The Star-Spangled Banner... Too violent?

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/blog/the_dagger/post/Indiana-college-not-playing-the-national-anthem-?urn=ncaab-wp4428

This college in Indiana is not the first school or organization to refuse playing the American National Anthem.  We hear all the time about communities that refuse to fly the American flag, replacing it with some other country or organizational type of flag.  The Pledge of Allegiance is no longer required to be said in school (and when I was in school I said it EVERY DAY in multiple classes to include Spanish class).  God has become a symbol of religious oppression.  Speech against America is the only kind of limit-pushing free speech allowed these days.  Heaven forbid you speak out against another country!!

C'mon on people. What is going on?  I need someone to fill in this void in my brain which is the question "Why is it now "cool" to be as UN-American as possible while living in America?  Back to my example, the school in Indiana...  Who gave them the right to decide what the National Anthem is going to be?  I've never been given, nor do I want, a choice of Anthems to represent my country.  It is the Star-Spangled Banner.  That's it and that's all.  It is a representation of the country and the struggles it went through to become what it is.  No where does it say kill people or cause mayhem.  It doesn't say to assault your neighbor or lie, cheat or steal.  The bombs bursting in air is not the same as bombs bursting in a village and killing or mutilating the inhabitants of that village.

Why dopeople take everything so literally and, beyond that, act so hyper-sensitive today?  I just don't understand it.  If you really have such a problem with this country, leave.  Find something better somewhere else.  Let me be frank about this.  The national anthem means more to me than I can really express.  When I hear it no matter who is singing or what instruments may be playing, I not only get chills running down my spine, but I get tears in my eyes.  It is that important to me.  It is one of those very small, but very impacting reminders that I am doing what I do for the country I love.  God help the person who is bold enough to burn or vandalize an American flag in front of me.  I take the same approach to service members who run away when colors is about to play.  More often than not it is junior service members who haven't yet grasped why we have the tradition of raising and lowering the flag.  But I promise you and them, once they deploy to a country, to a base where you can no longer fly the flag, a deeper love and appreciation will develop for it. It is 15 seconds out of their lives to pay respect.

Respect is really what it all boils down to.  I feel personally insulted when foreign people take actions against this country, but 1000 times more when it is an American citizen doing those same actions. I will never be able to accept or fully understand the "it's only a flag/song/symbol" mentality.  Those symbols, or more accurately, what they represent is a part of me and every service member who has ever set foot overseas.  Those "small" things are what give us the motivation to drive on and get the job done.  It isn't the retirement or the medical or the GI Bill or the paycheck although those are all great things that we enjoy.  No, it is the love of our country that makes us do what we do as members of the military.  Granted, there are a few exceptions, but those exceptions don't tend to stick around long anyway.

I am a Patriot, I fight for free speech, and I respect the rights of every individual or any organization to no play the national anthem.  I don't agree with it, but they have that option.  But I will use my free speech to tell them how completely ludicrous and insane it is to think that you can replace the National Anthem with some other song of your choice.  It just doesn't work that way.  If you think the message of the country that you live in is too harsh don't play anything.  There is no need to disrespect the country, and anyone military or civilian that has given their life, in that way.   If you have never heard the complete Star-Spangled Banner I provided the verses below... ENJOY!!!

http://youtu.be/Kuv1Mt6kMOU

Oh, say can you see by the dawn's early light
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars thru the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming?
And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines in the stream:
'Tis the star-spangled banner! Oh long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion,
A home and a country should leave us no more!
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war's desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust."
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

 By Francis Scott Key

The new standard is no standard at all

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/08/21/deaf-rotc-auditor-fights-to-join-army/?cmpid=cmty_fb_Gigya_Deaf_ROTC_Auditor_Fights_to_Join_the_Army

Adapt right?  That is what we in the military are always told.  So how far do we take this notion? Where is the line of too far or too much?  Deaf people?  Really!?  This makes allowing homosexuals serving openly in the military look like a drop in the bucket in comparison.  And I am not a fan over homosexuals serving openly.  Look, we all know service members that are gay.  One of the most motivated and hard-working Marines I have ever known was gay, but he followed the rules and didn't make a big show of it.  This catered to group unity and morale.  Rules are in place for a reason.  Do they need to be adjusted and updated with the times?  Sure.  But once again I ask.. How far do we go?

I knew when I decided to join the Marine Corps that I had to meet the standards in place.  One of the things that I struggled with was, and still is, my weight.  While I don't think anyone would say that I am fat or that I look overweight, I always ride the line when it comes to weight in time. So how is this relevant you ask.  I have never EVER thought that the Marine Corps needs to adjust it's standards to accommodate me just because I struggle to meet them.  While my family may think I'm "special" and that the standards are too tough, I would NEVER petition to have the standards lessened just because I struggle to meet them.  PERIOD!  So I can't possibly understand where a Deaf man decides that just because HE wants to serve that we have to make adjustments for him.  Change the standards.  Make an exception.  I have news for him.... HE IS NOT THAT SPECIAL.  NO ONE IS THAT SPECIAL.

I have respect for the man for wanting to serve his country.  It's honorable and I wish everyone, both in and out of the military, had that kind of enthusiasm and drive.  However, the potential consequences outweigh the potential gains in a scenario such as this.  No matter how hard he tries and how much effort, enthusiasm and motivation he exerts, he would ALWAYS be a burden on his command.  The military would have to make special arrangements constantly for him.  Spend money that it otherwise wouldn't be spending (and in a time of economic recession, that is not the best idea).  But lets look at the bigger picture.  He would at all times be putting his comrades in a potentially dangerous situation. Stateside or deployed.  Who thinks that the danger is only overseas?  Those of you who say, "well just give him a desk job." are you serious?!?  Let me take you back to November 5, 2009.  A terrorist act  here at home, in AMERICA, on an Army base.  You think those victims didn't have a chance... Well they had a better chance than someone who couldn't even hear the commotion!  Someone who would have to take additional time just to orient to the situation before being able to adapt and spring into action.  So take your "desk job" excuse somewhere else, because it is not an intelligent solution.

When people join the military they are at the mercy of the military needs.  You know when you go to the recruiter and he asks you what you would like to do?  You then give him your dream sheet of jobs and he tries to get that for you.  But you can ask probably 1 in 5 Marines, if not more, if they received the job they thought they were signing up for.  You will get a lot of hell no's in there! There is a really simple explanation for this.  The service uses you how they see fit.  Marines are Marines, and they can put you anywhere they want, anytime they want, and oh by the way, they don't need to give you a reason for doing so. You join the service to accommodate the service NOT the other way around.  The military is not set up to cater to "special circumstances or needs!

So I ask you, when is enough enough? Is there any longer reasons to have "standards" if we make exceptions for anyone that wants one?  We an on the verge of having one of the weakest militaries that the US has ever seen.  How much further do we want to go... Where will we draw the line?  If you don't meet the requirements to wear a uniform reassess.  There are thousands and thousands of government jobs that directly support the military and it's operations.  Find one that you can excel in and make the military stronger.  Don't weaken it by trying to break the mold. Change is not always for the better or greater good.

Samuel Johnson, "It is better that some should be unhappy rather than that none should be happy, which would be the case in a general state of equality."  

Bring on the adjectives!

"California students rank in the bottom 10% nationally in reading and math, (based on 2009 National Assessment of Educational Progress Test scores), but Governor Jerry Brown just signed a bill into law to ensure they know more about gay historical figures than kids from any other state. The Assembly passed the measure on a 49-25 party line vote after it passed the Senate, 23-14; Democrats control both chambers." Written by openly gay Senator Mark Leno (D-San Francisco)

The Fair Act aka Bill Number: SB 48.  Nothing makes me happier than to quote and openly homosexual democrat when he agrees with me.  Here we go again.  Let me start off by saying I don't give two cares about what you do in your bedroom.  Not my concern at all.  I have no inclination to tell you what I do in mine.  So why glorifying homosexuality, lesbianism, bisexual-ism and transgender-ism (which I will address later on) a bill?  Why do I have to know what kind of sex you have (or have had) in order for your accomplishment to be relevant?  

The idea behind the bill is to promote tolerance in elementary and middle schools.  There is nothing wrong with teaching our children that we have to be tolerant of other peoples decision, even if it is not what we would choose for ourselves.  But this  bill is indoctrination of ideas that these children most likely will know nothing about; sexual preference. This takes history and turns it into sex ed.  Once again, I keep coming back to one question... "Who cares?"  What is the relevance?  

So when is enough, enough? Never have I ever thought, "hmmm, I really wish in this book they would have mentioned that this guy was a heterosexual..." I mean come on!  It's ludicrous to even think such a thing... Unless of course you are somehow a minority group.  Then you are "entitled" to all kinds of opinions that no one else is entitled to.  My thought is this.  If someone has done something great for the GLBT groups and happens to be homosexual, great mention it because it would be relevant at that time.  But to say, "Mr. X, the gay, white, short, thin, blue eyed, brown haired, atheist, father of 2, country bred,  etc etc etc...", is so bloody uncalled for!  Honestly why does any of that matter!?  And where is the line?  Who is important enough to get their "group" an adjective or at the very least made to be a worthy point of mention?

As the Senator said, where is our focus?  This is like feeding one hungry chicken out of 50 total chickens while the hen house is burning to the ground.  The priorities are not straight here.  Sometimes it is ok to take an unpopular stand.  Right now the world is so afraid of coming across politically incorrect that we will look the other way when there are things which are more pertinent and demanding of our attention, just so we can address a minor minority issue.

Education is so vital, and yet, becoming worse and worse by the day, here in America. I am going to address this more in depth in a future blog.  But for now, can we all just take a step back and reassess?   Think about what is important when it comes to education.  What you want your kids to learn.  Are Mathematics, Reading and literature, English, Science, Physical Education and basic History not important? Lets get the basics down before we get carried away in the details.  If we were to find out James Madison was a gay man, would that somehow change the Constitution?  Not for me it wouldn't. Ask yourself that about anyone you have ever learned about in history.  Ask yourself if knowing their sexual identity will really change what they are known for...

Get ready... The last thing I want to address is this. I have not now, nor can I ever accept transgendered people.  I under no circumstances cannot support legislation that preaches it is OK to try to change your natural GOD GIVEN gender.  It is IMPOSSIBLE!! It cannot be done.  You can mutilate your genitalia and take hormones all day every day.  You can modify the way you walk and talk, but you cannot change the chromosomes that you were born with.  I am as small minded about this as you can get, because it doesn't make sense.  God can't make that kind of mistake, and you are not smarter than God.  Period.  I find anyone that is considering a sex-change operation mentally ill.  My children, if I were to ever have any, would never be allowed to learn that kind of trash in a school that they are attending.  I would review the curricula extensively to ensure that kind of indoctrination wouldn't be preached to my family.  I know some of you want to scream at me right now that it is their choice and they have the "right" to do what they feel is necessary for them.  Believe me, there is nothing you can say on this that I haven't already heard.  Some justification for this absurd and appalling notion.  Feel free to leave a comment if you would like, but I will fiercely and adamantly defend my position on this. If I ever become an elected official in CA ( or any state for that matter) I will make it my personal goal to remove any such teaching in public schools AFTER ensuring that the basics that I mentioned earlier are address and resolved in a satisfactory way.  This I can guarantee!

 
We are concerned solely with indoctrination, one-sided presentation of ideological controversies and unprofessional classroom behavior. Andrew Jones