Outrage!™

So this weekend was the US Open (a golf tournament). The only news I had heard about it (re: saw headlines on FB or Twitter) was that some young (his age seems important in the reporting) dude from Northern Ireland shocked everyone with his Golfing Awesomeness.

But Rory McIlroy (who I just looked up) was not the only part of the Open that got certain people all discombobulated. NBC, who showed the tournament on air, also managed to stir up some excitement. NBC did a trite opening montage showing school children reciting the Pledge while various shots of servicemen (I did not see any servicewomen) raised the American flag. Can't forget the dramatic voice-over about how grand, serious, and awesome we are interspersed with pictures of DC monuments (who will apparently watch the new winner, ah, win). Which all seemed weird to me until I realized that the tournament was held at the Congressional Country Club (just outside of Washington DC). Well, it's still a little weird because golf tournament but at least it doesn't seem so out there given the location.

So why the excitement over the montage? Because NBC axed the words "under God" from it (you can watch the intro here). So a whole shitload of people swallowed a huge dose of Rageahol mixed with Moral Panic and expressed their Outrage!™ to NBC. So much so that by the time the tournament was over, Dan Hicks was on air issuing a mea culpa:

It was our intent to begin the coverage of this U.S. Open championship with a feature that captured the patriotism of our national championship being held in our nation's capital for the third time," Hicks said. "Regrettably, a portion of the Pledge of Allegiance that was in that feature was edited out. It was not done to upset anyone, and we'd like to apologize to those of you who were offended by it."

Well, now I'm offended by it (not really, more contemptuous)--but not for the same reasons those angry viewers were offended, I'm sure. I wonder if those people who got so outraged by this editing even realize that the Pledge was written by a socialist--a real socialist, not the sort of "Obama is a socialist!" ignorance thrown about today by some people--Baptist minister and it neither included the phrase "under God" nor "the United States of America". That the "under God" part was added in 1954 as propaganda to "distinguish us" from the Scary Godless Commies (the USA part was added in 1923). I'm going to go with no, they don't realize it. Or maybe they just don't care because 1950s cheap political ploys are something they particularly enjoy and reflect their sort of patriotism.

It's not surprising that people were pissed off and NBC felt it had to go on air to apologize. No, not surprising. Just stupid.


[Related Reading: Comparative Religiopolitics, Today in Dumbassery, To Pledge or, you know, not, Liberty and Justice For All, Be Patriotic. Or else.]