Patriotism matters. Period.
Re Los Angeles Times editorial, “Give Gabby Douglas a break in phony patriotism uproar.”
The fact that Gabby Douglas didn't place her hand over her heart during the playing of the national anthem can be forgiven. She is young, made a mistake.
However, the individual from Los Angeles who wrote that editorial cannot. They even dug deep to add the birthday of Michael Brown to their dribble. And as far as the portion about Barack Obama resisting to wear a lapel pin of our flag, in my opinion, that showed very little patriotism.
For the most part (especially down South), everyone is very patriotic. But to ride the First Amendment into the ground is unacceptable. Telling grade school children they don't have to recite the Pledge of Allegiance to our flag, and not having to sing the national anthem, is just chipping away at the moral fiber of this country.
Children repeat what they see and hear. We should display our patriotism proudly and often.
Too many have given life and limb so we can be a free nation. I recall a grammar school poem: “For lose of a nail a shoe was lost.”
Tommy McCorkle, Myrtle Beach
This story was originally published August 21, 2016 at 11:54 AM with the headline "Patriotism matters. Period.."