Video of the Day

A flashback to when baseball and patriotism were still synonymous:



Ed at Hot Air writes:

I’ve written about this before at Captain’s Quarters, but the context bears repeating. In 1976, a sense of ennui had gripped the nation. In a year-long bicentennial celebration, many wondered if the economic stagnation that had lasted all decade meant that America’s best years were in the rear-view mirror. The commercialized bicentennial festivities felt forced and false. It seemed that pride in our country had dissipated into cynicism and retreat.

The unprompted, extemporaneous response to Monday’s heroics is the often untold story of that day. Over 40,000 baseball fans saw Monday risk his career by grabbing what could easily have been a fireball to rescue the American flag from a couple of asshats, and suddenly it recalled the real patriotism and passion for America that had been missing in 1976. At first in isolated pockets but soon sweeping around the stands like The Wave would later do, Americans stood up and sang “God Bless America” — not prompted by the stadium organist but fueled by love of country.

If you saw two men attempting to burn an American flag, would you stop them? Or would you continue on your way? I hope that most of us would intervene, but I fear that we've fallen into the same funk that Ed describes above -- thanks primarily to liberals who hate our country and try their hardest to make patriotic Americans ashamed for their love of country.

This video should serve as a reminder of how precious a symbol our flag is.

Hat Tip: Hot Air

Ready to get the goosebumps?

Then watch this video. I work way too much to be able to have seen all of the welcome festivities for the Pope, which sucks in and of itself, but I'm especially sore to have missed this. Rosetta at The Hostages says,

If you don’t get goose bumps in the last minute you need to see a doctor.

I disagree. It took the U.S. Army Chorus, oh, two notes before I got the goosebumps. I don't think angels could have sung any more beautifully.

Enjoy:


I don't think you could find a better example of God-loving patriotism than that.

Hat Tip: Ace of Spades

Flashback Video of the Day

Here's a flashback video for today, of when Obama refused to put his hand over his heart during the National Anthem.

There's no real reason to post this. I'm just doing it because I can. So THERE.



Here's a little reminder on just what exactly is required during the playing of the National Anthem, since there seems to be some debate on it:

The pledge of allegiance should be rendered by standing at attention, facing the flag, and saluting.

When the national anthem is played or sung, citizens should stand at attention and salute at the first note and hold the salute through the last note. The salute is directed to the flag, if displayed, otherwise to the music.

"Saluting" basically breaks down like this. If you are an active member of the military, in uniform, you stand at attention with a right-hand salute. If you are a retired member of the military, you stand at attention with your right hand over your heart (although many still salute the flag anyways). Civilians with no hat on their head stand with their hand over their heart. Civilians with a hat on their head stand, remove their hat, and place their hat over their heart. The end.

Of course, if I was Barack Obama, my defense would've been that I wasn't sure if it was the National Anthem being sung. It took me a few seconds to realize that The Star Spangled Banner was what was being sung! I mean, that was absolutely horrendous. Was she just making up how the song went as she sang? It sure didn't sound like any rendition of the National Anthem I've ever heard.

Hat Tip: Tammy Bruce

But STILL don't question their patriotism!

They really, really support the troops! Really, they do!

These idiots keep blathering on about how they don't want us to win in Iraq, and then get furious when we call them cowards, traitors, and defeatocrats (emphasis mine):

House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.) said Monday that a strongly positive report on progress on Iraq by Army Gen. David Petraeus likely would split Democrats in the House and impede his party's efforts to press for a timetable to end the war.

Clyburn noted that Petraeus carries significant weight among the 47 members of the Blue Dog caucus in the House, a group of moderate to conservative Democrats. Without their support, he said, Democratic leaders would find it virtually impossible to pass legislation setting a timetable for withdrawal.

"I think there would be enough support in that group to want to stay the course and if the Republicans were to stay united as they have been, then it would be a problem for us," Clyburn said. "We, by and large, would be wise to wait on the report."

Many Democrats have anticipated that, at best, Petraeus and U.S. ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker would present a mixed analysis of the success of the current troop surge strategy, given continued violence in Baghdad. But of late there have been signs that the commander of U.S. forces might be preparing something more generally positive. Clyburn said that would be "a real big problem for us."

So basically, he is rather blatantly admitting that he doesn't want there to be positive signs of progress from Iraq because it would hurt the Dems politically.

Haven't we conservatives been saying that all along? And now, he just proved us right.

But don't question their patriotism, oh no. It's patriotic to wish for your country to fail, don't you see? It's a good thing for the terrorists who want to attack and kill us to win in Iraq. They love America SO much!

As Misha from Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler says,

Try them, convict them and execute them for treason.

Or, if that’s too rough for you, let’s just cram them into container ships and send them off to whichever totalitarian dystopia they’re worshiping at the moment, because a free country has absolutely no use for them. Whatsoever. They’d probably f*ck up the harvest if we used them as fertilizer.

Hat Tip: Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler

Previous:
Democrats side with terrorists
Did you get your white feathers yet?
Navy SEAL memorial dedicated over liberal protests

A simple memorial

Over at Chuck Ziegenfuss' blog, he posted a Memorial Day entry about a simple memorial site that I found rather touching (and at the same time, infuriating):

I'm not that good a neighbor. I was even cutting anyone's lawn. I was cutting the knee-high grass in the divider strip. And no, I'm not that civic minded. I was doing was cutting the grass around a memorial site erected at the start of the war. it's not that much, a few flags stuck in the ground, a streamer or two and a message board. But it is a memorial.

To me, this simple memorial across the street has more meaning than all of the marble and granite memorials in Washington D. C., Arlington, Gettysburg, and every town square and post office/fire hall in the country. Those memorials all have meaning. A remembrance of was gone by, sacrifices made, fathers, brothers and sons lost for the cause of liberty. Those memorials stand in mute testimony of all we hold dear-- the values, lifestyle and freedom for which we will sacrifice our brightest and bravest.

But not across the street. Across the street is a simple memorial made by one man, a man whose only real connection to this fight is a cousin who works rebuilding Iraq. He's had the memorial of since the first day of the ground war, He's even had legal battles with neighbors who didn't appreciate what he was doing. Those neighbors accused him of creating an eyesore, (out of American flags!) Of not having "the right" to display the flags in the public's space, and of not asking permission from the landowner of the rental community he lives in. He fought them tooth and nail, and even though he received many letters of support, the landowners wrote him a letter telling him to either take down the memorial or face eviction. Eventually, he had to take the flags down. He said it was the saddest day in his life, and he cried the entire time he was doing it. In the end, a few of our state representatives became involved, and told him in no uncertain terms: "go ahead and keep the memorial off and let us know if you have any more problems."

I’m glad all this happened before I moved here or I would have a few less neighbors to sit around and b*tch. I would also, had I known sooner, have completely lined my yard with flags, covered the house in banners and bunting, and generally made the largest red-white-and-blue eye sore you've ever seen.

I'll never understand people who get "offended" by displays of the American flag. Maybe I'm delusional, but isn't this... well... America? Agree or disagree with the war or not, the proper and decent thing to do is keep your mouth shut and stand behind your troops. Obviously, no one has to. But again, it's just the decent thing to do. Be patriotic -- it ain't gonna kill ya! Our soldiers need our support -- they need to know that their country is standing behind them, more than I think some people know. Just imagine how it must feel to hear, as a soldier who is or has been fighting in Iraq, or Afghanistan, that a memorial with American flags is being forced to take down because it is an "eyesore". I mean, my God... how much more unpatriotic can you get?

And even if -- IF -- this was in "public space" in a neighborhood and he wasn't "allowed" to have it up, does it matter? Is it a fight that needs to be fought? Seriously now. What these neighbors should have done as good, principled, decent, proud, and patriotic Americans is follow his example and hang a few flags of their own. But no. It's an eyesore.

Chuck is an Army officer who fought in Iraq and was injured by an IED. He's undergone over 30 surgeries in, I believe, a little more than two years. And he's out there cutting the grass for memorial of a war he not only fought in, but was injured in -- and seriously so. Chuck, and the man he's speaking of who built the memorial to begin with, are true patriots. We should all follow their examples.

Make sure you read the whole story.