Don’t judge on Anthem incident

OUR OPINION
Published: June 5, 2008

Barack Obama has been much maligned for an incident in 2007 where he did not put his hand over his heart during the National Anthem at a campaign event.

Pictures of the event show Obama onstage with others. He has his hands folded in front of him, while others on the stage, including his opponent, Hillary Clinton, have their hands over their heart.

This incident has been used to question Obama’s patriotism. What kind of man would not put his hand over his heart during the National Anthem?

The answer? Many kinds of men.

Putting one’s hand over one’s heart is a tradition reserved for the Pledge of Allegiance. Sure, it is also perfectly appropriate for the National Anthem, but it certainly isn’t a requirement. This is simply another example of what is so wrong with the political game. When people think it is legitimate to spin the truth and cast ridiculous aspersions in order to defeat an opponent, something has gone awry.

Our democratic system of government is based on the idea that an informed electorate will choose its representatives.

An informed electorate requires accurate, unbiased information — facts — in order to make its choices.

What it often gets instead are lies, fabrications, distortions and spin. These may be the tools of the political trade, but they are anathema to a properly functioning democracy.

There is nothing unpatriotic or weird about Obama not putting his hand over his heart during the National Anthem.

Go to any baseball game and you will see that many people do not. This is just another attempt to make Obama seem out of the norm and unpatriotic.

All candidates are subject to this kind of unfair scrutiny from time to time. We single Obama out, not because we support him, but because this is one of the
more blatant examples of negative spin.

All candidates should be open to intense investigation. But the allegations should be based in reality.

One day, we hope, political discussions can revolve around issues and experience rather than the hard edge of negative attacks. Until then, we hope the
informed electorate is intelligent enough to parse what matters from the spin and see through to the inherent decency, or indecency, of their candidates.