Pseudo Patriotism and Damn Yankees
Submitted by adam on Wed, 07/08/2009 - 15:09:42
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With the Bradford Campeau-Laurion lawsuit ruling Monday, the conversation at the bar turned to whether or not a person has the right to not stand (with cap removed) during the National Anthem - or to otherwise "disrespect" America during one of it's many defacto anthems.
The general consensus was that no... one doesn't. That is: you don't have the right, as an American, to get up during, or otherwise protest the singing of, our National Anthem or God Bless America. (Kind of makes you wonder where the line is drawn... Sousa? Yankee Doodle Dandy?)
One guy (who works for the DoHS) summed it up with, "Fucking go in the sixth [inning]!. You know it's coming!" Thereby implying that Campeau-Laurion should have relieved himself earlier in the game - knowing that Yankee Stadium ALWAYS sings God Bless America in the middle of the seventh inning (or at least has since 9/11). Somebody else semi-rhetorically asked what one should do if he had uncontrollable diarrhea during the song. Hmmm...
Anyway, in my opinion, this stance is seriously flawed - if not entirely un-American/patriotic. I can think of nothing less democratic than Government enforced observance of an anthem - especially a non-secular one (remember, the song in question was God Bless America).
Imagine, our constables having the right to arrest, or otherwise punish/detain, those who exercise their First Amendment rights? "You don't have the right to watch a baseball game because you disagree with something a non-transparent body deemed as correct." Very un-American and unpatriotic. Communist if you ask me.
During the time in my life when I felt the strongest nationalism [read: when I was in the Army] I liked the response I was taught to give if I came across protesters burning an American flag (I realize this was/is a highly unlikely scenario):
Step 1) Salute the burning flag
Step 2) Say "you're welcome for defending your right to do that"
The Weekly Dig had a great article on Campeau-Laurion incident when it first happened back in '08. The Death of Patriotism. A really good read. My favorite excerpt:
If being a sports fan means chronically renewing a loyalty oath, I'll pass.
Yup. Agreed that the
Yup. Agreed that the patriotism is lost when it's forced. It's like saying to your new boyfriend, "Tell me you love me." It ends up being such an unloving way to say it.
And that's cool if some people are inclined to love their country during a baseball game, but let the people pee.
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