesco Field in Denver saved thousands of unused flags from the Democratic National Convention that were headed for the garbage. Guerrilla campaigning. They will use these flags at their own event today in Colorado Springs with John McCain and Sarah Palin.

Before McCain speaks today, veterans will haul these garbage bags filled with flags out onto the stage—with dramatic effect, no doubt—and tell the story.

"What you see in the picture I sent you is less than half of total flags," a Republican official emailed. "We estimate the total number to be around 12,000 small flags and one full size 3×5 flag."

I'm not sure what the DNC was supposed to do with unused hand-flags, frankly. But the Republicans are obviously questioning someone's patriotism here.

Yes they are. And they should be ashamed of themselves for engaging in such a pathetic stunt. I have previously argued that the "questioning our patriotism" meme was, for the most part, a straw man. Sure, some crackpot bloggers had done just that, as had vile "journalists" like Jerome Corsi, but McCain seemed to avoid such tactics. But things are getting tight, November is just around the corner, and the McCain campaign seems to be indulging in the most pitiful jingoism since Kang and Kodos ran for President.