Pen-Elayne on the Web

Two Minutes of Hate

That's my new nickname for the 7th inning stretch at Yankees games. As far as I know, the Yankees are the only team to shove in fans' faces not only the obligatory war song (aka the National Anthem, even though I hope the Ray Charles version of America the Beautiful might still merit reconsideration as our country's anthem someday) before the game but "God Bless America" during stretch time. That used to be when "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" was sung, and I think it still is, everywhere but Yankee Stadium. Anyway, so I usually leave the room during the stretch 'cause, you know, I miss "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" and I think blending church and state in a martial ditty and obligating everyone to stand for it (in more ways than one) is a poor substitute. But I'm sorry I didn't watch it yesterday. Seems Dick "Go Fuck Yourself" Cheney was in the stands, and during the 7th inning stretch the right-field videoboard shows camera shots of "famous" people in the crowd - and when Cheney's visage was shown the fans booed the hell out of him! Goodness only knows, if a Yankee crowd (usually a comparatively conservative bunch) doesn't even let a church-and-state martial ditty stop them from booing the current holder of the Vice Presidency, what will happen when the VP's party comes to NYC in a few months...