Note: Strolling through Denver this week,  I see visual reminders of our patriotism every where I go.  American flags every where.  Strangers chatting with one another on line at restaurants, events - beaming with pride not just about our nominee but about the promise of American democracy.

It reminded me of a piece I wrote for Huffington Post a few months back when Senator McCain was questioning Senator Obama’s patriotism (and telling us all that he wasn’t).

Seemed like the right time to re-post it.

I know in my heart that if I walked down the street wearing an American flag pin, people would assume that I was Republican.  Furthermore, they would assume that I was a conservative Republican.

For the record, I am neither.

How did this happen?  Did we Democrats send a memo out at some point ceding the patriotic territory to the guys (and yes, they are almost all guys) on the other side of the aisle?

I know the Republicans didn’t take the flag away from us Democrats.  They couldn’t.  The flag belongs to all of us.  So the only explanation is that we gave it away.

It can be so frustrating to be a Democrat.  So what if we are right?  If we are not smart, being right doesn’t mean a hill of beans.

So, here’s my idea.  Now Senator Obama didn’t heed my last suggestion - to go public with his top 3-5 cabinet choices, but I’m just going to keep coming up with the big ideas, hoping someone might take me up on one of them.

Here goes.

It’s time for Democrats to reclaim the mantle of patriotism.   But our current form of democracy seems to have made some wrong turns on this American journey of ours.  Somewhere along the way, we forgot that this country was to be the beacon of freedom, of diversity.  Our country’s founding fathers were brilliant and compassionate. They were rebels, they were agents of change.

Barack, how about making a statement?  Consider wearing an American flag pin beginning today and until you take the oath of office on January 20, 2009.

Return to our roots.  Wear an American flag.   The original American flag.  The Betsy Ross version. The one James Madison wore as he was writing the Constitution.

It’s time to remind people what this country stands for.  Or what it stood for and needs to stand for once more.

Yesterday, I saw a woman in a witch costume being ‘wanded’ by security at the Pepsi Center. Knowing that delegates are known for wardrobe choices that make a statement, I didn’t think much of it.

Until I came across these folks as I exited the Pepsi Center last night.  They are part of a movement (I am assuming a small one) called “Trick or Vote.”

Their thinking is pretty simple.  On October 31, millions of Americans will be knocking on doors,  most of them of course with young children in tow.  So why not kill two birds with one stone?  You’re going to be canvassing your neighborhood anyway.

As our youngest kids are 13, it’s been a few years since I have been called upon to stroll through the neighborhood while my kids beg for candy.  I’ve grown to enjoy the role of the parent who comes to the door and admires the costumes.  What an innovative Freddie Krueger costume little Johnnie!

May be time to reconsider my role.  And I have my costume all set.  I’ll be an Obama fundraiser.

Behaving like a first class tourist, I brought my camera into the Pepsi Center last night.   My colleagues and I were seated to the right and behind the stage and thus, relied on the large screens for the faces of the speakers, we did in fact have a wonderful view of the arena.  My friend  Steven Gluckstern pointed out this sign just after we came in.

I don’t get much opportunity to watch the Aljazeera Channel but I am glad they were there.

Note:  Written for 365gay.com and cross-posted here.

Last week while watching television, it hit me right between those queer eyes of mine.  I want Tim Gunn from Project Runway to be Barack Obama’s Chief of Staff.

Tim would bring change to Washington.  He might encourage Barack to change his shoes.  Or that belt his daughters tell us he has been wearing forever.   And there is no question he would be the not-so-secret weapon in a first rate redecorating job.

But it’s more than that.  Tim believes so deeply in the unique talents of each contestant.  He knows they have it in them to do their very best.  And more than just motivating, he helps designers believe in themselves.  He is warm – he wells up easily and his hugs are genuine.  And at the same time, he does not coddle.  He is well aware that sometimes you are in and sometimes you are out.

OK I know it’s just a tv show.  But isn’t this the kind of person you want at the President’s side all day every day?

Picture it - Tim walking into the West Wing every morning – charming, positive and well dressed of course.  I can hear him now.  “Make it work, people!”

It gives me hope.

I suppose it’s possible that they enscribed this proverb into a divider on Auraria Street just outside the Pepsi center but it doesn’t look new.  And it struck me as I waited on a long line with my precious credential to enter the arena.  I suppose that’s the thing about proverbs.  They aren’t new; they just feel new every time you read them.

We have not inherited this land from our ancestors; rather we have borrowed it from our children 

I believe that is exactly why I am here.

It started out nicely.  The announcer at the rodeo would yell out —  “Hey , anyone here from California?’  And some portion of the crowd, sometimes small , sometimes a bit bigger would hoot and holler.  I don’t know what kind of crack he made about Californians but I can guarantee you that a stereotype was involved.  He would, at each break while they were getting some poor little calf ready to be roped (read:  strangled by a rope while the crowd cheers), mention a state, listen as some portion of the audience cheered, and then he would offer us his little stereotype joke.  So for example, he got to the state of Florida pretty quickly.  The Florida attendees roared as our host reminded us about who lives there – old people… and their parents (he clearly doesn’t know about all the gay men who’ve settled in Fort Lauderdale)

It struck me that being from different states was the ONLY diversity..  We had only white people at the rodeo but at least some were from California, some from Montana and then a few old people from Florida.

Oh yeah, there was also a lot of religious diversity.  There were the people who believe in Jesus and the people who really believe in Jesus.  There were Christians from Wyoming, Christians from Montana.  Christians, Christians everywhere.

Eileen and I were fascinated.  Yes, and we had that “are we the only ones in the room?” kind of feeling.  Here we were sitting with our two kids who look like they’ve just come off the set of “Fiddler on the Roof.”  We were strangers in a strange land.  Or maybe it’s New Jersey that’s strange.

We cut out early.  Something about the evening didn’t sit right.   We were glad we went but happier to be heading back to Red Lodge.

And if you leave before the rodeo is finished,  you can beat the lines at the Dairy Queen…

I must be missing Scout badly. I feel like I see her now wherever we go. I know she is safely at her desk at The Huffington Post helping to make the world safe for liberals (no sightings of these kinds of people here in Montana). But now it’s gotten to the point where people are starting to look like her.

I took this picture to prove my point. A staged gun fight at the Irma Hotel in Cody, Wyoming. One of the harlots looks just like her.

It feels like Scout is with us wherever we go.  We thought of her often when we visited the Buffalo Bill Cody Museum yesterday.  It’s as if she was watching over us.

Who knew?  We were sure to stumble upon rodeos during the Opatut Western Expansion, but the Rodeo Capital of the WHOLE WORLD?  Too good to be true.

Many lessons learned last night at the rodeo.

1) We learned that rodeos are very patriotic.  Just like at baseball games, the evening begins with the National Anthem.  Sung while a scantily clad cowgirl rides a horse around the arena (rink?) (track?) carrying a flag.

2) We learned that the rodeo announcers have a deep and genuine commitment and concern our Armed Forces.   It is what I may remember most about the evening.  At one point, the announcers asked anyone who did or had served our country in the Armed Forces to stand.  It was actually very moving.  I wondered why we didn’t do that at baseball games.

3) Rodeos are smelly.  And after a prime rib buffet at the Irma Hotel, it can be a bit nauseating.

4) None of us cared for the idea that the ‘fun’ of one part of the event involved chasing an adorable little calf and getting a rope around its neck, knocking it down and tying its legs together.

You should have seen the look on the Jewish cowboy’s face.

5) We seemed to be the only people gasping with a 10 year old boy was injured by a bucking bronco.  He was able to walk off the (track?) (rink?) (arena?)  but he didn’t look good.

6) The town of Wabash, Indiana must have been deserted last night.   The entire population appeared to be in section 10.

7) If you leave the rodeo early, you can beat the crowds to the Dairy Queen.

The fifth member of our family, Scout, was unable to join us on this trip. She is back in NYC working. But we did not want her to feel left out nor did we want any readers to think we’d forgotten about her.

So while I cannot include any photos of Scout from this vacation, I thought I’d include a photo of Scout from a vacation.

Scout Opatut. Summer 2007. Paris.