By Andrea Widburg
With permission from and sponsorship by several South Carolina congressmen, the Rushingbrook Children’s Choir, which is headquartered in Greenville, South Carolina, traveled to D.C. and assembled to perform The Star-Spangled Banner in the United States Capitol. Instead, the Capitol Police shut them down because (allegedly) they claim our national anthem is an illegal protest song. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) needs to bring these partisan pistol-carriers to heel.
The Star-Spangled Banner isn’t our national anthem just because a lot of people enjoy singing it. Given that it’s a song with a melody favored by drunk Brits in the 18th century—that is, people who would willingly strive for the High C, and then be unembarrassed when they missed it—many people fear it. The reason it’s our national anthem is because, in 1931, Congress used its constitutional authority to make it so: “The composition consisting of the words and music known as the Star-Spangled Banner is the national anthem.”
In that capacity, the song, by law, demands respect:
(b) Conduct During Playing.—During a rendition of the national anthem—
(1) when the flag is displayed—
(A) individuals in uniform should give the military salute at the first note of the anthem and maintain that position until the last note;
(B) members of the Armed Forces and veterans who are present but not in uniform may render the military salute in the manner provided for individuals in uniform; and
(C) all other persons present should face the flag and stand at attention with their right hand over the heart, and men not in uniform, if applicable, should remove their headdress with their right hand and hold it at the left shoulder, the hand being over the heart; and
(2) when the flag is not displayed, all present should face toward the music and act in the same manner they would if the flag were displayed.
The Rushingbrook Children’s Choir, with help from South Carolina Representatives Russell Fry, Joe Wilson, and William Timmons, had received permission to sing a short set of patriotic songs in the statutory hall at the U.S. Capitol. There is, of course, no song more patriotic than our official national anthem.
Last Friday, the children, all clearly under 13 years old, were doing a beautiful job of singing The Star-Spangled Banner, when the Capitol Police stepped in and stopped them. That’s bad. What’s worse is that they apparently did so by claiming that the song was an illegal protest song:
NOTE: This was a pre-arranged and pre-approved performance of a set of patriotic songs that was coordinated with the offices of at least three different Congressmen. I believe a call was even placed to the Speaker's Office the same morning to confirm that all preparatory steps had been completed and that the visit/performance could proceed.
In case the text doesn’t display, here’s the commentary accompanying that video (emphasis mine):
NOTE: This was a pre-arranged and pre-approved performance of a set of patriotic songs that was coordinated with the offices of at least three different Congressmen. I believe a call was even placed to the Speaker’s Office the same morning to confirm that all preparatory steps had been completed and that the visit/performance could proceed.
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Have you ever heard of a children’s choir being stopped mid-performance while singing their National Anthem????
Our kiddos as part of Rushingbrook Children’s Choir were privileged to sing today in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol … until they were interrupted mid-Anthem by Capitol Police who insisted they stop singing. The visit and Choir performance was all planned and approved … but it’s possible that there was some type of “permit” or communication mixup. Either way …
1) the kids sang brilliantly
2) Capitol Police not even letting them complete the song and trying to explain that singing the Anthem could be considered a form of protest is telling and embarrassing
3) when you need a permit to sing your National Anthem in your nation’s Capitol something’s gone wrong
#RushingbrookChildrensChoir
The Capitol Police have not distinguished themselves in the last few years. One of their members literally got away with murder when he shot and killed an unarmed woman, and another one violently beat a woman who was not doing anything other than standing (that’s not crowd control; that’s brutality). There was also the embarrassing, tearful performance in which some engaged before the January 6 committee. Rep. McCarthy needs to investigate what happened and, if the charge is true, he must address what happened.
Speaking of protests, I’ll just leave you with this video, showing Democrats draped in African symbols (not American ones) kneeling in the U.S. Capitol to honor a heavily drugged-up ex-felon who died when his diseased heart simply gave out while he was resisting arrest:
(On a related note, which I meant to mention regarding Charles III’s coronation, was I the only one who thought it disgraceful and disgusting that Jill Biden and her granddaughter showed up wearing Ukraine’s colors rather than the colors of the nation they were representing; that is, our United States? After all, we Americans paid the expenses associated with their little jaunt.)