Today's Story Headline That It's Hard To Look At Without Having A Rude Thought

[dianeduane]

Where To Put Your Hand During The National Anthem

Also: fellow writers: Are they dissing our babies? (OK, I am not biologically a mom. I've done all my mothering in bulk. Approximately 1500 babies during my stint of pediatric nursing.)

Comments

[lunalovegoddess.livejournal.com]

Apparently, I've been doing it wrong all these years. I tend to put my left hand over my heart. LOL

I didn't know that technically it would be considered illegal to refrain from placing your hand over your heart, though. I thought it was customary, not mandatory.


As for the WGA article, it does sound like they are dissing the children, but I understood it to mean that "the parents should be ashamed of themselves" for bringing their kids onto the picket lines. The signs do have a point, though, that the writer is not the only one affected by this situation. I think they are witty without being antagonistic.

[post-ecdysis.livejournal.com]

It's the Flag Code, which specifies no punishment for non-compliance, nor an agency that would enforce the rule. It is also a statute that nobody fully follows, especially the hyper-patriotic. Sticking a flag on your car's antenna is grossly out of line, for instance. Heck, if you see the picture that got Barak in trouble here (http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/anthem.asp), it isn't quite clear to me that any of the people on that stage are directing their attention towards a flag.

[keristor.livejournal.com]

But it is illegal, right? So you have a law which is unenforcable and has no punishment for breaking it? That sounds like the definition of bad law...

[post-ecdysis.livejournal.com]

Hard to say. There are all kinds of laws that aren't criminal statutes. It seems to be as "illegal" as not observing a moment of silence for fallen veterans on Monday.

Perhaps I'm a tool for saying so, but I appreciate the existence of a uniform code for respecting the symbols of the United States. Gives people, local governments, and the military understandable guidelines for showing patriotic unity, and it gives protesters a clear standard against which to rebel.

[keristor.livejournal.com]

I understood it as "the parents should be ashamed of themselves" as well. I think that bringing children in for the 'cute' factor will put more people off, because they don't like the emotional blackmail. It's too reminiscent of beggars using small children and animals to attract more money in Victorian drama.