I want to understand - I truly do

Urban Legends Reference Pages: Barack Obama and the National Anthem

Hope this helps. Lots of reading and other pictures to give a more complete idea of the candidate.

I know at my sons scout meeting, I felt odd about how to place my hand over my heart during the pledge, because I was never a scout, so I didn't want to do it as some of the members did, with their two or three finger salute.... But as I was trying to decide if I should stand their politely or what, I got a funny look from one of the parents... I hope he didn't think I was antiamerican or something. I mean, my ancestry goes back into the early colonies with many people fighting in the Revolutionary War... And I'm happy for my heritage as well as where I live.

My plan is to look at all of the candidates as a whole, and vote for the one that I can understand the best, and believe in. I admit that Obama was not at all a possibility for me in the beginning.... I did not feel comfortable with his religion, race, or even name...I wasn't sure what he might bring to the table as far as relating to my way of life, but the more I read and hear, I am more open.

Despite all of his differences, he seems a lot closer to understanding my life than some oil rich stooge born with a silver spoon...or a manipulative calculating liberated marriage for power ride the shirt tale type money hungry woman.

You know what I think of Obama.There are plenty of reasons to be concerned about voting for him (see my signature space)...This isn't one of them .

This picture is a non-issue. We do not know the circumstances about this snapshot in time . On another thread I posted a picture of President Bush with his hand somewhere around his small intestines instead of his heart . What did that mean ? That he was not saluting the flag ? Perhaps the national anthem had just completed ? I don't know .

Perhaps this photo will ease your mind :



Btw as a Catholic I have been to mass and have many times seen Catholics not kneeling . I ususally attribute that to perhaps having bad knees ? I am willing to give the benefit of the doubt.

Thanks Tom. I saw you post that pic (in another thread) of Bush with his hand somewhere other than his heart to help people understand that it's not a slight.

I do feel better and I thank you all. I do not normally even entertain this sort of smear
Campaign (like the exchanging speeches incident ...who cared about that one. And I think that only made the Hillary's people look like pathetic school children)

But I saw the video and I looked and waited and waited....it was pretty long. And I guess my mind just swirled with it.

This poor man all that has been said about it. I tell you what, what people don't realize, is that it brings him more attention, and when it is flushed out to and shown as blantanly untrue, it makes him look stronger and makes people gravitate to him. This was actually a photo and video and was hard to say it didn't happen.

My gut was saying, there's really nothing to it, but my heart was really scared and so I thought I would come to the experts . Thanks.

Tom, yes I know about the Catholics with bad knees . But some of my friends are non-Catholic and we have attended funeral masses and weddings together and the poor things are so lost (all the up and down we do....I just whisper to them it's okay to remain seated)
But that's what flashed in my mind when seeing this.

Well I do feel better. This poor man. The speach thing really turned me off from Hillary.

Concentrate on the darn issues not what the other camp is doing. Bring the issues to the forefront, speak your views, and stop trying to expose things that just aren't there (especially when you have more to hide then those you are trying to expose)

Oh boy - will we ever have a political race without all the negative mud slinging.

Many thanks again.

The answer to that is no . When you study history some more you will find that the campaigns today are a big improvement over the ones conducted by the founding fathers themselves. Back then the printed press was the equivalent of today's internet and they had no problem at all with smearing their opponent with the most vile unsubstantiated charges while penning them under a pseudonym. Duels were fought ..Alexander Hamilton was killed by Aaron Burr over just this type of politicking .

And I find that to be so sad Tom. In the job I hold....integrity must be number one. Every word we say, everything we do MUST be with integrity. There are zero exceptions.
Why can we not expect the same out of the highest office in America?

Is it to naive to think that all of us Americans ban together and not cast one vote and demand at least a no smear political campaign.

I do not want a President, and either does any American, who is skilled at uncovering dirt, we want an honest leader, who is skilled in running the country.

I agree, I would never vote for him for a 100 other reasons but this is not one of them, he has lead the pledge in the senate before and more, And as a Catholic I often don't knee either all the time but sit with my head bowed. His liberal ideas and his desire to spend, spend spend, should be your real fear.

I was just making sure it wasn't a strong beleif of his, not to hold his hand to is heart. For me it would have been huge, as silling as that may seem and I am quite releived that it indeed is not the reason.

Hillary, there are issues I like a lot that she says she is going to do...but the speech thing in trying to make Barack look bad, really turned me off. I guess it falls back on my integrity thing.

McCain - still concerns me in keeping our kids in that war.

I just don't know. I truly don't.

I hear yeah. Unfortunately we will not see it anytime soon.

Yesterday as an example the NY Slimes made unsubstantiated charges on their front page against the Republican candidate ;John McCain ,they endorsed only 3 weeks ago. They were working on the story for months before and yet made their endorsement of him before Super Tues . NY primary .

The Slimes fancies itself as the paper of record but a close examination of the article reveals that they did not even live up to their low standards of providing sources or reasons why their source chooses to remain anonymous.

They dredged up unproven charges of infidelity and impropriety without any reasonable evidence just to smear him and to plant the seeds so they can rehash stories about McCain that are sometimes true but mostly mere speculation going back to his navy days .