The National Anthem of the United States

The Star Spangled Banner
Francis Scott Key - 1814

Oh, say can you see by the dawn's early light
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars thru the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming?
And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
Oh, 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 through 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 in the stream:'
Tis the star-spangled banner! Oh 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 washed 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!

Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war's desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved 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!

Our National Anthem was penned nearly two-hundred years ago during the War of 1812. The lyrics were taken from a poem written by Francis Scott Key titled “The Defense of Fort McHenry” and later applied to music borrowed from “The Anacreontic Song”, the official song of the Anacreontic Society, an 18th-century club of amateur musicians.

The “Defense of Fort McHenry", written by the 35-year-old amateur poet Francis Scott Key to describe what he witnessed during the bombardment of Fort McHenry by Royal Navy ships in Chesapeake Bay during the Battle of Baltimore. Set to music and renamed the “Star Spangled Banner”, the song was recognized for official use by the United States Navy in 1889, by the President in 1916. It was adopted as our national anthem by congressional resolution on March 3, 1931 which was signed into law by President Herbert Hoover.

The National Anthem is the only song that can be sung at the opening of every sporting event, at civic gatherings, at public celebrations and no one except for the terminally jaded or politically inept is ever tired of hearing it. Most Americans stand silently and gaze at the flag in reverence while it is played. Some may mouth the words wishing that they had the vocal range required to sing this song, but they do so humbly and with pride in their nation.

Two world wars, a dozen conflicts and several very challenging periods in American history may have tested the United States but these challenges have never diminished the effect our National Anthem has had on the American public. Today is different. Today is a day that frighteningly enough, passed with barely a word having been said. Today was the day that the majesty of the National Anthem was dimmed and the winds that carry the Star Spangled Banner fell quiet.

If you looked across the skyline of Manhattan today, you couldn’t help but notice the strange colors of the Empire State Building. This monument to the capitalist doctrines that forged our nation’s wealth has been a dominant feature of the New York skyline since it opened in 1931. Incredibly, this 102 story monolith was built in only 404 days at a cost of $40,000,000. When it opened, it was the tallest building in the world, and after the destruction of the World Trade Center towers in September of 2001, became the tallest building in New York for the second time since its construction.

Since 1964, floodlights were installed in the Empire State Building that illuminated the upper third of the building in colors to match the holiday or event. Red, white and blue for the Fourth of July, red and green for Christmas, green for Saint Patrick’s day, on and on. Whenever there was an event that was important to the nation or to the City of New York, the lighting of the Empire State Building reflected the sentiment in the appropriate colors. Sometimes the absence of light made a more effective statement. When Actress Fay Wray died in 2004, the lights of the Empire State building were extinguished for 15 minutes to remember the actress that brought fame to this magnificent building through her 1933 film, “King Kong”.

Today the Empire State Building is illuminated in red and yellow; colors chosen to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the founding of the Communist nation of China. I never took the time to actually research the colors of the Communist Chinese flag but I would assume that the red is representative of the blood of the millions that were killed to make way for the new leaders of yet another totalitarian regime and the yellow (gold), would symbolize the brass shell casings expelled from the automatic weapons that were used to cleanse China of those that would stand in vain for their freedom.

My God! What have we become? Have we finally reached the point where our conscience is so vacant and the lines that define our morality have become so blurred that we can celebrate the deliberate massacre of free people in the name of socialism? Where does that place us in our own struggle to defend our rights from the socialists, oh excuse me, Progressive Democrats that are now plotting against us on Capitol Hill?

These things cannot stand. Not for one day, not for one hour. If we can illuminate the Empire State Building, the symbol of our nation’s economic might, in colors meant to honor a ruthless and bloody communist nation, then what is next? Shall we fly the flag of Iran in the lobby? Or perhaps a Swastika to honor all the good Nazi’s….you know, the ones that were only soldiers and didn’t actually work in a concentration camp. This is beyond ridiculous and if we are sheep enough to allow this then maybe the fight is over and our freedoms aren’t really deserved after all.

Paul