So where is Sean Hannity's flag lapel pin?

Summary: Discussing an interview in which Sen. Barack Obama said he had stopped wearing a flag pin on his lapel during the lead-up to the Iraq war, Sean Hannity said on his radio show: "[W]hy do we wear pins? Because our country was under attack." He continued: "And to politicize once again the war to this extent. Well, who cares about the war? Are you proud of your country?" Yet while criticizing Obama for not wearing a flag pin, Hannity himself has not worn an American flag lapel pin on a number of recent occasions.

Discussing a recent interview with a reporter in Iowa in which Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) said that he had stopped wearing an American flag pin on his lapel during the lead-up to the Iraq war, Fox News host Sean Hannity said on the October 4 broadcast of his radio show: "[W]hy do we wear pins? Because our country was under attack." He continued: "And to politicize once again the war to this extent. Well, who cares about the war? Are you proud of your country? Do you believe in America? Do you believe that America has been, continues to be the greatest force for good in this world?" Hannity later stated: "I think it's, you know, the greatest gift God gave us and continues to be a force for good." Yet while criticizing Obama for not wearing a flag pin, Hannity himself has not worn an American flag lapel pin on a number of recent occasions.

Hannity's quote, "[W]hy do we wear pins? Because our country was under attack," was included in a number of reports on Obama's decision not to wear a flag pin -- including in the October 4 edition of ABC's World News with Charles Gibson and the October 5 edition of ABC's Good Morning America.

Below are examples of Hannity not wearing an American flag lapel pin on Fox News' Hannity & Colmes:

October 4:

October 3:

October 2:

October 1:

September 28:

September 26:

September 25:

Moreover, Hannity is not wearing a flag pin on the cover of his book Deliver Us From Evil: Defeating Terrorism, Despotism, and Liberalism (HarperCollins, 2005):

Hannity has also conducted interviews with Republican presidential candidates Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee, and Fred Thompson in which the candidates were not wearing flag pins.

From the June 5 edition of Hannity & Colmes:

From the August 13 edition of Hannity & Colmes:

From the June 10 edition of Fox News' Hannity's America:

From the October 4 edition of ABC Radio Networks' The Sean Hannity Show:

HANNITY: Anyway, so get this story [since updated to include Hannity's comments], reported by ABC News:

A reporter for the ABC affiliate in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, noticed that something was missing from Barack Obama's lapel. He says: "You don't have the American flag pin on it. Is that a fashion statement?" the reporter asked at the end of a brief interview with Obama. "Those have, you know, basically been on politicians since September 12, 2001."

The standard political reply to that question might well have been, "My patriotism speaks for itself." But Obama didn't say that.

The piece goes on:

Instead, the senator answered the question at length, explaining that he no longer wears such a pin at least in part because of the Iraq war. He said, quote, "You know, the truth is, is that right after 9-11, I had a pin. Shortly after 9-11, particularly because as we were talking about the Iraq war, that became a substitute for I think true patriotism, which is speaking out on issues that are of importance to our national security, I decided I won't wear that pin on my chest.

"Instead," he said, "I'm going to tell the American people what I believe will make this country great, and hopefully that will be a testimony to my patriotism."

The Obama campaign declined to expand on the statement. His comments speak for itself.

Now, I've got to tell you -- I mean, why do we wear pins? Because our country was under attack. And to politicize once again the war to this extent. Well, who cares about the war? Are you proud of your country? Do you believe in America? Do you believe that America has been, continues to be the greatest force for good in this world? I think the answer, if you ask that question of any, you know, liberal today, I think they doubt that America is a force for good in the world, that America has been, continues to be a force for good in the world. And I think it's, you know, the greatest gift God gave us and continues to be a force for good.

—B.A.