Some things are too painful to watch

Every once in a while, I see a clip on ESPN with some kid, plucked from the obscurity of Kidville, trying to sing the National Anthem and forgetting the words. Usually there's a warm moment, however, when some big NBA superstar (I think in this case it was Maurice Cheeks but don't quote me) will put his arm around the kid and help him/her through it, usually to the large applause of the crowd, appreciative of the effort and embarrassed for the kid from Kidville.

Apparently there were no big NBA stars around Washington this week when ABC News -- at the height of this controversy over whether the National Anthem should be sung in English -- cold-cocked a bunch of lawmakers and asked them the words to the anthem.

One of the ones who misfired was Rep. Mark Kennedy. It was only a moment; but it was a moment of pain.

First of all, they gave them a line in the middle of the anthem and asked them for the next line. Quick: what's the last four digits of your Social Security number? Most folks can't do it without ripping off the full number and then loudly proclaiming the last four.

That, my friends, is rote, and it's how the brain works for a lot of people. OK, sure, it's fun to chortle at somebody's embarrassment, but, seriously, is it indicative of one's love for the country? Is it indicative of one's opinion of the value of the National Anthem? Nahhhh. The value is what's in your heart while you're singing it -- start to finish.

Believe me, I know the sensitivity around the National Anthem. When I ran a small radio station (the greatest small town radio station in America, by the way) in Great Barrington, Massachusetts in the '80s, I torpedoed the U.S. Marine Corps band version that we played at sign-on and sign-off each day. I replaced the morning edition version (sign-on) with Marvin Gaye's version at the NBA All Star game (a fascinating rhythm-and-blues version that people actually paid attention to) and the late-night(sign-off) version with Whitney Houston's Superbowl version (I was going to rotate various versions).

The phones lit up, with the majority wondering how we could disrespect the national anthem so. Near as I could tell, both versions were sung in English. What do you suppose the real problem people had was? I probably should've asked the callers what the words were.

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