Nothing says Land of the Free like mandatory patriotism.
FORT MYERS, Fla. – A proposed law would require all professional sports teams to play the National Anthem before the start of every sporting event.
A law requiring pro sports to play The Patriotic Song before doing the pro sports thing. Observers are pointing out how like North Korea this is.
What the hell is the point of forced patriotic display anyway? If it’s forced, you don’t know if it’s genuine or not, so what do you gain? Besides the thrill of forcing people to do what you think is good – which I guess answers the question. You will sing the song and you will like it, or out comes the whip.
Well why stop there? How about passing a law requiring theaters to play “Bad Moon Rising” before the curtains open? How about one mandating the musicians to perform the storm scene from King Lear before every concert?
The bill, filed by Sen. Joe Gruters (R-Sarasota), just passed the Florida Senate Commerce and Tourism committee this week. If passed, it would require teams to play the Star-Spangled Banner before the sporting event starts, including NASCAR.
“I stand and cross my heart, and I wish everyone would just do the same,” said Donna Maisano of Naples.
I wish a lot of things, but I don’t confuse that with the basis of good laws.
Comments
11 responses to “It plays the song or it gets the hose”
Now this I could live with.
All church services have to start with “The Devil Went Down to Georgia”
@Barbyra,
Or “It Ain’t Necessarily So”.
Typical politicians — heedless of the law of unintended consequences.
I predict a lot of this.
Afer 9/11 Yankee Stadium played “God Bless America” during the 7th inning stretch, and soon that spread like yellow ribbons to all of the baseball games. It wasn’t compelled, but they did it anyway. That continued for years. I think that’s over with now.
I’m curious if they want to do that now in Florida, compelled. Better they should compel “take me out to the ballgame.”
Yes, let us compel the playing of an anthem that betrays weakness (and shows the fledgling United States getting its ass kicked) vs. the much more macho and martial anthems of other countries. La Marseillaise is a proper anthem.
Peter N, thank you for that link. That was quite enjoyable. And my husband thanks you, as well, since I called him to come watch it.
I remember as a kid going to the movies in Maine where they played the National Anthem before showing the feature. Everyone stood, hands on hearts.
She…crosses her heart? Since when has doing the Catholic, etc., sign of the cross been part of the national anthem ritual?
Skeletor@9
Ha! I didn’t notice that detail before.
I did note, however, that she is speaking of what to do during the anthem, not justifying the playing of the anthem in the first place.
John@8
As a kid, most of us are likely to do as others do, to learn something as “that’s what we do” and not question it. That’s one of the reasons people target kids in schools and churches to establish these religious norms of prayer and patriotism, to get these practices ingrained as “what we do”.
And you know that in Florida, if they require the anthem, people are going to get in trouble for failing to stand, failing to pay attention, failing to put hands on hearts.
Michael@5
I last went to a minor league game about three years ago, and they played GBA then. But this is Alabama.
I’ve heard of a guy at a major league game somewhere who was confronted by a security guard when he was heading to the concessions area to buy some food during the playing of GBA. As if GBA is a solemn occasion deserving reverence, as if reverence is compelled, as if GBA is more important than the Great God of Capitalism.
Re the anthem
Requiring the anthem. But they can’t require vaccines. I guess people can only be forced to things right-wingers like, symbolic things, shows of uniformity, not things that are actually helpful.
Yes, that was at Yankee Stadium.