Romney’s National Anthem Lesson

COMMENTARY | At a basketball game last night, I noticed most of the crowd had their hand over their heart during the singing of the national anthem. Since I was not entirely sure about the proper etiquette on this matter, I looked it up when I returned home. To my surprise, most of the search results had to do with Mitt Romney. Interesting…

Last week it was pointed out that Mitt Romney has been making some mistakes regarding the national anthem. He said that we are the only country in the world where citizens place their hand over their heart during the song. As it turns out, there are many other countries with this exact same custom.

My initial response was to give Romney a break on this one. I'm sure he didn't write the speech personally, he was just reading what was given to him. Also, there is an abundance of confusion surrounding what the exact protocol is during the anthem. Even President Obama was criticized for not putting his hand over his heart a few years back. He said he was taught to do that during the pledge of allegiance and to sing along during the national anthem.

To my surprise, it is proper etiquette to sing along. This does not at all seem to be the case whenever I go to a sporting event. I never see people singing along with the anthem, and usually only about half place their hand over their heart. Heck, some don't even take off their hats.

But as far as Mitt Romney goes, I expect any politician to read over their speech before actually giving it and pose questions on any subject you are not absolutely sure about. If he didn't know that to be a fact, it seems like he would have asked someone for confirmation.

So next time you are at a sports event and they are about to sing the national anthem, stand up, take off your hat, put your hand over your heart and even sing along. Just ignore any strange looks you get from the people around you, as you will be doing it right.