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"The Star-Spangled Banner" is the national anthem of the United States of America. The lyrics come from "Defence of Fort McHenry",[1] a poem written in 1814 by the 35-year-old lawyer and amateur poet, Francis Scott Key, after witnessing the bombardment of Fort McHenry by the British Royal Navy ships in Chesapeake Bay during the Battle of Fort McHenry in the War of 1812.
O! say can you see by the dawn's early light,
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming,
Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there;
O! say does that star-spangled banner yet wave,
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
On the shore dimly seen through the mists of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines in the stream: '
Tis the star-spangled banner, O! long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion,
A home and a country, should leave us no more?
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave,
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
O! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war's desolation.
Blest with vict'ry and peace, may the Heav'n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust."
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave![12]
The American flag is nothing but a red white and blue doo rag! All of you overly patriotic people that are brainwashed into Americanism, are prideful to be part of a violent organized criminal gang called the USA.
An American lawyer and amateur poet, Francis Scott Key, was on a mercy mission for the release of Dr. William Beanes, a prisoner of the British. Key showed the British letters from wounded British officers praising the care they received from Dr. Beanes.
The British agreed to release Beanes, but Key and Beanes were forced to stay with the British until the attack on Baltimore was over. Key watched the proceedings from a truce ship in the Patapsco River. On the morning of the 14th, Key saw the American flag waving above Fort McHenry. Inspired, he began jotting down verses on the back of a letter he was carrying.
He composed the words to the tune of an old British drinking song, "To Anacreon in Heaven". When Key reached Baltimore, his poem was printed on pamphlets by the Baltimore American. His poem was originally called "Defense of Ft. McHenry". The song eventually became known as "The Star-Spangled Banner". Congress made it the national anthem in 1931.
Originally posted by RealSpoke
reply to post by boncho
Think about this more abstractly please, it's about concept, not specificsedit on 19-4-2012 by RealSpoke because: (no reason given)
Originally posted by RealSpoke
reply to post by boncho
Think about this more abstractly please, it's about concept, not specificsedit on 19-4-2012 by RealSpoke because: (no reason given)
Originally posted by hawkiye
Actually OP could not be more wrong. That was a time when we were legitimately defending ourselves against tyranny and had every right use violence to do so. It is ridiculous to try and lump that into the mindless violence gangster rap represents
Saying a country is "gangster" just doesn't make sense.
Originally posted by RedGoneWILD
drive bys = drone strikes
Originally posted by RealSpoke
reply to post by boncho
You can live in gang territory and not be "in" the gang. However, if you live in "Blood" territory and you are wearing nothing but red, you are going to be seen as a blood.
If you fly the American flag then you chose to associate yourself with the gang of Bush,Cheney,Obama etc. You cannot pick and chose what aspect of the gang you like or dislike, it's all or nothing. I can't ignore that the USA tortures people, so I'm never going to fly the flag on my house until it changes.