SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 2015

Paying For Patriotism During The Age of Obama

The Blower is always thankful to see American military heroes being honored at professional sporting events, but we are even more saddened to find out even some of those tear-jerking moments are paid acts of patriotism.

Recently, WCVB in Boston reported that several of those moments have been seen at Bruins and Celtics games, but it turns out many of them are part of military advertising, focusing on recruitment and retention.

There’s a simple Veteran’s Day display outside a Town Hall, and the town’s Veterans’ Service Officer said he can’t believe the Pentagon pays big money for veterans to be honored at major sporting events.

“It was shocking at first,” Ted Mulvehill said. “To me, that’s a celebration of service that should be genuine and heartfelt.”

The Pentagon has paid for military men and women to sing the national anthem at a Boston Bruins game, carry a giant flag at a Buffalo Bills game, throw out the first pitch at three Milwaukee Brewers games and rappel down center ice in Minnesota.

“These teams do a lot of good work,” Republican Arizona Senator Jeff Flake said. “The problem is, when activities like this are paid for by the taxpayer, it cheapens everything else they do.”

Congress is reviewing some 27 contracts between major league sports and the Department of Defense totaling more than $6 million in taxpayer money. They include a $675,000 deal with the New England Patriots.

A spokesman said the team honored veterans long before that deal.

The leagues and teams deny they charged for patriotic displays and called them free add-ons to marketing contracts promoting recruitment and retention.

“I don’t think that explanation holds water,” Flake said. “We have specific contracts spelling out $20,000 for a salute to the hometown hero.”

Major League Baseball told teams to stop the practice. The NFL said if its contracts included money for patriotic moments, it will be refunded. [READ MORE HERE]

Now here’s an ABC Report showing how Pro Teams are charging for Military Events. The Blower trusts everybody knows how we feel about the mendacious matter.