Karen Kraft
29
- Joined
- May 18, 2002
- Posts
- 36,253
People are getting nutser and nutser!
Here's the deal: When the flag is presented (in USA), it is customary to stand and, when asked to salute it, or show respect for it, whether you are a citizen or not, you show respect by standing, saluting, pointing (now archaic), putting hand over boob, whatever. Fine. If you don't want to, what the fuck! don't do it! If you are in France and La Marseillaise* is started, you look around and if you see others around you standing, saluting, etc., you do the same. If you don't, oh well. No harm is done!
However...
... "God Bless America" is NOT the national anthem. People at ball games are asked to salute the flag or show respect for it at the BEGINNING of the game. That's why the last words of the Star Spangled Banner are: ... la a a a and of the free-ee-eee-eeee, and the home of the brave (or "Braves" if you are in Boston, Milwaukee, or Atlanta in appropriate years) Play Ball !!!!
Tribute is to be paid to weary knees and Cracker Jack (fuck you, Frito-Lay) half way through the seventh inning, mostly because of this:
Well then there was September 11, 2001 after which the New York Yanquis instituted the bad habit of making people stand not only for "Take me out to the ball game" but also for Frank Sinatra's "New York - New York" at that special point in the game (the so-called Seventh Inning Stretch). Fine.
Songs:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XinybyWAzc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjrcEKq6Xnw
But that was then and this is now. Xenophobic, jingoistic displays are fine but demanding two after having paid $30 to sit out in the hot summer sun is a bit much. Plus, if you aren't in the mood to stand, so what ???? Additional planes will not fly into any buildings because you wish to exercise your right to stay seated at the old ball game. Just as faith does not require religion, patriotism does not require extra public displays. I'm God and that's the way it is -- because I said so.
----
With that background (mostly for people who aren't familiar with America's crazy pastime rituals), look at this news story:
----
NJ Teens Sue Over 'God Bless America' Ejection
TRENTON (AP) ―
Three teenagers who say they were tossed from a New Jersey ballpark over their refusal to stand during the song "God Bless America" are suing the minor league Newark Bears.
The boys argue that their constitutional rights were violated when they were asked to leave Newark's Bears and Eagles Riverfront Stadium on June 29 by Bears' president and co-owner Thomas Cetnar.
Cetnar acknowledged the boys were asked to leave but declined to say why. He also has denied making some statements attributed to him in the lawsuit.
The boys -- Millburn High seniors Bryce Gadye and Nilkumar Patel, both 17, and junior Shaan Mohammad Khan, 16 -- sued in federal court on Friday seeking unspecified damages.
According to the lawsuit, the boys were seated behind home plate when the song began playing.
Once it ended, they say Cetnar approached them yelling.
"Nobody sits during the singing of 'God Bless America' in my stadium," the lawsuit quotes Cetnar as saying. "Now the get the (expletive) out of here."
Cetnar denied saying that: "Never, never did that ever happen."
Cetnar said he hasn't seen the lawsuit, but called the boys' account "a huge fabrication."
The boys are being represented by Bryce Gadye's father, Ross, who said the boys weren't protesting the song and no one asked them to stand.
"The boys weren't trying to make any political statements, they just didn't get up," he said. "No one gave them an ultimatum. The song was sung, it was finished, then they were thrown out."
"God Bless America," written by Irving Berlin in 1918, was played at big league ballparks throughout the country when baseball resumed after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, and has remained a fixture at New York Yankees games.
In July, the Yankees and New York City settled a lawsuit with a fan who said he was ejected from Yankee Stadium by police after he left his seat to use the bathroom during the playing of "God Bless America." The city did not admit liability in the settlement, but agreed to give the fan $10,001 and pay $12,000 in legal fees. The Yankees changed their policy, and fans at the team's new stadium are allowed to move freely during the song.
Gadye declined to let his son be interviewed, saying he was concerned about his safety over reaction to the lawsuit, which was first reported in The Star-Ledger of Newark.
"They've been getting all kinds of mixed reaction," he said. "Both gung-ho and 'We want to kill you."'
"I think what makes it so horrible is that they were publicly humiliated for exercising a right that was guaranteed to them by the United States Constitution," Gadye said.
The sides differ on talks they had after the incident.
Ross Gadye said he met with general manager Mark Skeels and James Wankmiller, a co-owner, following the incident. He said they apologized and offered and free tickets, but Gadye said the boys wanted an apology from Cetnar, who was not at the meeting, and sued when there was no resolution.
Wankmiller, who declined to talk about whether the boys were asked to leave the ballpark and why, said they offered to meet with Gadye's son and the other boys and never heard back from them. He said it boiled down to money.
"We offered to sit with him and find out what his beef was and he asked for money," Wankmiller said. "That was about it."
Neither side would respond to the other's version of how the talks played out.
Even if the boys win their lawsuit, it's unclear if they'll get much money from the minor league team. Developer Marc Berson sold the team to California-based Bases Loaded group last year after the team filed for bankruptcy.
http://cbs3.com/local/God.Bless.America.2.1183270.html
----
"God Bless America" is an American patriotic song originally written by Irving Berlin in 1918 and revised by him in 1938, as sung by Kate Smith (becoming her signature song).
"God Bless America" takes the form of a prayer (intro lyrics "as we raise our voices, in a solemn prayer") for God's blessing and peace for the nation ("...stand beside her and guide her through the night...").
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God_Bless_America
----
*
Allons enfants de la patrie,
Le jour de gloire est arrivé
Contre nous de la tyrannie
L'étendard sanglant est levé
Entendez vous dans les campagnes,
Mugir ces féroces soldats?
Ils viennent jusque dans nos bras
Egorger nos fils, nos compagnes!
Refrain
Aux armes, citoyens!
Formez vos bataillons!
Marchons! Marchons!
Qu'un sang impur
Abreuve nos sillons!
Amour sacré de la patrie,
Conduis, soutiens nos bras vengeurs!
Liberté, Liberté cherie,
Combats avec tes defenseurs!
Sous nos drapeaux, que la victoire
Accoure à tes males accents!
Que tes ennemis expirants
Voient ton triomphe et notre gloire!
Refrain
Nous entrerons dans la carrière
Quand nos ainés n'y seront plus;
Nous y trouverons leur poussière
Et la trace de leurs vertus.
Bien moins jaloux de leur survivre
Que de partager leur cercueil,
Nous aurons le sublime orgueil
De les venger ou de les suivre!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cu0l7a8txE0
Here's the deal: When the flag is presented (in USA), it is customary to stand and, when asked to salute it, or show respect for it, whether you are a citizen or not, you show respect by standing, saluting, pointing (now archaic), putting hand over boob, whatever. Fine. If you don't want to, what the fuck! don't do it! If you are in France and La Marseillaise* is started, you look around and if you see others around you standing, saluting, etc., you do the same. If you don't, oh well. No harm is done!
However...
... "God Bless America" is NOT the national anthem. People at ball games are asked to salute the flag or show respect for it at the BEGINNING of the game. That's why the last words of the Star Spangled Banner are: ... la a a a and of the free-ee-eee-eeee, and the home of the brave (or "Braves" if you are in Boston, Milwaukee, or Atlanta in appropriate years) Play Ball !!!!
Tribute is to be paid to weary knees and Cracker Jack (fuck you, Frito-Lay) half way through the seventh inning, mostly because of this:
Katie Casey was base ball mad.
Had the fever and had it bad;
Just to root for the home town crew,
Ev'ry sou Katie blew.
On a Saturday, her young beau
Called to see if she'd like to go,
To see a show but Miss Kate said,
"No, I'll tell you what you can do."
"Take me out to the ball game,
Take me out with the crowd.
Buy me some peanuts and cracker jack,
I don't care if I never get back,
Let me root, root, root for the home team,
If they don't win it's a shame.
For it's one, two, three strikes, you're out,
At the old ball game."
Katie Casey saw all the games,
Knew the players by their first names;
Told the umpire he was wrong,
All along good and strong.
When the score was just two to two,
Katie Casey knew what to do,
Just to cheer up the boys she knew,
She made the gang sing this song:
"Take me out to the ball game,
Take me out with the crowd.
Buy me some peanuts and cracker jack,
I don't care if I never get back,
Let me root, root, root for the home team,
If they don't win it's a shame.
For it's one, two, three strikes, you're out,
At the old ball game."
Had the fever and had it bad;
Just to root for the home town crew,
Ev'ry sou Katie blew.
On a Saturday, her young beau
Called to see if she'd like to go,
To see a show but Miss Kate said,
"No, I'll tell you what you can do."
"Take me out to the ball game,
Take me out with the crowd.
Buy me some peanuts and cracker jack,
I don't care if I never get back,
Let me root, root, root for the home team,
If they don't win it's a shame.
For it's one, two, three strikes, you're out,
At the old ball game."
Katie Casey saw all the games,
Knew the players by their first names;
Told the umpire he was wrong,
All along good and strong.
When the score was just two to two,
Katie Casey knew what to do,
Just to cheer up the boys she knew,
She made the gang sing this song:
"Take me out to the ball game,
Take me out with the crowd.
Buy me some peanuts and cracker jack,
I don't care if I never get back,
Let me root, root, root for the home team,
If they don't win it's a shame.
For it's one, two, three strikes, you're out,
At the old ball game."
Well then there was September 11, 2001 after which the New York Yanquis instituted the bad habit of making people stand not only for "Take me out to the ball game" but also for Frank Sinatra's "New York - New York" at that special point in the game (the so-called Seventh Inning Stretch). Fine.
Songs:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XinybyWAzc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjrcEKq6Xnw
But that was then and this is now. Xenophobic, jingoistic displays are fine but demanding two after having paid $30 to sit out in the hot summer sun is a bit much. Plus, if you aren't in the mood to stand, so what ???? Additional planes will not fly into any buildings because you wish to exercise your right to stay seated at the old ball game. Just as faith does not require religion, patriotism does not require extra public displays. I'm God and that's the way it is -- because I said so.
----
With that background (mostly for people who aren't familiar with America's crazy pastime rituals), look at this news story:
----
NJ Teens Sue Over 'God Bless America' Ejection
TRENTON (AP) ―
Three teenagers who say they were tossed from a New Jersey ballpark over their refusal to stand during the song "God Bless America" are suing the minor league Newark Bears.
The boys argue that their constitutional rights were violated when they were asked to leave Newark's Bears and Eagles Riverfront Stadium on June 29 by Bears' president and co-owner Thomas Cetnar.
Cetnar acknowledged the boys were asked to leave but declined to say why. He also has denied making some statements attributed to him in the lawsuit.
The boys -- Millburn High seniors Bryce Gadye and Nilkumar Patel, both 17, and junior Shaan Mohammad Khan, 16 -- sued in federal court on Friday seeking unspecified damages.
According to the lawsuit, the boys were seated behind home plate when the song began playing.
Once it ended, they say Cetnar approached them yelling.
"Nobody sits during the singing of 'God Bless America' in my stadium," the lawsuit quotes Cetnar as saying. "Now the get the (expletive) out of here."
Cetnar denied saying that: "Never, never did that ever happen."
Cetnar said he hasn't seen the lawsuit, but called the boys' account "a huge fabrication."
The boys are being represented by Bryce Gadye's father, Ross, who said the boys weren't protesting the song and no one asked them to stand.
"The boys weren't trying to make any political statements, they just didn't get up," he said. "No one gave them an ultimatum. The song was sung, it was finished, then they were thrown out."
"God Bless America," written by Irving Berlin in 1918, was played at big league ballparks throughout the country when baseball resumed after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, and has remained a fixture at New York Yankees games.
In July, the Yankees and New York City settled a lawsuit with a fan who said he was ejected from Yankee Stadium by police after he left his seat to use the bathroom during the playing of "God Bless America." The city did not admit liability in the settlement, but agreed to give the fan $10,001 and pay $12,000 in legal fees. The Yankees changed their policy, and fans at the team's new stadium are allowed to move freely during the song.
Gadye declined to let his son be interviewed, saying he was concerned about his safety over reaction to the lawsuit, which was first reported in The Star-Ledger of Newark.
"They've been getting all kinds of mixed reaction," he said. "Both gung-ho and 'We want to kill you."'
"I think what makes it so horrible is that they were publicly humiliated for exercising a right that was guaranteed to them by the United States Constitution," Gadye said.
The sides differ on talks they had after the incident.
Ross Gadye said he met with general manager Mark Skeels and James Wankmiller, a co-owner, following the incident. He said they apologized and offered and free tickets, but Gadye said the boys wanted an apology from Cetnar, who was not at the meeting, and sued when there was no resolution.
Wankmiller, who declined to talk about whether the boys were asked to leave the ballpark and why, said they offered to meet with Gadye's son and the other boys and never heard back from them. He said it boiled down to money.
"We offered to sit with him and find out what his beef was and he asked for money," Wankmiller said. "That was about it."
Neither side would respond to the other's version of how the talks played out.
Even if the boys win their lawsuit, it's unclear if they'll get much money from the minor league team. Developer Marc Berson sold the team to California-based Bases Loaded group last year after the team filed for bankruptcy.
http://cbs3.com/local/God.Bless.America.2.1183270.html
----
"God Bless America" is an American patriotic song originally written by Irving Berlin in 1918 and revised by him in 1938, as sung by Kate Smith (becoming her signature song).
"God Bless America" takes the form of a prayer (intro lyrics "as we raise our voices, in a solemn prayer") for God's blessing and peace for the nation ("...stand beside her and guide her through the night...").
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God_Bless_America
----
*
Allons enfants de la patrie,
Le jour de gloire est arrivé
Contre nous de la tyrannie
L'étendard sanglant est levé
Entendez vous dans les campagnes,
Mugir ces féroces soldats?
Ils viennent jusque dans nos bras
Egorger nos fils, nos compagnes!
Refrain
Aux armes, citoyens!
Formez vos bataillons!
Marchons! Marchons!
Qu'un sang impur
Abreuve nos sillons!
Amour sacré de la patrie,
Conduis, soutiens nos bras vengeurs!
Liberté, Liberté cherie,
Combats avec tes defenseurs!
Sous nos drapeaux, que la victoire
Accoure à tes males accents!
Que tes ennemis expirants
Voient ton triomphe et notre gloire!
Refrain
Nous entrerons dans la carrière
Quand nos ainés n'y seront plus;
Nous y trouverons leur poussière
Et la trace de leurs vertus.
Bien moins jaloux de leur survivre
Que de partager leur cercueil,
Nous aurons le sublime orgueil
De les venger ou de les suivre!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cu0l7a8txE0
