This is not the first time I have addressed this issue but rather the 3rd time I have written on this subject. It was a sore spot for me before but now it is a bleeding wound.

36 U.S. Code 301- National Anthem

(a)Designation.—

The composition consisting of the words and music known as the Star-Spangled Banner is the national anthem.

(b)Conduct During Playing.—During a rendition of the national anthem—

(1)when the flag is displayed—

(A)

individuals in uniform should give the military salute at the first note of the anthem and maintain that position until the last note;

(B)

members of the Armed Forces and veterans who are present but not in uniform may render the military salute in the manner provided for individuals in uniform; and

(C)

all other persons present should face the flag and stand at attention with their right hand over the heart, and men not in uniform, if applicable, should remove their headdress with their right hand and hold it at the left shoulder, the hand being over the heart; and

(2)

When the flag is not displayed, all present should face toward the music and act in the same manner they would if the flag were displayed.

Written by Francis Scott Key the national anthem in the beginning was written as a poem about what he was seeing on that night 200 years ago at Ft. McHenry, Maryland. Often at ball games and I go to a lot of ball games I see people standing around and not placing their hand over their heart during the national anthem. I don’t like that and I am entitled to my opinion. Recently back in January I sat 3 feet from a lady in full fledge Muslim apparel that was at the graduation of her kinsman from marine boot camp at Parris Island, SC. This my friend’s is an extremely ceremonial event. As she sat texting on her phone while the National Anthem was being played my blood was boiling. You mean to tell me this is your loved one joining our armed forces and you have no respect for our traditions. Move forward 6 months later we are back in Parris Island, SC and we have another son graduating. This time I am sitting next to a lady in the VIP section of stands that hold about 7000 people. She is dressed in her full Muslim attire. This lady is very very proud of her son who has won an award from his platoon. She was from Somalia but now lived in Ohio. We spoke at great length long before the ceremonies began and I learned how she had been rescued and brought to America after the atrocities in her home country in the mid 1990’s. (Everyone remember the movie ?(“Black hawk down”). She seemed a very nice lady and now she was a full fledge United States citizen. When the anthem was played we all rose with hands over our hearts and she kept sitting, talk about ungrateful. Needless to say she and I never spoke again.

The United States of America has a lot of problems, that is an under statement. We have a budget way bigger than our income, we have a congress that fills there on pockets and could care less about the public, we have extremely poor family structure, we have biased and bigoted people everywhere and we have a very large contingent of folks who are just not well informed on any issues and don’t care either. The biggest problem that I see now rising up is our lack of unity. Some how here in recent times we went from being patriots of our country, to all of a sudden our country is to blame for all of our woes.

Try and follow me now because I am about to get deep. Our country IS NOT the 535 members of Congress, the President and our other governmental officials. Our country is you and I, right here in the Greater Crisp County area. Our country is the citizens of this land all approximately 319 million of us. We are composed of every nationality, ethnic, race and religious affiliation on earth. By far the most diverse country in the history of mankind. We have in our very young life as a country defeated the most powerful nation on earth twice (British), fought a bloody and costly war amongst ourselves (Civil War 600 thousand Americans Dead and millions wounded). Rescued Europe from the Kaiser of Germany. Pulled ourselves from the absolute worst of all economic crisis. Destroyed the great evil of the 20^th century Nazism and saved the world. Halted the absolute unabated advancement of communism around the world. Made the greatest technological advancements of all time. We cured more diseases, fed more people, gave more to charity and created the greatest economy in history. We gave the world football, baseball and basketball and became the one place on earth that everyone else wants to come to and live. We did all this while battling prejudices, harboring an insatiable greedy elite and espousing a jealous demeanor of each other the likes of which have never been seen. In the last generation we have watched the family unit decay to such a point that there are now more broken homes than unbroken in this country and the example we need to get us back on the right path is slowly passing us by.

These last few years are not what our founding fathers envisioned when they drew up the concept of this “Great American Experiment”; I don’t think that they in their time thought that so many men would abandon their families. That so many women would abort their children, that so many families would disintegrate. This is our downfall not racism or religious indifference but the family itself. It does not help when governmental officials make statements to the effect that they know what is best for our families. How we got to this point in the country was a long slow slide of about 75 years. How we get out is by a pure revival of the spirit that makes us Americans.

We are the greatest nation on earth but some how we have lost our way. We turned our back on God, we belittled each other and we did not fulfill our obligations as parents to our children. I do believe however that we can fix it so that our grandchildren learn the right way. Start by saying the pledge of allegiance, standing for the national anthem, praying for your neighbors well being after all we are the United States of America not Uncle Sam, he works for us!  “ The bond of our common humanity is stronger than the divisiveness of our fears and prejudices. God gives us the capacity of choice to alleviate suffering. We can make these changes and we must.” President Jimmy Carter. As always I welcome your comments. God Bless America!