Proper Use of the Flag - Super Bowl Half - time

[Twocubdad]

Am I the only one who finds it remarkable that P Diddy was the most restrained and respectable performer in the show?

 

Janet's story now is that the routine was planned, but she was she was only supposed to flash a red bra underneath. What scares me is that after 24 hours, that's the best story they can come up with.

 

As Leno said last night, everyone is so disgusted over Janet Jackson's boob, but it's perfectly acceptable to have a commercial showing a horse farting in a woman's face?

[willysjeep]

the material the flag was made of is not revered, and neither is the flag (to me) atleast not any more than what it stands for. what I revere is what the flag stands for, encluding free speach. Granted, it wasn't so nice of him to wear it as a shirt, but chances are he didn't do it intentionally.

[purcelce]

Here's some more press:

 

 

VFW Angry Over Kid Rock Poncho

Feb 4, 10:01 AM EST

 

Associated Press

 

Forget Janet Jackson: The Veterans of Foreign Wars is peeved at Kid Rock.

 

The VFW is upset that media outlets are ignoring the poncho Rock wore during the Super Bowl halftime show, which was made by cutting a slit in an American flag. Rock later tossed the flag into the crowd.

 

The VFW's commander in chief, Edward Banas Senior, says Rock's outfit was "in poor taste and extremely disrespectful." Banas lamented that the NFL, MTV and CBS have issued apologies for Justin Timberlake's ripping Janet Jackson's clothes but have said nothing about Rock.

 

CBS faces a Federal Communications Commission investigation into whether the Super Bowl show violated decency laws, with potential fines of up to $27,500.

 

 

 

 

If applied to each CBS station, the fines could reach into the millions.

 

FCC chief Michael Powell said Tuesday that the agency had begun a formal investigation, and a letter was sent to CBS. "It's well under way," he said.

 

All five commissioners expressed concern about the Super Bowl broadcast, but Powell declined to speculate on what the FCC would do once the investigation was finished.

 

Powell said he wasn't happy with the halftime show in general, including Rock's performance.

 

Rock's representatives could not be reached for comment.

 

 

 

 

[NJCubScouter]

The amount of attention that a stupid halftime show is getting is truly unbelieveable. (And I mean "stupid" both in the sense of "trivial" and in the sense of "stupid.")

[OldGreyEagle]

But it was a heck of a game

[dan]

I came to watch the commercials and stayed for the game! I missed most of the commercials and most of the half time show, I was on the phone with a scout trying to get some prehikes scheduled for a High Adventure.

[packsaddle]

OGE, it WAS a heck of a game! Of course I wouldn't have said that for most of the first half. My team lost but I was proud of them anyway. The Patriots clearly were the best team.

[acco40]

Why is it that most of those who disliked Kid Rock "wearing" the Flag as a poncho voice no complaint about Jim Craig using the Flag as a shawl after the Miracle on Ice?

 

P.S. No, I am not a Disney shill.

 

And, the NFL, which promoted the Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders out the proverbial ying yang now gets on its high horse and states that what JJ did was appalling? It makes me laugh!

 

When baseball hired Jose Feliciano to sing the National Anthem many moons ago ('68), what he did may have shocked many (tame by today's standards), but not those who were familiar with his work. When the NFL contracts out to MTV to do the half-time show, what did they expect? Do the powers at the NFL really have their head so far up their shoulder pads that they were oblivious to what MTV produces? What a joke.(This message has been edited by acco40)

[packsaddle]

Acco40, don't forget the classic Jimi Hendrix version of the anthem.

[Proud Eagle]

I didn't see the entire half time show. However what of it I have seen was in very poor taste. It was not the sort of thing I would want children (I don't have any, so we will go with my young niece and nephew) seeing. Some of the comercials were also less than optimal for children, but not nearly so objectionable. The real problem wasn't the halftime show, it is that things like that, and the message it sends, have become main stream entertainment in America. If all one did is pay attention to the TV and movies, (other than Fox News, certain MSNBC programs, and a hand full of other media sources) you would think that such sexually themed things are part of the very values of America. Now the breast exposure may or may not have been intentional, but it was certainly a very bad thing to have happen on live network TV. However, it has brought attention to the lax standards in our media and culture, so something good has come of something bad. (Incidentely, several years ago the person who played Zena was doing a rendition of the national anthem for some sporting event and raised her arms at the end and had a double "custome failure" if the reports I heard were true.)

 

Now the flag thing I also find to be disrespectful. It is a sad reflection on our culture that such disregard for the flag could honestly be seen as an attempt to show patriotism. (I find it more likely he was using it as a good selling prop). The fact that most observers wouldn't have objected is also a bad sign of things. Once people treated the flag with reverence and respect even if they didn't revere it in the religous sense. Now people do whatever the heck they want with the flag if it suits them. If they are wanting to be patriotic, fly it from the truck until it is so faded, torn, and frayed that it is no longer recognizable as a flag. If they want to protest it they burn it, use it for bodily functions, or make it into "art" of the sort only the NEA would support. (though apparently the current adminstration is trying to turn the NEA around according to some recent reports)

 

There was a time when people did quite literally die for the flag. (See various histories of Civil War battles. Those bearing the flag were always at great risk, though often one would be killed another would take it before it even hit the ground, such was the respect for the flag that people were willing to increase their own danger to prevent it being lost and trampled on the field of battle.) There are now certainly more of the days when such feeling could be found in common men behind us than ahead of us, or so it would seem. Glimpses of that devotion were still seen as late as the 60s when one Marine tried to hold off a group of campus protesters bent on tearing down and burninga flag. (the acount I heard indicated that the Marine and many of the protesters were the worse for it, though I can't recall if the protesters or the Marine succeeded) Another example was told to me be a Scouter who had recently been discharged from the military when the event he related took place. Apperently at a training event the same group of adult staffers conducted consistently bad ceremonies, to the point of treating the flag with casual disrespect, such as taking it down and wadding it up istead of folding it. This adult and another vet decided they couldn't take it the last time it happened, and so one dropped the adult with the flag, the other caught it before it hit the ground, and it was folded properly. That isn't quite how I would want to have that lesson taught, but then again I can't argue against the passion felt by those that have served this country.

 

OK, I am done rambling for a bit.

 

[Fat Old Guy]

I remember an Olympian being publicly denounced for using the flag as a shawl after winning a gold medal. I also remember him apologizing and explaining that he meant no disrespect. I don't remember who it was.

 

 

[Proud Eagle]

It may have been a member of the 1980 Hockey team. The previews for "Miracle" contain a scene with that happening, though that may have just been added for dramatic affect or something.

[scoutingagain]

After the 1980 USA Hockey team won the Gold Medal game a fan gave Jim Craig a flag from the stands. He literally had no place to put it. He had a stick, helmet, and goalie gloves to deal with. He had the flag around his shoulders, but I don't believe he ever intended to wear it as a garment or piece of clothing.

 

 

 

SA

[NJCubScouter]

I have seen film clips of the end of that hockey game with the player with the flag draped around his shoulders, but I never knew he had been criticized for it. If that is the case, I think the criticism is ridiculous. Even if Kid Rock's "premeditated" wearing and careless removal of a flag-poncho is considered wrong, the hockey thing is not in the same category. Regardless of whether the player had anywhere to put the flag or not, he had just "led" a team representing the United States to a "miracle" win, and for a moment he had a flag draped around his shoulders. Does anybody seriously have a problem with that? He wasn't really "wearing" the flag, he was displaying it in a jubilant and celebretory manner, and he certainly wasn't showing any disrespect for it.

[Fat Old Guy]

I do rember that it wasn't the hockey dude (he was black and it was summer time). If my aging memory is working right, he was given the flag and started to run around the track waving it. Part way around, he draped it around his shoulders like cape.

 

Not nearly as shocking as when Mark Spitz carried his shoes to the medal ceremony.