While records were being shattered at golf’s U.S. Open on Sunday, NBC was swarmed with complaints regarding their presentation of the Pledge of Allegiance to open the final round of the tournament. The clip showed a number of patriotic images along with children reciting the Pledge. But when it came time for the words “under God,” there was nothing but silence. The words were edited out of the piece!
On Friday, I wrote a column titled Just how far has America fallen? Had I known what NBC had in store for the country on Sunday, I would have waited, because this is yet another example of left wing individuals trying to change the fundamental roots of this country.
On Sunday, Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy stood ready to put even more distance between himself and the rest of the field. The 22-year-old did not disappoint, shooting 2 under par for the final round to give himself a record-setting 16 under par for the tournament. It was a marvelous display, and yet rather than focusing on the sport, NBC drew attention to itself by trying to make a cultural statement. Here’s the clip:
As you can see, the Pledge is actually recited twice during the piece. Both times, the words “under God” were left out!
So… let’s think about this. The clip was prepared and edited in advance. It was not a live shot. It was designed to be mixed in with the images. This means that a person or team of people saw fit to purposely take out the words “under God” from the Pledge.
During the broadcast, after receiving a flood of complaints, NBC sports commentator Dan Hicks issued the following statement:
“We began our coverage of this final round just about three hours ago and when we did it was our intent to begin the coverage of this U.S. Open Championship with a feature that captured the patriotism of our national championship being held in our nation’s capital for the third time.
“Regrettably, a portion of the Pledge of Allegiance that was in that feature was edited out. It was not done to upset anyone and we’d like to apologize to those of you who were offended by it.”
To me, this kind of statement is beyond lame. If the editing wasn’t done to upset anyone, why was it done? In addition, to simply say that “a portion” was edited out rather than being forthcoming with what actually occurred is cowardly.
It’s amazing that someone didn’t catch this before it aired. Obviously, the editor or editors made the decision on how to present the clip, but then yet another person had to approve it.
I certainly was premature with my column on how far America has fallen, because we just took a few more steps downward over the weekend. Enough is enough!
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