No, it isn’t. Not for the National Anthem. Next time you’re at a sporting event take a look around. The vast majority of people don’t put their hands over their hearts.
As the son of a Foreign Service Officer, I grew up atending formal events where the national anthem was played in front of American and foreign government officials. I had etiquette drilled into me. No one put their hands over their hearts during the National Anthem. That would have been rude.
You stand, remove your hat if you have one, keep quiet if there’s a performer singing it, sing along if it’s a band, and look at the flag during the anthem. That’s it. The hand-over-heart thing is for the Pledge.
You’re quite mistaken. The correct behavior is to place your hand on your heart during the national anthem of the United States. This is not simply opinion; it’s codified by federal law at 36 USC § 301, which provides:
So the fact that she said it was the first time doesn’t mean that it never happened before?
Can you cite a few other instances where something that happened for the first time actually happened before? Or is this just blackwhite?
Oldthinkers unbellyfeel Obama, apparently.
Regards,
Shodan
Are you deliberately missing the word “really” in the statement?
First time in her adult life. I went to the trouble of emphasizing that for you. She had a life before that.
It’s a really simple concept.
The first time I went to Florida as an adult sort of happened before, only I was a child when that happened, and I really don’t recall it.
The first time I sucked on a teat was a bit different from the first time I did it as an adult.
I got into a few scraps as a kid, but the first time I really got my ass kicked as an adult was a different thing by several orders of magnitude.
Et Cetera, Et Cetera, Et Cetera …
As **Raygun99 **points out, even conceding your (apparently deliberate) misunderstanding of the difference between “first time” and “first time as an adult,” there is a difference between “X” and “really X.” I emphasized that for you as well, so it becomes a bit hard to fathom why you keep missing the point. She did not say what you claim she did.
Yes, I noticed that too. I also have to wonder if the woman (the bitch) didn’t play it up for the camera to some extent, but she seemed to virulent for that to be true. The heavyset woman (the “yankee do it” one) seemed more on the fence–troubled by her negativity on Obama.
Bricker–I don’t recall having to put my hand over my heart for the anthem, either. Such insistence on picayune protocol strikes me as silly. It’s up there with the flag pin, which I also didn’t realize was de rigueur (o, dear god–I used a foreign phrase! I hate America!). If in public, I stand for the anthem, as I would for any nation’s anthem. I mostly don’t sing along (it’s effing hard to sing) and I don’t do the hand on heart thing. I might have in girl scouts or brownies, but that would have been the last time. That’s about the level of importance this issue has, too. I wouldn’t imbue such actions with too much symbolism–it smacks of idolatry to me. YMMV (and does, apparently). I see you’ve quoted a code of etiquette for the anthem. Fair enough. But there is this to consider: enough people here and in other threads have said that they either don’t do this or weren’t aware that they should. Surely that is evidence that there exists a variety of approaches to this? If someone stands attentively and silently, removing their hats (if male) during the national anthem, would you truly say they are un-American or rude? That’s ridiculous. You can’t go to a baseball game and not see all manner of behavior during the anthem. To insist that Obama’s not doing the hand on heart thing upon occasion has some dire portent is specious.
I’m not saying that all the rural, poor or working class whites in WV are racist or even close. I do think that as a group, they are more threatened by an influx of blacks or other minorities into their state. That is, they are more vulnerable to job loss and have little if any safety net. They are also somewhat isolated from minorities, unlike major urban areas or other rural areas, and so, therefore more likely to believe nonsense like the Obama is a Muslim* stuff. IOW, what I think is needed is some education and information. But the caveat with that is that the population targeted has to be open to learning. Unfortunately, I think what is needed is a motivator–what’s in it for them to change how they’ll vote? A difficult issue for Obama, but one I’m sure his campaign has thought about. And they might just write off the rural white poor–it wouldn’t be the first or last time a Presidential candidate has done so.
*I wouldn’t care if he were, but I know that wouldn’t fly with most Americans at present.
It depends on a bunch of factors.
Consider an Amish guy that wears pink polkadots and bright red suspenders. I don’t know if there’s an official, written Amish dress code – I suspect not – but an Amish man that chose to wear such colors would be making a statement. Now, you or I might say, “What of it? Clothes are not relevant to who a man is, inside!” But such a man would be deliberately emphasizing his desire to flout thispart of Amish tradition, to be separate from it.
So, too, with the actions during the pledge and the anthem. Someone who simply doesn;t know the difference isn’t making any kind of a statement. Someone who does know, and chooses to not follow the protocol, is makign a statement disassociating themselves from this aspect of honoring the country and its flag. I believe that’s a fair item for commentary.
Of course, that analysis doesn’t apply to Senator Obama, since he’s been shown plenty of times with his hand over his heart for the anthem and the flag. In his case, it’s clear it was simply a one-time thing. But the larger point – that such behavior is, if deliberate, a fair area for comment - stands.
Actually, yes she did. None of the quibbles you are clinging to make any difference. She said that as soon as she could judge for herself, she was never really proud of her country. Before that, her pride wasn’t real, or her judgement was childish. Now her husband is winning, so she is proud.
That’s what she said.
Regards,
Shodan
not “really, as in truthfully”, “really, as in extremely”.
Yes, this is what I was explicitly taught by my elementary school and by my parents as a kid.
-FrL-
Not really.
Regards,
Shodan
Who disputes that? (I mean specifically wrt Obama.)
She attributes her newfound pride not just to Obama’s success, but rather to the growth of hope and the growing hunger for change and unity.
And the “not just” line is ambiguous. It may mean “you may think it’s because Obama’s doing well, but it’s not that, it’s rather:” or it may mean “Obama’s success is not the only factor leading to my newfound pride.” On either reading, she is not attributing her pride solely or even chiefly to her husband’s success. On the first reading, she’s not attributing it to his success at all, but rather, is explicitly denying that’s what she is proud of.
-FrL-
Anecdotally, I have personally seen plenty of this sentiment from a fairly wide sampling of economic classes, both Democrat and Republican. And these are peope from fairly progressive states from New York to the Mississippi, North of the Mason Dixon. I’ve seen and heard enough of it to know with certainty that Obama will never take Ohio in the presidential election.
By extension, I can state with a fairly high degree of certainty that he will not be the next President of the United States.
You don’t know how hard this is for me, because we cannot take another 4 years of the Republicans… I cannot take another 4 years of this Elephantshit. Please don’t take their racism as racism on my part. I will vote for Obama, even though I know he has no chance. I know several more democrats who will not vote for him under any circumstance, but who would vote for Hillary. And I know several Republicans who would crossover and vote for her as a sign of no-confidence in the Republican party, but who similarly would never vote for Obama.
I hope the superdelagates will do the right thing and nominate somebody who actually has a chance at the Presidency. This country’s future and well being is much more important than any one man.
What about the future of the Democratic party? How important is that?
I don’t understand how you can imagine the supers nominating someone else and that someone else winning. For good or ill Obama’s won the nomination (or nearly), for the supers to say; “We know Obama’s won the most states, won the most delegates and depending on whose numbers you use, won the popular vote…but he’s black and the country’s not ready for a black man to be president…so here’s who we think will win…sorry guys; it’s not personal.”
What do you think will happen to Democratic party? Do you really believe all those millions of people who voted for Obama, will say, " That’s ok mate, here’s our vote for the guy, we didn’t vote for; but you supers know what’s best for us."
Not going to happen.
If Obama’s not the guy, I think at least in my unprofessional opinion, the Democratic party will implode and you won’t see another Democrat in the White House for a generation. Denying Obama the nomination, will reinforce every fear, every stereotype, every dark and vile thing that we think about the under-belly of America and I don’t see how the Democratic party can walk away from that intact.
If the voters feel that Obama has gotten the boot because a bunch of white men, have decided it’s not his time; when he has earned it, then I’m pretty sure whomever they chose will lose the general…I can’t see Obama’s supporters accepting this and they will show their disappointment; not by switching parties, but by staying home and if that happens, no Democrat can win.
If Americans are most concerned about the color of his skin, then their own self interest, then we as a nation deserve all the crap we get.
I paid $45 to fill up my car today, there was no rice in BJs and a person I know decided it was cheaper to go on welfare, then continue to work, as she couldn’t afford the gas and pay her bills.
I don’t know if Obama can fix this, I doubt it… capitalism, supply and demand and all that stuff; but he can bring our people home from that god forsaken war and that’s good enough for me.
Where do you live? I ask because where I live this sentiment hardly exists at all, and it has been proven time over time in the primaries and caucuses. I’m of the opinion that this is a regional thing, not a national thing. As for the future of the Democratic party, the states in and around Appalachia are shrinking in influence. In 1968, OH had 25 electoral votes, now it has 20. WVA had seven, now it has five. Colorado had six, now nine. Arizona had five, now 10. California had 40, now 55.
I’m not going to rebut or disagree with you, Holmes…because I agree. Neither choice is good…
However, I think I can hear the Republicans chuckling in the background. Win the battle but lose the War?
FL and OH.
I understood eleanorigby to opine, “Such insistence on picayune protocol strikes me as silly.” I took that to mean that she disputes it.