Since I don't spend a lot of time in elementary school these days. I couldn't help but wonder if the Pledge of Allegiance is still said on a daily basis. I get all these e-mails etc. saying they're trying to remove the words "under God" from it (which, by the way, weren't added until 1954 after the Knights of Columbus lobbied members of Congress) but I don't really see any powerful grass roots effort to get that done. I know my granddaughter can recite it better than I can and she's in kindergarten, but I forgot to ask her if that's where she learned it so well.
What got me to thinking about this subject was the other night. We have an additional television in our bedroom and it has a sleep function that usually turns itself off after it's programmed to do so. I guess I forgot to activate it but at any rate I woke up about three in the morning and Larry King was still on. For some odd reason, I decided to "surf" through all the channels to see if any of them were "blank," but none were (and we get about 150 of them). There was something on EVERY channel. Lots of it was old movies or sporting events of the past along with tons of "infomercials."
What does this have to do with the "Pledge of Allegiance?" you ask. Well, actually, it got me to thinking of the "Star Spangled Banner" and how in years past all of the channels (and I mean all 5 of them) would go off the air anywhere from 10:30 p.m. to Midnight. They would all play a taped video rendition of the "Star Spangled Banner," usually performed by one band or another of the armed forces. The scenery would be places like the White House or Mount Rushmore or the Lincoln or Washington Memorials. It was extremely patriotic and always made you proud to be of this country.
I am a huge fan of automobile racing, preferably NASCAR (you don't get more American than that) and before EVERY race they do two things. They say a prayer and they play the National Anthem. ALWAYS...100% of the time!!! I have been to a few major league baseball games in my lifetime and I believe when I was a boy they used to play the "Star Spangled Banner" before every game. As I got older and attended some games (Cincinnati, St. Louis and Atlanta), they didn't play them. They always managed to get somebody to belt out "Take Me Out to the Ballpark," but no National Anthem, although the American Flag always flew in all of these ballparks.
I have been to one NFL football game, in Indianapolis (in the Hoosier Dome) and unless they played it before I got in the stadium, it wasn't played there either.
I remember when our oldest son played basketball at Central City High School, they usually had a guest singer (usually a student) sing it before the game but I'm not sure they do that anymore since after he graduated we swore off ever attending another high school basketball game (four years was enough for a lifetime).
Anyway, since no television station signs off anymore, it's rare to hear the "Star Spangled Banner" being played on that medium except at NASCAR races. They may play it at Rugby or Soccer matches or at Monster Truck matches but since I don't follow those sports I couldn't say. I remember when we had our own oval Stock Car Track right here in Central City in the sixties and seventies. It was at the old fairgrounds and was owned by Clarence Brewer, Sr. (he only added the "Sr." when his son, Clarence, Jr. got tired of being called "Brother" and started using the moniker "Clarence Brewer, Jr."). He hired me as the "track announcer" and I remember every week, right after the time trials and just before the first race we would get out an old dusty, scratchy 45 rpm record of the "Star Spangled Banner" and play it. A couple of times it got "hung" and repeated a few notes and I'd have to reach down (removing my right hand from my heart - I was holding my cap in my left hand) and give it a slight "thump" and it would play on. It worked and the crowd always gave a roaring applause when it ended.
I remember in high school someone would recite a prayer before each game (actually just before the "A" team game) and that prayer always requested "good sportsmanlike conduct" from both fans and players and safety for the players. If that prayer was ever answered, I don't remember it which proved God bled "black and gold." I'm sure attendees of the other schools in our county experienced the same. It always amazed me when we'd play a parochial school such as Owensboro Catholic and when one of them was fouled, they'd always do the "sign of the cross" before taking the shot. Most of the time they would miss but they kept doing the "sign of the cross" with each shot. Now that's devotion!
Back to patriotism, I remember when Ronald Reagan was elected our President. We had come off of several years of a lousy economy, high inflation, high unemployment, addiction to foreign oil (all this sound familiar?) and lots of other problems. President Jimmy Carter, who's probably the most "moral" person to ascend to that high office was a terrible president who followed another terrible President (Gerald Ford, a good person) who followed Richard Nixon, the only President who resigned his presidency. Reagan was elected and actually didn't do anything other than talk of "beefing up" our defense and instilling patriotism (something that had been missing for years, actually since Eisenhower). Americans began singing the "Star Spangled Banner" again and flying American flags from their front porches. Congress (as usual) didn't accomplish much but our renewed sense of patriotism allowed our country to turn things around and we dug ourselves back out without government bailouts. We actually went through about twenty years of prosperity.
I hope our new President allows that to happen again. I hope he finds a way to re-instill our patriotism and allow us to get things back on track without Government getting "too involved." Allow new leaders to emerge (not only government leaders but corporate and civic leaders). I hope he guides but allows the people to take back common sense government. At least it doesn't hurt to dream.
As for television, I'll take a good rendition of our National Anthem over Ron Popeil selling me one of his gadgets anytime. Another thing I noticed at 3 AM the other morning was that all of these "genius inventions" were being "hyped" by British men. I'm talking men with British accents so "cockney" that we common southerners could hardly understand what they were saying. One of them was selling some kind of energy saving device for a car and he actually had the gall to refer to it as the "best new invention" under the "Bonnet." "BONNET??!" No true American calls the engine cover on a car or truck a "BONNET!!!" It's called a "Hood," always has been and always will. Lord where's the Boston Pops Orchestra when you need them?
Back on the National Anthem (sorry, I get "side-tracked" sometimes), I always remember it being sang in the same key when I was growing up. Sure, some sang it better than others but at least it pretty much sounded the same. Now, it seems, all of these "stars" want to individualize it and sing it "their" way. The only person I knew of that could get by with this was Ray Charles. He could sing it "his" way and people still loved it. Recently, I've heard country, pop and "hip-hop" singers "butcher" it so bad they made Roseanne Barr sound like Celine Dion. The two best vocal versions I have ever heard of it were by Kate Smith (nobody under 50 would even know who she is) and by Lee Greenwood, who wrote a great patriotic song of his own, "God Bless the USA." Kate Smith was more famous for her rendition of "God Bless America," but she could sing the "Star Spangled Banner" like the Statue of Liberty would sing it if she could sing. Same with Lee Greenwood. Aside from "God Bless the USA," he never had a #1 hit. But he could sing the National Anthem like it was meant to be sung, clear and without distortion. He didn't have to "country-ize" it or "jazz it up." If Frances Scott Key had been looking for a performer to take it public, Lee Greenwood would have been his man. If you'd like to hear his version of it go here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IcwrbuF724Y . Finally, I would be remiss if I didn't wish you and yours a "Happy and Prosperous New Year!" I hope 2009 turns out to be a year that we once again become proud Americans, hard workers with family values that takes nothing for granted and value our patriotism and love of God and country. I hope we don't have to "defend" it from anyone but rather "expose" it by our shining example. God bless and this will be my last blog for this year!
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