MGP- while I respect your opinion that it is proper to put your hand over your heart, I think your equation of where someone puts their hand during an anthem as being determinative of whether they are patritotic or respect their country is misplaced, as is your dismissal of people who disagree with you as being disrespectful :no:
Whether my hand is on my heart or at my side is no measure of my patriotism or respect for my country. I measure that by more substantive means and not whether someone goes through the motions during an anthem
Well said.
You mean he’s human? Shocking!
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You mean he’s human? Shocking![/QUOTE]
He is. But Sapphire, she’s a MACHINE. 
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Sheesh. So glad to see respect of flag, anthem and country is such a non issue for so many. :([/QUOTE]
It’s not that it’s a non-issue. It’s that the “rules” aren’t clear and you can’t blame someone who follows a different tradition.
It’s the broad assumptions behind a simple gesture that people object to. That is, he didn’t have his hand on his heart, therefore he must not care about his country – even though he just rode for a gold medal for it.
What was his expression on his face? Did he look happy and proud? Did he look like he respected his teammates and his horse, and the people who helped him get there?
Or did he give a one-finger salute or hang his head in shame? Or throw his medal on the floor like that wrestler did the other day?
So he forgot or its not part of what he was taught to do. Give the guy a break for having a lot going on in his mind and his emotions at the time.
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Respect for your country is nothing to laugh about. Equating that with whether or not someone puts his hand on his heart for the anthem is.[/QUOTE]
I agree, it is actually his right as an American not to put his hand over his heart, or remove his hat (not that I think he was expressing either, I am sure he just was caught up in the moment).
True patriotism is not about blindly following the crowd or wearing a flag pin. Generally, it takes the form of questioning your government and its actions. I hate that people think that one doesn’t love his/her country for not overtly shouting with his every action.
I am not a huge McClain fan, but this non-action doesn’t make him unpatriotic…if anything his being a republican does! 
Let’s hope Obama does not pick him for VP.
just keep that image handy for when he’s running for president.
the guy just won a gold medal for the US. That isn’t patriotic enough?
This board is amazing. We’ve just seen an exciting Olympic competition which we won. Many of us were able to watch live streaming video of every round, for free.
Are we appreciative? No. We bitch about riders showing no respect for the sport by not wearing hairnets. We bitch about Mclain Ward not putting his hand over his heart during the national anthem. And about him being Barney Ward’s son, which he can hardly help. We gripe about the network coverage. ( You must all be too young to remember the glory days of US Olympic boxing…hour upon hour of Howard Cosell)
Thanks Mclain, et al. Thanks NBC. And you girls keep wearing your helmets in the safer mode, not the “hunter hair” mode.
Sheesh.
Is that supposed to be funny? Because usually I get jokes.
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Let’s hope Osama does not pick him for VP.[/QUOTE]
lol, has Al Qaeda embraced democracy or is that a typo?! :lol: Either way, it’s a good one.
Is that supposed to be funny? Because usually I get jokes.
It’s sarcastic.
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Is that supposed to be funny? Because usually I get jokes.[/QUOTE]
I’m going to assume it’s a typo, because I like to believe in the general intelligence of the human populace. I therefore have to discretic evidence to the contrary :)
Oh lord, don’t remind me!
maybe that was your intention, but it sure comes out as an insult to a presidential nominee, one that dovetails nicely with the some of the smears being tossed his direction.
How about keeping politics out of these threads before they’re shut down for being off-topic?
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It’s sarcastic.[/QUOTE]
We must have different definitions of the word “sarcastic.” Sarcasm is stating the opposite of an intended meaning. So a sarcastic remark in the middle of a downpour would be “Nice weather we’re having.”
I’m not getting a sarcastic reading of the Osama comment, but maybe I’m just missing the context or not getting it?!
[QUOTE=magnolia73;3453525]
Let’s hope Osama does not pick him for VP.[/QUOTE]
It was a joke, I am guessing Magnolia brought it up since it has become a common “slip of the tongue” on FOX and a few other places.
And by “slip of the tongue” I mean when they are doing a story about our presidential candidate with the similar sounding name.
Ah, just heard an interesting interview with an author on cultural biases. Premise put forth is that we are, at times, insensitive to /unaware of cultural changes that occur over the years. One example made by the author (whose name I forget of course) is that “hand over heart” during the anthem (anywhere, anytime) is not the cultural norm for the younger generation as it was/is for we of “older” generations. Thus it is just change - not a supercharged dis. Author also mentioned the popularity of a fist pump - that for some seems an action of aggression/anger but is a shift in a symbolic norm.
I go to lots of horse shows - lot of anthems before the GPs - and I’d say only 1/2, and mostly older, crowd, do the “hand over heart”.
I figure his respect for his country more than adequately expressed through his beautiful performance on a fantastic horse. Works for me!
I don’t think the OP was meant to bash on his win. It was an observation of a generally accepted practice by a lot of traditional Americans.
By the way, did he at least give Saphire a pat? He never used to give his horses a pat as they finished their round & left the ring. That really disturbed me.
Good grief, some people will find fault with anything!!
Mclain was so overcome with emotion he looked like he was on the verge of tears, or maybe he was actually crying at points both before and during the medal ceremony. I think it was obvious that he was PROUD to represent his country in the Olympics. I was sure as heck proud to watch he and Sapphire jump around with the american flag on their saddlepad.
This board is just amazing sometimes, in both good and bad ways.
