As the nation goes down the toilet, in large part due to Americans being told that we should feel ashamed to be American, the Iowa State Legislature is not taking this lying down. Poised to take action through House Bill 587, students wouldn’t only be required to sing the anthem, but they would also be required to learn about it. Now just how it was written, but the history behind it becoming our national anthem.
For many of us, this was a required part of “Social Studies” around 9th or 10th grade, and it was a great way to help instill patriotism and a sense of community in many of us. However, Iowan leaders are taking into account problems this bill could present, especially for those unable to stand, so the legislation would allow parents to opt their children out of these requirements.
Unsurprisingly, Iowa state Rep. Sue Cahill (D-Marshall County) is already speaking out against it “The school classroom is not the place for mandating the singing of the national anthem, thus mandating patriotism for students; I think that’s something students choose, and it’s something that they learn, and they’ll learn it in other ways. The amount of time it would take to not only sing, teach the singing takes away from some valuable teacher time, student learning time.”
What Cahill is missing is just how important that sense of patriotism is. For students in Iowa, it’s not ever-present in their lives. The state has no professional sports teams, a surprisingly low level of military installations, and very little in the way of state interaction with the fabric of battle that makes up much of this great nation. This lack of involvement in the building or continued maintenance of patriotism in the US makes them far more susceptible to socialistic tendencies.
Given the number of immigration waivers being given to illegals to come fill many of the grunt work jobs on farms, these students need that patriotic reminder more than others. Many have watched their fathers forced out of work in favor of migrant help or watched their brothers get undercut and fired in favor of the illegals.
People like Rep Henry Stone (R-Dist. 9) see this Bill as the star-spangled patriotism that middle America needs right now that it represents. “I believe that our kids should be more exposed to things like our national anthem, those that have supported our country, our servicemen — myself being one of them. I grew up in a household that valued patriotism and promoted patriotism. It’s why I joined as a third-generation military man, serving our country for 22 years. So, I believe in this bill. I believe that it’s something that we can put back into our schools that has added value.”
This kind of adjustment is one that the American people had for years and only recently backed away from.
Being proud to be an American, taking pride in our nation and its people, knowing its history, and being able to talk about it intelligently was just commonplace. While many would be quick to gloss over parts of it that we aren’t so proud of now, we looked at it as a step of growing pains and knew the way to get past it was to improve. Changes that have come since that time essentially undid all of that.
While the seeds of anti-patriotism may have been planted in Vietnam, they didn’t flower until around 2003 when President Bush Jr. invaded Iraq. Suddenly these liberal college students were policy experts on the Middle East. They claimed they knew best and that America was the worst place to be. These seeds ended up making their way into rural America. To states like Iowa who routinely lost their sons and daughters in these conflicts.
Rather than honor their sacrifice to freedom, democracy, 9and this great nation, the anti-patriotism liberals would mock them by saying they died for nothing. By parading images of their death around as something we as Americans should be ashamed of; proclaiming that conservatives killed them.
Making the National Anthem a part of school once again is just another step in making America a country to be proud of, not just one the cockroaches scurry off to when their home fails.
