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Current TV's Bill Press: Star Spangled Banner is 'stupid' and 'embarrassing'
Thankfully for Bill Press, American's do indeed enjoy the freedom of speech.... even when that speech is amazingly moronic and stupid as his little diatribe is. Obviously Mr. Press really has no idea why we have a national anthem and probably no real clue as to what its really about and of course, no idea of the history of the song.
This probably won’t win liberal radio talk show host Bill Press any fans on the right.
On his Tuesday radio show simultcasted on Current TV, Press admitted that he is on a crusade to “get rid” of the national anthem, “The Star-Spangled Banner,” mostly because it is “un-singable.” But he also admitted that he knew he would be criticized for espousing this view.
“This is a pet-peeve of mine — no, it is more serious than that,” he said. “It’s more than a pet-peeve. It is a major crusade of mine, a major cause of mine and that is, to get rid of ‘The Star-Spangled Banner.’ Now I know you’re going to say I am not a true American, I’m not patriotic. I don’t think patriotism has anything to do with it. The national anthem is just absolutely monumentally un-singable. I mean — there’s so much wrong with it. I don’t know where to start.”
After giving listeners a brief history of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” Press also questioned the truthfulness of its lyrics.
“It’s an abomination,” he continued. “First of all, it ranges two octaves; most people can only do, kind of, one octave. I mean when you think about it, it’s bombs bursting in air, rocket’s red glare — it all kinds of, you know a lot of national anthems are that way too, all kinds of military jargon and the land there’s only one phrase ‘the land of the free’ which is kind of nice and ‘the home of the brave?’ I don’t know.”
And then Press gave the criticism that is likely to be thought of as controversial — how it is “stupid” and how he is “embarrassed” when he hears it.
“Are we the only ones who are brave on the planet?” he said to his producer Peter Ogburn, also of FishbowlDC fame. “I mean all the brave people live here. I mean it’s just stupid, I think. I’m embarrassed — I’m embarrassed every time I hear it.”
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Willy on
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I have to agree with part of his reasoning, the part about how difficult it is to sing and I have thought, since I was a kid, that "America the Beautiful" should be our national anthem.
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Permalink Reply by Dave on
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I think the Star Spangled Banner simply got the nod as the national anthem because of its age and that it reflected the struggle America went through to become what it is today, that we went through a tough fight. Don't get me wrong, America, The Beautiful is a fine song too... Ray Charles does an excellent version by the way... but its simply a good song (and that of course is simply an opinion, not saying I'm right).
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Permalink Reply by AQUAMAN on
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Bill Press, be truly and totally ashamed of yourself, and the public paid for stage set for such a farce, not to mention, you are truly old enough to know better, by the looks of your white hair, not your IQ, that's for sure. The rendition of America the Beautiful Willy posted has 3 verses by musical fact. Those last 2 verses after the first, they are totally foreign to my singing history, never heard them till now. Did anyone else know all those 2 verse words? So, if tradition, history, heritage, have anything to do with this "farce" of reporting, I say we have many, many more important things as Americans to think, focus, and contribute to than this waste of time and energy. In other words pal, GET LOST! Get a LIFE! Get a new pet-peeve to settle your Xanax addictions. JMO
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