Dems in Distress

Perhaps with "patriotism" being a word most often spit than said by those on the far left, perhaps it shouldn't be a surprise that the Democratic National Committee screwed this up:

Some viewers contacted 9NEWS Saturday, questioning the design of the credentials to see Sen. Barack Obama accept the Democratic Party's presidential nomination at INVESCO Field at Mile High.

The viewers say with the stars and blue field in the lower left corner, it looks like an upside down American flag. Published flag etiquette states the stars should always be displayed in the upper left corner. An upside down flag represents an international symbol of extreme distress.

Matt Chandler with the Obama campaign says the flag is not upside down. He says it is a stylized flag designed to blend the stars on Senator Obama's shirt with the flag blowing in the wind.

Natalie Wyeth with the Democratic National Convention Committee sent 9NEWS the following statement Saturday night: "The DNCC community credentials incorporate patriotic design elements. They do not depict an actual American flag. The DNCC has full and complete respect for the flag and all rules of display."

A composite of two images in a hologram, the credentials show the following.

What an interesting parsing by these two Democrats. Obama loyalist Chandler actually asks us to ignore our lying eyes, which clearly shows an inversion with the stars in the lower right orientation, while Wyeth parses that this isn't an actual flag, so the perceived slight is the fault of those who see it, not the fault of the DNCC.

The concerns of those Americans who understand flag etiquette and the meaning of an inverted flag has been compounded by some on the far left, who have noted that this is not the flag they are familiar with either, lacking the orange, crackling glow to which they have become accustomed.

(h/t Weasel Zippers and Hot Air, which notes another possible source for the inverted flag in an update.)