61% of Americans don't know words to National Anthem?

O say, can you see, by the dawn's early light,
What so proudly we hail'd at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars, thro' the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watch'd, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof thro' the night that our flag was still there.
O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

On the shore dimly seen thro' the mists of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In full glory reflected, now shines on the stream:
'Tis the star-spangled banner: O, long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion,
A home and a country should leave us no more?
Their blood has wash'd out their foul footsteps' pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

O thus be it ever when free-men shall stand
Between their lov'd home and the war's desolation;
Blest with vict'ry and peace, may the heav'n-rescued land
Praise the Pow'r that hath made and preserv'd us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust!"
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!


On Sept. 13, 1814, Francis Scott Key visited the British fleet in Chesapeake Bay to secure the release of Dr. William Beanes, who had been captured after the burning of Washington, DC. The release was secured, but Key was detained on ship overnight during the shelling of Fort McHenry, one of the forts defending Baltimore. In the morning, he was so delighted to see the American flag still flying over the fort that he began a poem to commemorate the occasion. First published under the title "Defense of Fort M'Henry," the poem soon attained wide popularity as sung to the tune "To Anacreon in Heaven." The origin of this tune is obscure, but it may have been written by John Stafford Smith, a British composer born in 1750. "The Star-Spangled Banner" was officially made the national anthem by Congress in 1931, although it already had been adopted as such by the army and the navy.

Oh, my Gawd! Are Montana and I the only women on this thread?

Fools rush in where angels fear to tread.

Oh, don't be foolish, gentlemen.

One can be liberal and Patriotic simultaneously.

"As Mankind becomes more liberal, they will be more apt to allow that all those who conduct themselves as worthy members of the community are equally entitled to the protections of civil government. I hope ever to see America among the foremost nations of justice and liberality. "

-GW

Cycloptichorn

If you're waiting for a meaningful reply from everyone who includes themselves in a class of people known as liberals -- you're in for a long wait.

However, i suspect you're just attempting to stir the turd . . . have fun . . .

Can we refrain from the disparaging names for each other's politics?

I was referring to the 'libruls' comment. Unless you just mis-spelled it on accident.

Cycloptichorn

Remarks of this character, which you so often make, are one of the big reasons i refer to contemporary conservative political views as hateful.

How come it's the right wingers who get to determine who is and isn't patriotic?

D'artagnan wrote:

How come it's the right wingers who get to determine who is and isn't patriotic?

Because you leftists think it's patriotic to want the US to lose the war in Iraq .. you obviously can't be trusted to determine who is patriotic for yourselves.

There's a prime example of the hatefulness--the most egregious and insulting straw man you could erect. I don't care if you do or don't consider that i have adequately explained myself--the hateful remarks and innuendo are plain for all to see.