Posted on 10/04/2016 11:14:37 AM PDT by Altura Ct.
To say the East Carolina University Marching Band struck a wrong chord with fans would be an understatement.
Furious North Carolina football fans booed the band after several members refused to play the National Anthem – while others took a knee.
East Carolina’s blatant disrespect of the Star-Spangled Banner happened Oct. 1st at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium.
Local reports indicate about a dozen members of the Marching Pirates disgraced themselves on the football field.
At halftime – outraged fans got to have their say.
The stadium was filled with booing as the band prepared to perform its halftime show.
“I am ashamed of this school for letting the band do this,” one irate reader posted on the university’s Facebook page. “Shame ECU, shame!”
“What are you teaching these kids,” one parent asked. “I believe the students have the right to protest but not on that field in uniform.”
And another reader offered this suggestion: “What if those of us who write checks to the university stop sending them as our way of using our voice?”
If the children have a First Amendment right to desecrate our national anthem, certainly the American taxpayers have rights to not fund their anti-American horseplay.
ECU Chancellor Cecil Staton released a statement defending the marching band’s disgraceful actions. Mike Shanahan Interview
“While we acknowledge and understand the disappointment felt by many Pirate fans in response to the events at the beginning of today’s football game, we urge all Pirate students, supporters and participants to act with respect for each other’s views,” the chancellor wrote.
He also affirmed “the rights of our students, staff and faculty to express their personal views.”
Oh really?
So what would have happened if the marching band had formed the words “All Lives Matter” on the football field? Or “Make America Great Again”? Would that have been permissible?
It’s doubtful.
“Civil discourse is an East Carolina value and part of our ECU creed,” he wrote. “We are proud that recent campus conversations on difficult issues have been constructive, meaningful exchanges that helped grow new understanding among our campus community.”
What about disrespecting Old glory and the national anthem and our brave military personnel? Is that part of ECU’s values and creed?
Kiernan Shanahan, a Raleigh attorney and member of the ECU board of trustees, told me he was shocked and appalled.
“The strong boos from the crowd when they realized what was happening certainly echoed the sentiment of the board,” Mr. Shanahan told me. “It was unfortunate and poor judgement for these few band members to disrespect our country, to take advantage of the uniforms they were wearing as ECU Pirate band members – to advance a personal agenda.”
It’s just too bad the chancellor’s statement did not reflect the outrage from most of the community.
“We foster and encourage free speech but that has to be tempered by time, place and circumstances,” Mr. Shanahan said. “It was not the right time, place and (it was) the incorrect manner for these students to articulate personal dissent. It reflected poorly on the band.”
I feel bad for the folks there in the Carolinas because their taxpayer-funded university has been infested with a bunch of left-wing educators spewing this nonsense. Here's a list of email addresses for the university's board of trustees.
Perhaps one of the grownups in charge could muster the courage to tell the marching band to take its anti-American propaganda and blow it out their woodwinds.
Too bad it wasn’t D battery night at the stadium like in the Bronx.
And herein lies the problem. Exactly where are the grown-ups in charge on today's college campuses?
HRC is not going to win North Carolina.
And if no one in the NFL did it, it wouldn't occur to any of these kids to do it, either.
Monkey see - monkey do.
The crowd, if they had any guts, could have shown their disapproval of the band’s protest by simply turning their backs on them. Or better still, leave the game and ask for their money back.
Solution: Remove the offending band members. They have the right to free speech but they don’t have the right to be in the band if they are going to behave in offensive ways. Let them demonstrate outside the stadium.
In my opinion, the only way to protest these protests in via the wallet.
Let me guess: Those taking the knee instead of playing the national anthem were blacks and liberals. How close was I?
Why do I get the feeling a day is coming where that band wished that all the crowd did in reaction was boo.
“Solution: Remove the offending band members. They have the right to free speech but they don’t have the right to be in the band if they are going to behave in offensive ways. Let them demonstrate outside the stadium.”
The real problem is the Chancellor. If the Board of Trustees have any balls, they will be asking for his resignation immediately. School Administrators are, after all, the country’s highest-paid “migrant workers.”
The older I get, the more I think no classroom in this country— at any level of education— should have an instructor under the age of 40. This going from sitting in a classroom to immediately standing in front of one is killing this country. Too many stupid people with too much responsibility, and all they can do is say why they think the people outside their four walls are either dumb or evil.
It might be REALLY interesting when they play Navy Oct.13th (Thursday) in Greenville. I predict SOMEBODY is going to get beaten like a rented mule.
THEY CAN KISS MY BRASS!................
“American Pie”
DON MCLEAN
[Intro]
A long, long time ago
I can still remember how that music used to make me smile
And I knew if I had my chance
That I could make those people dance
And maybe they’d be happy for a while
But February made me shiver
With every paper I’d deliver
Bad news on the doorstep
I couldn’t take one more step
I can’t remember if I cried
When I read about his widowed bride
But something touched me deep inside
The day the music died
[Chorus:]
So bye, bye, Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
And them good ole boys were drinking whiskey ‘n rye
Singin’ this’ll be the day that I die
This’ll be the day that I die
[Verse 1]
Did you write the book of love
And do you have faith in God above
If the Bible tells you so?
Now do you believe in rock and roll?
Can music save your mortal soul?
And can you teach me how to dance real slow?
Well, I know that you’re in love with him
‘Cause I saw you dancin’ in the gym
You both kicked off your shoes
Man, I dig those rhythm and blues
I was a lonely teenage broncin’ buck
With a pink carnation and a pickup truck
But I knew I was out of luck
The day the music died
[Chorus:]
I started singing bye, bye, Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
Them good ole boys were drinking whiskey ‘n rye
Singin’ this’ll be the day that I die
This’ll be the day that I die
[Verse 2]
Now for ten years we’ve been on our own
And moss grows fat on a rollin’ stone
But that’s not how it used to be
When the jester sang for the king and queen
In a coat he borrowed from James Dean
And a voice that came from you and me
Oh, and while the king was looking down
The jester stole his thorny crown
The courtroom was adjourned
No verdict was returned
And while Lenin read a book on Marx
The quartet practiced in the park
And we sang dirges in the dark
The day the music died
[Chorus:]
We were singing bye, bye, Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
Them good ole boys were drinking whiskey ‘n rye
Singin’ this’ll be the day that I die
This’ll be the day that I die
[Verse 3]
Helter skelter in a summer swelter
The birds flew off with a fallout shelter
Eight miles high and falling fast
It landed foul on the grass
The players tried for a forward pass
With the jester on the sidelines in a cast
Now the halftime air was sweet perfume
While the sergeants played a marching tune
We all got up to dance
Oh, but we never got the chance
‘Cause the players tried to take the field
The marching band refused to yield
Do you recall what was revealed
The day the music died?
[Chorus:]
We started singing bye, bye, Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
Them good ole boys were drinking whiskey ‘n rye
And singin’ this’ll be the day that I die
This’ll be the day that I die
[Verse 4]
Oh, and there we were all in one place
A generation lost in space
With no time left to start again
So come on, Jack be nimble, Jack be quick
Jack Flash sat on a candlestick
‘Cause fire is the devil’s only friend
Oh, and as I watched him on the stage
My hands were clenched in fists of rage
No angel born in Hell
Could break that Satan’s spell
And as the flames climbed high into the night
To light the sacrificial rite
I saw Satan laughing with delight
The day the music died
[Chorus:]
He was singing bye, bye, Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
Them good ole boys were drinking whiskey ‘n rye
And singin’ this’ll be the day that I die
This’ll be the day that I die
[Outro]
I met a girl who sang the blues
And I asked her for some happy news
But she just smiled and turned away
I went down to the sacred store
Where I’d heard the music years before
But the man there said the music wouldn’t play
And in the streets, the children screamed
The lovers cried and the poets dreamed
But not a word was spoken
The church bells all were broken
And the three men I admire most
The Father, Son and the Holy Ghost
They caught the last train for the coast
The day the music died
[Chorus:]
And they were singing bye, bye, Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
And them good ole boys were drinking whiskey ‘n rye
Singin’ this’ll be the day that I die
This’ll be the day that I die
[Chorus:]
They were singing bye, bye, Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
Them good ole boys were drinking whiskey ‘n rye
And singin’ this’ll be the day that I die
You nailed it and the solution already exists. Nobody is allowed to create a disruption at the games and can be subject to removal if they do.. Clearly what the band members did created a major disruption; ergo, security should have done their job.
Let me guess, a high proportion of,... Amish?
it sounds as if the band member was not doing his or her job....kick him out permanently with no way back into the band....the person has free speech but they have to realize there will be consequences for the action they take.
Best possible response at the moment.
“Dis-band”.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.