Opening Day woes

Exchuse me.. 4 Years military service here.. Gulf War Veteran.. Thank you..

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June 11th, 2001 - Gemini 100
VertiGo Rides - 82 Farewell my good friend..
S&S WILL rise again....

Not to be beating a dead horse, but there is at least one religion that does not respect the national anthem or the pledge because it represents putting symbols and country before God. Although a good many of them WILL stand quietly out of respect for those of us who DO respect the national anthem and pledge.

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I'd rather die living than live like I'm dead

I do agree that people should stand and face the flag during the anthem. Nothing annoys me more that when I am at a sports event and someone starts screaming/ talking/ walking, during the anthem. Would it not be easier for CP to play the anthem, and then open the gates? This way all the gate attendents would be on the same page as to the actual park opening, even for those with the JCC pass.

I thought that's how it was done to be honest. I know the Oceana gate was opened to JCC members right after the Anthem Sunday. I also noticed that the Soak City gate opens right after the anthem as well. Is it different up front?

-Matt
2001 Magnum Crew

While I ALWAYS will stand and respect our Anthem and Flag (or any other country's that is playing) it is someone's RIGHT NOT TO. That is some of the BASIC freedoms this country was founded on.

But realy we could discuss this forever or get back to the main popint of discuss this week...THE FOOTERS...Maybe we should send 60 Minutes or Dateline to Sandusky to investigate....
*** This post was edited by Old Timer Tim 5/8/2002 4:53:41 PM ***

Yeah.. I'm w/ OTT... we gotta keep our minds on the important things in life. :)

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TPFKAV
MF Count - 32

Honoring the Flag/Anthem

If you can't do this, GET OUT. Find somewhere else to live.

Oh? No place better available? Then stay and CHOOSE to do what you want.

Just don't expect me to respect you.

Or support you. Those that choose to not to honor those that have made this country great are a waste of skin. They benefit from the loss of others, while spitting on their memories.

My 2 cents (actually, about 5 bucks)

A wee bit 'o Scotch may help...

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"If we go any faster, she'll blow apart for sure!"

On opening day, they did open the front gates before the Anthem started playing. I was almost to WT before I heard it starting.

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-Chris Woodard
"Mean Streak would be better if they replaced the square wheels with round ones."
VertiGo: VertiGone but not forgotten.

I agree with you all about talking through the National Anthem.I think I'd politely remind those people after the song was over that there are people in Afghanistan fighting for our safety so that we can enjoy some roller coasters,and to SHUT UP!!
As for opening day-I thought it would be a lot worse.The Park looks pretty daggone good!!!!Looks like they were busy as bees out there this winter with all the painting and repair work and general sprucing up that I saw.The only complaint that I heard about was the three hour wait to get your season pass processed.I myself went the week before hand when it was cold and raining and windy as all get out.So,I welcomed the warm weather!!

OMG no popcorn chicken? I think i'm gonna cry...that's my thing...eat noghtin...just have pop, end of day, have some popcorn chicken. That stuff was the shiz.....:(

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OMG! The Space Spiral is leaning!!" Must be the weight of that new air conditioning system everyone keeps hypothesizing about...

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Oh? No place better available? Then stay and CHOOSE to do what you want. ...Those that choose to not to honor those that have made this country great are a waste of skin. They benefit from the loss of others, while spitting on their memories.

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I take issue with two things...

First off, while I certainly love this country, the day you think it's perfect or that everyone loves you is the day someone crashes an airplane into one of your buildings. The day we think that we had no part in fostering hateful feelings by our own actions is the day we fail as a nation to live up to the title "super power" and foster more hate. We have a real bad habit of only getting involved where there are financial considerations (oil), and that's not good policy (see: former Yugoslavia).

Second, regardless of how distasteful it might be to you, religion and free speech are our rights here. Whether you like it or not, those people who fight for us fight for flag burners, racists and other generally unpleasant people. Our country wouldn't be great if it were any other way. If you don't believe that, can you really believe in what they're fighting for?

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Jeff
Webmaster/GTTP, Sillynonsense.com
"As far as I can tell it doesn't matter who you are. If you can believe, there's something worth fighting for..." - Garbage, "Parade"

But to dishonor the symbols of that which gives you the right to do so seems illogical.

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"If we go any faster, she'll blow apart for sure!"

Might as well but my 2 cents in. I think people have their right not to face the flag but I think people are giving America the middle finger when they do it. We have these rights and the least people could do is stop for the National Anthem. We should take everyone who does that and let them live in a country where the people their are starving and have no rights for a year and see if they won't stop for the Anthem.

Another thing is simply respect. If a person doesn't want to honor America, they can simply remember all the people who came before them who fought for them.

Its a good thing to stop anyway because there are some people who want to pay respect and honor to their country. So if a person doesn't stop for the flag, they could stop for other.

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You are the Weakest Link, Goodbye.

OTT, come on.. 60 Min. ?? Dateline?? Please..

When you need to get to the bottom of the story, there's only one person and show to call..

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. They did a FANTASTIC piece on the former nutcase, I mean mayor of Toledo. You all remember Carty, the one who wanted to move all the deaf people out near the airport because they wouldn't complain about the increased air traffic.

I'm not kidding people... he made news in Australia for it..

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June 11th, 2001 - Gemini 100
VertiGo Rides - 82 Farewell my good friend..
S&S WILL rise again....

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But to dishonor the symbols of that which gives you the right to do so seems illogical.

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No one said it had to be logical, just the right thing to do. When you give your own country the "middle finger" in places like China, they throw you in jail. Heck, you couldn't even stand up to the Ed Markey's of the world in other countries. The day someone tells you what you can and can't say is the day I'm moving to Canada.

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Jeff
Webmaster/GTTP, Sillynonsense.com
"As far as I can tell it doesn't matter who you are. If you can believe, there's something worth fighting for..." - Garbage, "Parade"

Jeff's absolutely right! If I choose to wipe my*****with the flag then that is my choice and my RIGHT in this country (as long as it isnt someone else's flag ;)). For someone to say that a person is a "waste of skin" because that person chooses to pay no respect to the national anthem or flag actually herself dishonors what it is that flag stands for. Last time I checked "Liberty" and "Free Expression" were core values that these so-called 'national symbols' stand for. If you cannot get that, then perhaps it is *you* who needs to leave the country. It is alright, hell ENCOURAGED to have differences of opinion. But such intolerance is more "Anti-American" than anything else that has been listed heretofore.

Let me leave you all with a little poem:

I pledge dis-allegiance, to the flag,

Of the United Snakes of America,

And to the hypocrisy, for which it stands.

One nation, devoid of God, Completely divided,

With hatred, and injustice for all.

(author unknown)

lata,

jeremy

--who fails to see how someone else's view of the flag encroaches on one's rights of "Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness" (emphasis added)

The whole point of fighting for our way of life is to protect the right to burn the flag, criticize the president, protest our laws, walk and talk during the national anthem and a whole lot of other things that would land you in jail, or worse, in many places. The next time you see someone ignoring the playing of the national anthem, don't get mad. Be proud that you live in a country where you CAN ignore the national anthem.

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It's very hard to drink all day...
Unless you start first thing in the morning.
*** This post was edited by Pete 5/9/2002 12:14:45 PM ***

how'd this thread turn into a debate on American patriotism?

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Brent Haley
Gemini Crew '02

"We should take everyone who does that and let them live in a country where the people their are starving and have no rights for a year and see if they won't stop for the Anthem."

Well ignoring the obvious outrage at having been displaced for something so trivial as not respecting the anthem... it would depend on whether it's one of the countries where we're helping the starving process or aren't paying them any (financial or political) attention because there isn't oil involved... if so, I think I'd be less likely to stop for the anthem. I might even sing "John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt" over top of it at that point.

What the heck does the anthem specifically have to do with our freedoms? What if I choose to ignore the anthem but still hold respect for those who have died/have otherwise been harmed for our freedoms? Why is the anthem this all-important thing? It's just a song!

And besides the Americans I hold in the greatest eye are often the ones who didn't fight at all: Thomas Jefferson,Thomas Paine, James Madison, Thomas Edison, Martin Luther King Jr., Margaret Sanger, Susan B. Anthony, any draft dodger who comitted civil disobedience and didn't just run, etc.

I think in the honor of those Americans, who helped to shape and protect this nation just as much as any soldier, anyone who feels it necessary should be proud to ignore the national anthem or any other symbol. The greatest folly for any American to make is to think their country is infallable or above the contempt of its citizens.

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TPFKAV
MF Count - 32

"His name is my name too... ;)"

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Jeff (who wonders why so many Americans take Ashcroft's word as gospel, and are OK with hundreds of people being detained without reason, save for ethnicity, in what I thought was a free country)
Webmaster/GTTP, Sillynonsense.com
"As far as I can tell it doesn't matter who you are. If you can believe, there's something worth fighting for..." - Garbage, "Parade"