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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: longnshort who wrote (507895)	9/12/2012 4:26:36 PM
From: Alan Smithee	1 Recommendation Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 793748

NPR Reporter Refuses to Stand For Pledge, National Anthem Posted in Top Stories \| 93 comments Sep 12, 2012 By Todd Starnes National Public Radio’s White House correspondent has generated controversy after he wrote a blog explaining why he did not stand for the Pledge of Allegiance or the National Anthem at a recent Mitt Romney campaign event. FOLLOW TODD ON FACEBOOK FOR CULTURE WAR NEWS. CLICK HERE. Reporter Ari Shapiro wrote about his feelings on the issue on NPR’s website in a story titled, “Reporter’s Pledge-of-Allegiance Quandry Sparks Twitter Debate on Romney Trail.” “This is always an uncomfortable moment for me,” Shapiro wrote, referring to an announcement asking people to stand for the pledge and the Star Spangled Banner. “While I sat at my laptop, most of the reporters around me stood and put their hands over their hearts. This time instead of just sitting and by Text-Enhance">working, I tweeted what I was feeling.” Shapiro tweeted that he was torn about what to do. “I’m a rally observer, not a participant,” he wrote. “Yet most reporters around me stand for the anthem & pledge. I’m one of the few that doesn’t. Setting myself up for accusations I guess.” Shapiro said he anticipated a “flood of vitriol” – but instead received support. “As a qualitative researcher, I aim for respectful non-participation & try to blend into the background,” one supporter wrote. “The whole concept has always struck me as a bit fascist, having to stand when demanded to affirm our allegiance,” tweeted another. Shapiro’s decision drew a rebuke from the Media Research Center. “Shapiro in my view was making an odd point as a journalist – he shouldn’t say the pledge or stand for the national anthem at campaign events because it would somehow diminish his objectivity,” said the MRC’s Noel Sheppard in a statement online. Sheppard said those particular moments are not political – noting that we are “just Americans instead of Democrats and Republicans.” “That’s when we all stand together as one regardless of profession or ideology,” he added. Online readers strongly objected to Shapiro’s position. “I believe if you can not stand for the pledge of allegiance or put you hand over your heart for the national anthem then you indeed are unpatriotic,” one reader wrote. “He should have stood to show respect,” another reader added. “He’s an American first regardless of his political affiliation.” It’s unclear whether Shapiro stands for the pledge or national anthem when he’s not working as a journalist. NPR did not return calls seeking the answer to that question.

To: longnshort who wrote (507895)	9/12/2012 5:03:06 PM
From: Carolyn	Respond to of 793748

What a bunch of malarky!!! And they know it!!!! What is wrong with them?

To: longnshort who wrote (507895)	9/12/2012 5:37:47 PM
From: Brian Sullivan	3 Recommendations Respond to of 793748

Diplomat Killed in Libya Told Fellow Gamers: Hope I ‘Don’t Die Tonight’ Sean Smith. Photo: via The Mittani On Tuesday, Sean Smith, a Foreign Service Information Management Officer assigned to the American consulate in Benghazi, Libya, typed a message to the director of his online gaming guild: ”Assuming we don’t die tonight. We saw one of our ‘police’ that guard the compound taking pictures.” The consulate was under siege, and within hours, a mob would attack, killing Smith along with three others, including the U.S. ambassador. In his professional and personal life, Smith was a husband and father of two, an Air Force veteran, and a 10-year veteran of the Foreign Service who had served in Baghdad, Pretoria, Montreal and The Hague. But when gaming with EVE Online guild Goonswarm, he was a popular figure known as “Vile Rat,” and alternately as “Vilerat” while volunteering as a moderator at the internet community Something Awful. Smith’s death was confirmed on Wednesday morning by the State Department and reported widely in the news media. But the first people to report Smith’s death were his friends. Their reaction was shock and mourning. “My people, I have greivous [sic] news. Vile Rat has been confirmed to be KIA in Benghazi; his family has been informed and the news is likely to break out on the wire services soon,” wrote Goonswarm director Alex Gianturco in a message mirrored to Something Awful at 11:21 EST. “Needless to say, we are in shock, have no words, and have nothing but sympathy for his family and children. I have known Vile Rat since 2006, he was one of the oldest of old-guard goons and one of the best and most effective diplomats this game has ever seen.” wired.com