O'er the land of the nitpicky...
My roommate must have found it a little weird when I yelled, "Oh shut up, Maureen Dowd!" at my computer screen, but I feel I had just cause. Even though Dowd was probably joking, apparently a lot of people are actually worked up over the lack of belligerence in the rendition of our national anthem being played at the Olympics. (See the Post article.)
Dowd's quote was about how "our warlike national anthem has been transformed, from blaring horns to peaceful, soothing strings" in the hopes of creating what a Wall Street Journal article called a "Europe-friendly version of the anthem."
Um, what?
Apparently there are a lot of Americans who are upset by the quieter, less bombastic version of the anthem composed by Peter Breiner. They see in this some sort of political statement about our actions around the world. Really, they see in it the chance to perpetuate the "us vs. them" mentality that has emerged in recent years.
This to me is right up there with Tom DeLay (my own congressman, sad to say) bitching about the fat Statue of Liberty Subway used in their German ads. To give him credit (which I never thought I'd do), I can actually sorta see how someone could maybe get offended by that. They would have to fail to see how funny and accurate the ad actually was. Having been to Europe, I can vouch for the fact that they make us seem like a bunch of porkers.
But to get offended for a rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner" not because of an offensive performance (such as Roseanne's infamous off-key, crotch-grabbing fiasco at a 1990 baseball game) but rather because of a difference in arrangement is utterly absurd. I mean, I can even see how people were shocked by Jimi Hendrix's performance at Woodstock. But this, well, it just makes no sense to me. I guess some people just view everything as a personal attack. Must be this culture of victimhood we've managed to cultivate. Anyway, back off the soapbox, Mike.
Song lyric of the day:
"They look down their noses at what people say
But these are just words, and words are okay
It's what you do, not what you say
If you're not part of the future, then get out of the way!"
-John Mellencamp, "Peaceful World"
Dowd's quote was about how "our warlike national anthem has been transformed, from blaring horns to peaceful, soothing strings" in the hopes of creating what a Wall Street Journal article called a "Europe-friendly version of the anthem."
Um, what?
Apparently there are a lot of Americans who are upset by the quieter, less bombastic version of the anthem composed by Peter Breiner. They see in this some sort of political statement about our actions around the world. Really, they see in it the chance to perpetuate the "us vs. them" mentality that has emerged in recent years.
This to me is right up there with Tom DeLay (my own congressman, sad to say) bitching about the fat Statue of Liberty Subway used in their German ads. To give him credit (which I never thought I'd do), I can actually sorta see how someone could maybe get offended by that. They would have to fail to see how funny and accurate the ad actually was. Having been to Europe, I can vouch for the fact that they make us seem like a bunch of porkers.
But to get offended for a rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner" not because of an offensive performance (such as Roseanne's infamous off-key, crotch-grabbing fiasco at a 1990 baseball game) but rather because of a difference in arrangement is utterly absurd. I mean, I can even see how people were shocked by Jimi Hendrix's performance at Woodstock. But this, well, it just makes no sense to me. I guess some people just view everything as a personal attack. Must be this culture of victimhood we've managed to cultivate. Anyway, back off the soapbox, Mike.
Song lyric of the day:
"They look down their noses at what people say
But these are just words, and words are okay
It's what you do, not what you say
If you're not part of the future, then get out of the way!"
-John Mellencamp, "Peaceful World"
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