NBC Disrespected the Nation by Editing the Pledge of Allegiance
Posted on June 23, 2011 by Jacob Bunn
Sunday afternoon, I did what I have consistently done for many years: Relaxed and enjoyed the final round of the U.S. Open. Aside from being an avid golf fan, I was highly intrigued by the history a young and very talented golfer from Northern Ireland, Rory McIlroy, was about to make. Unfortunately, his stunning eight-stroke victory was preempted by a less inspiring development.
I must admit that I was not paying attention during the initial broadcast of the intro that NBC played when it came on the air. A few minutes into the tournament, I began to get messages and see tweets expressing disgust for NBC’s intro montage. After a small amount of investigation, I discovered that the network had omitted the phrases ‘Under God’ and ‘Indivisible’ from the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance in the video. As time passed, news reports began to surface confirming the complete omission. The network had not only omitted the phrase once, but during the montage the pledge was repeated with the same elimination.
About three hours into the broadcast, Dan Hicks, who is the lead golf announcer for the network, expressed an apology on behalf of NBC for the exclusion of the phrase from the pledge.
He said, “It was not done to upset anyone, and we‘d like to apologize to those of you who were offended by it.”
This weak and insufficient attempt at rectifying the situation did not slow the backlash that was expressed via Twitter and the blogosphere. The public was genuinely outraged that a major news agency would commit such an egregious act.
My question, though, is if, as Hicks stated, it was not done to upset anyone, why was it done? NBC certainly did not have to edit that portion out.
CNN analyst Jack Cafferty said about the incident, “It boggles the mind that a bunch of morons at NBC can take it upon themselves to decide which part to include and which part to omit.”
I know that if I am ever placed in charge of editing one of the United States’ national pledges or songs, there would be no tampering with it whatsoever. Further, I believe that NBC has acted in an overtly disrespectful way toward the nation. Imagine if you went to a sporting event and the band only played select lines from the Star Spangled Banner. What do you think the reaction would be?
The phrase ‘Under God’ was incorporated into the Pledge of Allegiance by Congress during the 1950s. It is a part of the fabric of this nation. But apparently NBC does not believe that it should be a part of our national pledge. While many in the United State gathered around their television sets to watch America’s national championship in golf, the National Broadcasting Company slapped viewers in the face.
It is extremely difficult for me to believe that this was done completely unintentionally. Maybe someone did not want to directly offend a group of people. But I do know a little bit about production, and this kind of thing does not accidentally happen. You can’t just mindlessly take out part of the Pledge of Allegiance.
Maybe the brain trust at NBC does not believe that this nation is under God or indivisible. I don’t know. I do, however, know that it is not up to them. And for that I am thankful.
If anyone in the production room thought for a second that the American public would not notice this disgrace, they were more than sadly mistaken. This nation does not like to see its traditions trounced upon.
It is a shame that 22-year old Rory McIlroy’s historic victory at Congressional was upstaged by the stupidity of a failing major news network, but it did illustrate the point about exactly what NBC has become. A major news organization is supposed to cover stories in a fair, balanced, honest, bipartisan, and morally sound manner. Instead of carrying out that task, NBC has failed the American people.
