Appearing before reporters at a breakfast sponsored by the Christian Science Monitor this morning, Howard Dean was asked about the Barack Obama flag pin flap. Dean said he thought the topic was silly and wouldn't discuss Obama's decisions on the matter, but he did volunteer his own rationale for wearing a flag pin.

"I want to remind the Republican party that they do not own the flag," Dean said.

Good thing to know that Howard Dean wears a flag pin out of partisan spite, and not as a "substitute for ... true patriotism."