Of all the dumb things…
…Democratic presidential contender Sen. Barack Obama is again facing questions about his patriotism from some conservative blogs — this time for apparently failing to put his hand over his heart during a rendition of the national anthem at an Iowa campaign event….
I was there. I wrote about this over a month ago:
…A singer performed the national anthem with pre-recorded accompaniment. Her rendition was heartfelt and definitely unique. Most people would have had difficulty singing along with her. I noticed that all of the candidates except Obama held their hands over their hearts. Obama held his hands folded in front of him throughout [This is not criticism – the “hand over the heart” looked awkward on the stage – I was standing in the same fashion as Obama]…
Barack Obama stood respectfully for the “Star Spangled Banner” and paid respectful attention to the singer.
Did I somehow miss the memo concerning the orthodoxy of our demeanor during any and all renditions of our national anthem?
Only an idiot would question the patriotism of any individual active in public service. Only the idiot spawn of an idiot would question the patriotism of a United States Senator. Only the heir to the throne of the Kingdom of Idiots would question the patriotism of a presidential candidate.
Now, does anyone around here have any remaining doubts that the right wingnuts will go after the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee, no matter who that is?
The act of public service, or serving as a United States Senator, or running for president is inherently patriotic. And each certainly trumps the self righteous pearl clutching mouth covered gasps of the Mighty Wurlitzer and their cable network enablers.
The stupid, it burns.
However, when you have a commentator on a cable news channel that advertises itself “the most trusted name in news,” says about the fires in southern California that it is unfortunate some of those who hate America are losing their houses and nothing happens to him, it is not surprising.
When you have stories about the quality of one of the major candidates laugh, we should not be surprised.
Of course one candidate for President can send agents to a press conference of one major leaders of the opposition party who is going to address some programs for undocumented people among us and nothing seems to happen.
Another candidate can claim that most of the signers of the Declaration of Independence were ministers and the fact is only one was, and nothing seems to be reported
The foreign affairs advisers to one candidate are openingly calling for war with Iran NOW, and I have yet to read a story about whether that advice is what the candidate actually believes.
With a straight-face, those who support Bush’s veto of the SCHIP program argue that this one more example of partisanship in Congress ignoring the fact that over 40 Republicans in the House supported the bill and the veto would have been overridden in the Senate — exactly the kind of evidence of bi-partisanship we haven’t seen in the last six years.
And, let’s not forget we in KC get to read a weekly column of hate by Michel Malkin, an apologist for Japanese internment, in the Kansas City Star.
Is it any wonder why we watch the Daily Show and the Colbert Report to remind us how badly we are served by the “main stream media”?
Unites States Code Title 36 Chapter 10 Section 171 Conduct during playing
During rendition of the national anthem when the flag is displayed, all present except those in uniform should stand at attention facing the flag with the right hand over the heart. Men not in uniform should remove their headdress with their right hand and hold it at the left shoulder, the hand being over the heart. Persons in uniform should render the military salute at the first note of the anthem and retain this position until the last note. When the flag is not displayed, those present should face toward the music and act in the same manner they would if the flag were displayed there.
Since this post is still generating traffic on our blog (due to search engines and the apparent popularity of the meme) I thought it’d be a good idea to provide a link to the follow up post which I made on October 25, 2007:
Those who ignore history are, well….stupid
Yeah, go and read it. You’ll learn something about West Virginia Board of Education v. Barnette (1943). In a time of war, no less.