At first, I didn’t think this was a big deal ….

U.S. President Barack Obama listens to the national anthem after addressing the Ghanaian Parliament at the Accra International Conference Center in Accra, July 11, 2009.

… until William Amos reminded me of this photograph from the campaign trail in 2007, when Obama, Bill Richardson, and Hillary Clinton visited Iowa:

Time Magazine entitled this one “Respect,” which was as ironic then as it is now.  I’m not sure what the protocol is for an American President during another nation’s national anthem — I suspect that it’s not to give the kind of salute Obama does but merely to maintain a respectful posture — but I do know that an American President should have always given more “respect” to the flag of his own nation, and the pledge of allegiance as well.

Addendum: Normally I’d put a link to Chris Muir’s Day by Day site here, but today I want to do more than that. Chris has a fundraising drive to keep his excellent cartoon alive.  Be sure to drop a few dollars in his collection to keep one of the Rightosphere’s most talented warriors in the fight!