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We at Conservative Daily News extend our deepest sympathies to those who lost family members yesterday at the Boston Marathon. Our hearts and prayers are with those that were injured, and it is our hope that at least the physical wounds heal quickly.

“The National Anthem should not be played only because of time constrains,” said  Ed Sam, PA Interscholastic Hockey League Commissioner. “It’s not that we’re not patriotic, that’s the furthest from the truth.” Hockey teams are not prohibited from playing the National Anthem before games, just discouraged.

At $300 plus per hour on the ice, the PIHL says it’s about the money. But backlash from residents and families has been fierce causing the league to rethink their decision.

You can watch the full story on the CBS affiliate in Pittsburgh:
 

Firefighters in Seminole, Florida have been banned from flying USA flags on their firetrucks. Apparently there was a complaint about trucks flying a large American flag so in response the city has banned all flags.

It should always be appropriate to fly the beautiful symbol of this great country.

Update: Someone pointed out that the flag was not being flown properly in accordance with the 2008 Flag Code. There was also an additional article on the flag flying issue specifying that the problem was just the large flag hung from the back of the fire truck. Maybe so, but the city response to ban all flags remains an issue.

Further Update: Additional information  has now been made available. According to the Flag Code flags may not be displayed in windows but must be ‘fixed firmly to the chassis’.

From EyeWitness News:

The order to remove the flags came after a complaint from a member of the public. The complaing concerned a flag being flown from the back of a ladder truck.

Smaller flags were later displayed in the truck’s windows, but they, too, were removed after complaints.

A spokesperson for the city’s fire department says the complainer did not take issue with the flags themselves– but how they were displayed.

The U.S. Flag Code requires flags on vehicles to be “fixed firmly to the chassis or clamped to the right fender.” 

After removing the flags, city officials say they asked the public and fire department for a plan to display the flags in compliance with the flag code, but no plans were proposed.

“My goal today is they say…yes the flags are going back on the trucks…yes we have a solution,” says Dave Dabney, who organized the protest.

When we were sorting through his belongings, we found a flag. It was folded neatly, and kept in an old department store shirt box wrapped in tissue paper. When my father carefully unfolded it, and spread it out on my grandmother’s bed, we saw that it had just 48 stars. The white stripes and stars had long since turned to sepia tone, and some of the hem on the edges had fallen apart because the thread had disintegrated. And then we noticed that there was a deep brownish red stain over many of the stripes.

We knew that my grandfather had served in World War II, but didn’t know where, or in what capacity. Until we found that flag, we never knew that he had obviously been in combat. We would find out later from some of his friends from the American Legion that the flag was his because he had used it to wrap around a member of his unit in battle. That man had died in my grandfather’s arms, with that flag as a blanket. Apparently, he had tried to give that flag to the dead soldier’s family, but they either couldn’t bear to take it, or said that he should keep it. In spite of the fact that it is very old and worn, it has never been added to the yearly pile of flags that local veterans burn and bury each year. It sits, neatly folded, hiding the bloodstains it holds, in a case at an American Legion post. It will probably molder to nothingness before any veteran of that post decides to permanently retire those colors in the flames.

Understanding the importance of that flag is what it means to be an American. That is a gift that citizens of this country can own. Failing to grasp that is a tragedy. The flag not only represents this nation, but also the blood spilled to protect it.

The following video shows a group of people that probably will never understand what it really means to be an American citizen. Their only concern is what they can get out of the government. They have no desire to contribute to society, and only desire to usurp the freedoms that were earned by the blood of others. While it is tempting to scream in protest at the desecration they have done, one must remember – they don’t know any better. They cannot be taught to feel what true Americans do. They cannot be taught to respect themselves, let alone others. They are not worth anyone’s time or attention. But, we mustn’t forget that people like this exist in this country. We must continue the fight to remove those that have no desire to actively participate in our society as law-abiding, respectful, legal citizens.
Illegal Alien Protesters Desecrate Flag

Earlier in the week one of my grandsons asked me to pick him up for school about 15 minutes earlier than normal. Mrs. Cheri Robinson’s 5th grade class at Claremont Elementary School in Claremore, Oklahoma was putting on a program for their Sunrise Assembly, an event held every Friday morning. He needed to be there early to get into his costume for the program. He didn’t say much else and I didn’t really ask any questions. I naturally thought of it again this morning and asked him what they were doing. “We’re having a ‘President’s Day’ play”. Okay, this should be interesting. Probably a cute little skit to start everyone’s day, I thought. I go to events involving all of my grandchildren when I can, and even go out of my way to attend. I am glad I went to this one.

A few days ago I read about a school somewhere, don’t remember or care where, that had a ruckus over children being taught to sing and chant praises to Barack Obama. Parents were outraged and put a stop to it. This is not the first time I have heard about this kind of thing happening in recent years. It seems to have become pandemic in our nation’s public school system, but has it?

For those of us born in the immediate post World War II era, this has a chilling effect. I remember my parents talking about, and remember growing up seeing newsreel films about, elementary school children in cute little swastika adorned uniforms giving the Nazi salute, and singing and chanting praises to Adolph Hitler. The school children singing and chanting praises to Hitler in the newsreels were the young adults who implemented the Holocaust. This is beginning in our own country.

Outrage is the proper attitude of parents at this kind of indoctrination. This kind of school activity is what gets reported in all of the national news, they love it. This promotion of the adoration of Obama, or any politician, is what the media is interested in for the most part.

The incident I just related to you isn’t the end of the story. I have another story to tell you- set in the “Bible Belt”, the “Breadbasket of America”, “flyover country”, the land of “bitter people clinging to their Bibles and guns”. This is the story of a much different message being taught to our children.

Let me take you back to tiny Claremore, Oklahoma on a windy and chilly Friday morning; and the 5th grade class of Mrs. Cheri Robinson, Claremont Elementary School. The Sunrise assemblies are held in the school gymnasium/cafeteria, probably the one area in any structure in this entire nation that has no acoustic values at all. In this gymnasium every child’s whisper sounds like a shout and every shuffle of an elementary student sounds like a load of books being dropped.

Trying to hear and understand lines from nervous students who are speaking very softly and meekly into the microphone in this environment isn’t a walk in the park for these old ears. As I walked in I saw my grandson, his teacher, and his classmates on the stage, all decked out in colonial looking costumes, some with construction paper hats depicting the style of the time.

The program started out with the Pledge of Allegiance, a salute to the flag of the State of Oklahoma, the school creed, the 8 steps of character building , and the teacher’s creed; all led by Mrs. Robinson’s students. I noticed the children around me during the Pledge of Allegiance. Each of them stood razor straight, hand over heart, looking at the flag, and saying the pledge like they meant it. These are K-5th kids, 5-11 year olds. This all finished up and a student stepped up to the microphone.

As the first student began to speak you could have heard a pin drop. About 300 or so kids 5-11 years old sat riveted like what was being said was important and mattered. The students stepped up to the microphone, each at their time, and spoke clearly, concisely, loudly, and sincerely about the flag of The United States of America and those men and women who gave us this great nation.

Their tribute to our flag, our nation, our founders, and our veterans brought tears to this old soldier’s eyes and a lump the size of a basketball to his throat. I was so proud at that moment to be a grandfather, to be a veteran, to be a guest at this assembly; and most of all, proud to be an American. I was particularly proud of my grandson, Jacob. He stood so tall, and spoke with such volume, clarity, and meaning. The expression on his face and the way he carried himself when he spoke showed a genuine sincerity in his heart. This was a boy of 11, one of about 25 children, all with a genuine joy in their hearts to be doing this, to be honoring those who gave so much for freedom.

I have tried to instill an appreciation and a love of this nation in all of my children and grandchildren. I have talked a lot with this particular grandson about our nation’s past, present, and future; sometimes much to the chagrin of his mother and grandmother. I am often told, “too much information for an 11 year old”. I have wondered how much of it really got through and how much was “okay, Grandpa, that’s great, can I go play now?” Today I found out.

I was also once again reminded that I am not alone in my quest to see my grandchildren grow up with a love and appreciation of our founders, our heritage, and for those who keep us safe and free. This is not an isolated case in the Claremore School System. This is very much the rule here. This needs to be the rule rather than the exception in every school. Mrs. Robinson is teaching our children the true values that made this nation great. I can’t say “THANK YOU” strongly enough.

I hope this program of patriotism at Claremont Elementary School gets as much, or more, national attention as the activities of a school promoting dictatorship, and the worship of a ruler. Claremont’s play from this morning is the kind of activity we need to be publicizing. These students weren’t paying tribute to a leader or a political party, or even a flag. They were paying tribute to an idea, a concept of freedom, to a value system, and to the great men and women who “pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their Sacred Honor” for future generations. This is what students are taught in the Claremore Public Schools.

I submit this in the name of the Most Holy Trinity, in faith, with the responsibility given to me by Almighty God to honor His work and not let it die from neglect.

Bob Russell
Claremore, Oklahoma
February 24, 2012

I had noticed it before, but didn’t realize how rampant it was until my book One Nation Under God: A Book for Little Patriots came out. Suddenly, I was being accused of trying to indoctrinate children in conservative values, or even to hate liberals. This is, of course, ridiculous. The book is unabashedly patriotic, but it is in no way partisan. In a counting book of one through ten, the only number that could be considered at all values-based is number one; One Nation Under God. That is not a partisan issue. So, what is bringing on this confusion between patriotism and partisanship?

Let’s take a look at the dictionary to see what it has to say on the issue. Miriam-Webster defines patriotism as “love or devotion to one’s country.” Although we disagree on the best way to run our country, I would hope that people of any political affiliation would love it. What are we to think of a group of people who, upon hearing the term “patriotism,” assume that people mean the other party? Shouldn’t everyone, if they think it’s a partisan issue, assume that their party is the one which is thought to love America best and more? Apparently not.

Perhaps patriotism is being equated with American Exceptionalism. Conservatives seem much more ready to holdAmerica in esteem above all other countries than liberals. Isn’t it patriotic, though, to think one’s country is the best country in the world? I think it’s a symptom of the chasm opening up between the mindset of conservatives and liberals. It would appear that conservatives are proud to display their loyalty to America, flaws and all, while liberals seem more wont to view patriotism as undeserved blind allegiance to a flawed land.

An author’s views don’t typically enter into his or her work, and One Nation Under God: A Book for Little Patriots is

no exception. There is nothing political about mine, unless one considers teaching children the basics of America to be a political matter. Seeing as these are things that are taught even in that bastion of liberalism, the public school system, this is pretty easy to refute.  Even they are allowed, for the time being, to say  ”under God.”

The interesting thing is, the vitriol comes almost exclusively from the hyper-political on the left. I know many democrats who do not live and breathe politics who are proud to love their country. I’ve gotten feedback from some solidly left-wing parents that they enjoyed reading it with their children and cannot imagine what the fuss is about. There is a small (and, ostensibly, growing) group, however, which is quick to label patriotism as partisan. These people assume the worst and are quick to pull the fire alarm of right-wing indoctrination based on these unfounded assumptions.

This seems to go deeper than a difference that can easily be put aside. This isn’t a matter of Americans loving Americans but disagreeing how best to keep her great. This seems to be a matter of irreconcilable differences. If we aren’t all patriots, where do we go from here?