Singing of “America the Beautiful” at the Super Bowl. Displaying the Stars and Stripes at the World Series. Honoring veterans at innumerable sporting events.
All are moving, but should not be paid for with taxpayer money given to the professional sports teams, U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said Monday at a press conference at the Long Wharf veterans memorials.
“The Pentagon has essentially put patriotism up for sale,” Blumenthal said. “Over the last four years our Department of Defense has spent $9 million on patriotic displays and stunts at sports franchises around the country. Unquestionably our hometown heroes deserve to be honored, but not by fattening the bottom lines of already very rich, lucrative sports franchises with taxpayer dollars.”
Click here to read more from Ed Stannard of the New Haven Register.