Change we can believe in!

[Aplomb]

Haha, I was thinking about putting this thread in the religion forum, but decided this "change" isn't something *I* believe in. Anyway, let's endeavor to see some of the silliness in the right and the left yet find that one grain of truth wherever it may be. Enjoy!

Certainly just about everyone in our country has seen this photo:

http://www.time.com/time/photogaller...446035,00.html



Respect
Senator Barack Obama, Governor Bill Richardson, Senator Hillary Clinton and Ruth Harkin stand during the national anthem.



After the photo was released without any explanation, a satire one was created in jest but was so believable to the right that it was believed and copied and forwarded as fact.

http://www.factcheck.org/askfactchec...m_conveys.html


April 22, 2008

Q:

Did Obama say the National Anthem conveys a "war-like message" and should be swapped for something such as "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing"? Is this e-mail valid? Hot on the heels of his explanation for why he no longer wears a flag pin, presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama was forced to explain why he doesn't follow protocol when the National Anthem is played. According to the United States Code, Title 36, Chapter 10, Sec. 171, During rendition of the national anthem when the flag is displayed, all present except those in uniform are expected to stand at attention facing the flag with the right hand over the heart. "As I've said about the flag pin, I don't want to be perceived as taking sides," Obama said. "There are a lot of people in the world to whom the American flag is a symbol of oppression. And the anthem it self conveys a war-like message. You know, the bombs bursting in air and all. It should be swapped for something less parochial and less bellicose. I like the song 'I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing.' If that were our anthem, then I might salute it."

A:

No. That's false. The quote was one conservative writer's idea of a joke, which has been picked up and repeated as though it were true in a chain e-mail. This is a ridiculous example of how false stories are started, spread and, in many cases, believed. It began with a column dated Oct. 27, 2007, on a Web site called the Arizona Conservative, which is written by John Semmens and clearly labeled as humor. His column, in fact, is called "Semi-News -- A Satirical Look at Recent News." Nevertheless, his column on Obama has been copied and sent around in e-mails, masquerading as true stories. The reader who asked us about it said he received it from a conservative Republican coworker. The e-mail included a note calling Obama's candidacy "a joke." In this case, the joke is the message falsely quoting Obama, and it's on whomever is gullible enough to believe it's true. Footnote: For background on the "news" that Semmens was satirizing, see our Jan. 10 article, "Sliming Obama." Also, thanks to Snopes.com for tracking down the source of this latest e-mail falsehood. -Brooks Jackson

Sources
Semmens, John. "Semi-News -- A Satirical Look at Recent News." Arizona Conservative (azconservative.org), 27 Oct. 2007.

I checked through that site and there is still no explanation that I can find. But I did find this:

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/fac...patriotic.html

Obama Nabbed by the Patriot Police


Obama salutes the flag

"He refused to not only put his hand on his heart during the pledge of allegiance, but refused to say the pledge...how in the hell can a man like this expect to be our next Commander-in-Chief? "

--Chain e-mail attacking Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.
To all the other hazards of presidential campaigning in the Internet age--the blogosphere, the 24-hour news cycle, attack ads on You Tube--add one more, the anonymous viral e-mail. By now, millions of Americans have received an e-mailed photographs of Obama in a relaxed pose standing next to his fellow candidates, Bill Richardson and Hillary Clinton, with their hands firmly over their hearts as they listen to the national anthem. Several readers have asked us to investigate the provenance of this photograph, and we are happy to oblige.
The Facts

The photograph was taken on September 16, 2007, at Senator Tom Harkin's annual steak fry festivities in Iowa, an important ritual for Democratic presidential hopefuls. Contrary to the e-mails attacking Obama for disrespecting the flag, the candidates were not reciting the pledge of allegiance. They were standing for the national anthem.

As far as we can ascertain, the photograph first appeared in Time Magazine on October 1. Visit Time's website for a larger version. It was then picked up by the NewsBusters blog (Motto: "Exposing and Combating Liberal Media Bias"), and from there made its way into all those in-boxes.
To his credit, the NewsBusters blogger does not try to pretend that the photograph had anything to do with the pledge of allegiance. Instead he cites Title 36 or the U.S. Code, which states the following:

During a rendition of the national anthem, when the flag is displayed (A) all present except those in uniform should stand at attention facing the flag with the right hand over the heart; (B) men not in uniform should remove their headdress with their right hand and hold the headdress at the left shoulder, the hand being over the heart;

By that standard, everybody in the picture (Obama, Richardson, Clinton, and Ruth Harkin) was infringing the Code, as they had their backs to the flag. On the other hand, the Code refers specifically to "Patriotic and National Observances." We welcome the opinion of protocol experts, but we are not sure that a steak fry qualifies as a "Patriotic Observance," even in Iowa. Since the steak fry was awash with flags, it is quite possible that the aforementioned political candidates were facing the flag and had their backs to the flag at the same time.
We should note that this is not the first time that Obama (does that name remind you of anybody?) has run afoul of the patriotic police. Fox News has criticized him for refusing to wear a Stars and Stripes pin in his buttonhole, on the grounds that the gesture has become "a substitute for true patriotism." Previous anonymous e-mails have claimed--falsely--that Obama is a Muslim.
Asked whether Obama normally puts his hand over his heart while listening to the national anthem, Obama spokesman Bill Burton replied by e-mail: "Sometimes he does, sometimes he doesn't. In no way was he making any sort of statement, and any suggestion to the contrary is ridiculous."
To demonstrate the senator's "true patriotism," Burton e-mailed two photographs of Obama with his hand firmly over his heart. One photograph is at the top of this post; the other is below.
The Pinocchio Test

Anonymous attacks by e-mail are, or at least should be, un-American. This particular one was also wrong on the facts: the ceremony in question had nothing to do with the pledge of the allegiance. We award the scoundrel who put the e-mail into circulation four Pinocchios.


There was even a comical Glenn Beck video on Obama's national anthem:


And lastly, this is for those of you who say the photo was probably taken before the man had put his hand over his heart, here's some context:


My conclusion is this: since he is standing on the far side of the flag, he is the one in the most awkward position to face the flag without turning his back on his audience and a star never wants to do that. As for not placing his hand over his heart, I tend to think sometimes he does and sometimes he doesn't depending on whether he spoke to Ayers that day.