[paulat]

There's no backbone here...another case of someone looking to be offended.

The kid was not asked to put his hand over his heart or do anything except show common courtesy. The father should have explained to the kid about diplomacy. If the father was stationed in a foreign country...would he SIT DOWN ON THE TARMAC if another country's anthem was played???!!!

Save the fights for when they're really necessary.

[mewzilla]

Our high school apparently chose on Sept. 16 not to hold an assembly on the Constitution of the United States, but to educate our youth on the patriotic elements of another country.

That still needs some explaining.

[alancarp]

This fight is necessary because (a) the entire school's impressionable kids were intimidated into honoring a foreign flag and anthem on US soil; (b) the United States of America was not present in participation; and (c) this kind of behavior is becoming so commonplace as to get scary for the future of our republic.

The absence of decent common principles of patriotism in favor of diversity with the exclusion of our historical values is appalling -- and these people in the school system apparently think there's nothing wrong with this.

[Grizzled Bear]

If the father was stationed in a foreign country...would he SIT DOWN ON THE TARMAC if another country's anthem was played???!!!
__________________________________________________________
As a member of the US Military; when I am in a FOREIGN (or HOST) country I show proper respect for the anthem of the FOREIGN (or HOST) country I am in. If I were in the US and attending a ceremony where both the US and a foreign national anthem are both played I would show proper respect.

If I were in this kids situation I would explain proper protocol to the idiot who was trying to force me to attend the ceremony. There are rules about proper flag display and for the playing the anthems of more than one nation.

Sorry if I disrupted your emotional appeal. In the future read up on protocol before getting all feely on us.

[calex59]

If the father was stationed in a foreign country...would he SIT DOWN ON THE TARMAC if another country's anthem was played???!!! Save the fights for when they're really necessary.

The kid wasn't in a foreign country, he was in the US and the fight was fought when it should have been fought, which is here and now. He was perfectly in his rights and the school was 100 percent wrong.

Common curtesy? Forced down their throats? If we played the US anthem in Mexico I would not expect the Mexican citizens to stand, or expect them to be forced to stand. Evidently you think that teachers in this country have the authority of dictators over our children!

[Melas]

Those were my thoughts exactly. You show courtesy to another country and its citizens without showing any disrespect to your own. Unfortunately , this kid and his father lack that kind of wisdom.

[R. Scott]

The kid was not asked to put his hand over his heart or do anything except show common courtesy. The father should have explained to the kid about diplomacy.

Any time a foreign flag is displayed in a place of honor in the USA, the American Flag is also to be displayed – in a superior position (higher or to the right).

[Tannerone]

I wish you lived next to me! Your diplomatic understanding of such problems wold require a donation to my personal welfare each morning. No donation NO get to leave! Simple and diplomatic!

[HuntsvilleTxVeteran]

"The spread of evil is the symptom of a vacuum. Whenever evil wins, it is only by default: by the moral failure of those who evade the fact that there can be no compromise on basic principles."

AYN RAND

[RightOnline]

"If the father was stationed in a foreign country...would he SIT DOWN ON THE TARMAC if another country's anthem was played???!!!"

Guess you haven't been keeping up, bud.........this was NOT in a foreign country, it was NOT on a tarmac........it was in a f**king AMERICAN HIGH SCHOOL, fercryinoutloud.

Use that melon, would ya???? Jesus..............

[Mr. Rational]

When did a foreign country enter into this?

The kid did the right thing. This is the USA - not the USA/Mexico.

There are reasons to observe some simple formalities. There are also reasons for undermining them. The school was undermining the stature of the USA. And they knew it - that is why they were doing it.

[Jigsaw John]

There's no backbone here...another case of someone looking to be offended.

The only ones that are offensive here are those that would perpetrate such an event on U.S. soil.

[torchthemummy]

As has been stately eloquently by others - this was in the US - not even in a border state of Mexico.

"There's no backbone here...another case of someone looking to be offended."

Obviously you are the one, in the context of this forum, that is "looking to be offended."

You talk about protocol and yet seem to know nothing of the concept.

[zip]

If the father was stationed in a foreign country...would he SIT DOWN ON THE TARMAC if another country's anthem was played???!!!

You are a simpleton. period. He WASN'T in Mexico, he WAS in the USA. Try reading the article before making such an assinine statement.

[zip]

The father should have explained to the kid about diplomacy

"Diplomacy" as defined by your liberal friends is "appeasement".

[freedumb2003]

If you are IN that country you absolutely should show respect for their anthem and all other such things.

I have been in Mexico on their Independence day and lustily participated with my shouted VIVA! for the "Grito." It was their independence day and I was a guest there and thought it proper to join them in their celebration of independence.

But we have a big problem in this counry with Multiculturalism sublimating our government and tradition to those from elsewhere.

Standing should NOT be forced. Listening to another anthem in school is perhaps interesting, perhaps educational. It should NEVER be treated as a formal requirement.