In her Chicago Tribune opinion piece asking why no team has signed controversial NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick — who infamously took a knee in protest last season when “The Star-Spangled Banner” was played before games — writer Diana Goetsch carved out some space to rip the national anthem, calling it a “pompous battle number”:
Unlike the magisterial “America the Beautiful,” “The Star-Spangled Banner” is a pompous battle number. Spurred by a petition bearing 5 million veterans’ signatures, Congress designated it the national anthem in 1931, but it wasn’t until 1942, and our entry into World War II, that it was played on loudspeakers daily before games.
Most NFL fans don’t recall that players traditionally remained in the locker room during the national anthem — up until 2009. That’s when the Pentagon started paying the NFL, and the league moved players out to the field to salute the flag and look patriotic. Likewise, it hasn’t taken long for fans to lose all memory of a time when soldiers weren’t routinely honored on game day, and few would think to ask why military personnel are any more entitled to a halftime tribute than schoolteachers, or bricklayers or the custodians who clean the stadium.
Goetsch also called attention to the “the awkward melody of our national anthem, which was taken from a British pub song.” – READ MORE
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