Certainly not the biggest transgression out there, but I was very surprised to see the Raw Story video below of Obama standing and listening to the national anthem with his hands clasped in front of him, rather than the traditional right hand over the heart.
Again, not to make too big a deal out of this, but if he wants to win over the majority, these little symbolic things will help or hurt him. Everyone else on the stage was following the traditional stance, which makes it all the more uncomfortable to watch Obama standing as though he were visiting from another country and politely listening to the host country's anthem. Admittedly, it is about the worst rendition of the national anthem that I have ever heard, but if he wants to make a race out of this campaign, I think he needs to make the symbolic gestures like hand over heart.
On the other hand, a symbol is a symbol, and many folks (myself included) believe that this country has gone overboard in valuing patriotic symbolism. Flags, anthems, blind allegiance.
Is Obama making a statement here? Or did he just forget? Watch the video and let me know what you think:
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