they say francis scott key was a marylander, we need a national anthem.ant you to present and pass a bill to make it our national anthem. and it took, what, 1918 to 1931 before it happened. it's an interesting story. and there's lots more to it. i mean, there are all sorts of interesting tangents and so forth. but i hope you'll agree with me that, you know, the "star spangled banner" isn't any worse than "my country tis of thee" because "star spangled banner" parodied a light, humorous drinking song. "my country tis of thee" parodied a serious song about a king. does it really matter where it came from? or is it more important that music could play such an expressive role in american history? i so wish it would again. music doesn't today. it did in my lifetime. think of the civil rights movement and woody guthrie and pete seeger, people don't express themselves today by music as they used to and there are a bunch of reasons for that, but that may be another lecture in itself. other questions? sir? >> one more question. i was just wondering, you mentioned

arrested the editor, whose name was francis scott key howard. not by accident, the irony here is that he was the grandson of the author of "the national anthem" thrown into ft. lafayette prison. was he guilty of anything more than expressing himself? his surviving files included secret resolutions pledging to support the confederacy and rebellion. marshal suppressed four of the other journals. asked to justify this by congress, lincoln said, are all the laws but one to go unexecuted and the government itself go to pieces less that one be violated? accusing rebels of what he called an insidious debotching of the public mind, a phrase that reveals how deeply he felt about harnessing what he called public sentiment. he said that he could perform this duty or surrender the entire existence of government. i purposely dwelled on these examples from 1861. probably because they're less known has the later incidents but also because they definitely set precedence for what followed. had the country -- had editors risen up to protest, it might have been a

both inner and outer loops moving well on the east side as you make your way to the francis scott key bridge. now back over to you. >>> harford county core another and police have been on the scene of a deadly pedestrian accident. investigators say a train hit a person about 12:30 on old post road and lewis lane while the train was heading from boston to dc with nearly 100 people on board. amtrak says it held up the train for several hours along with a couple freight trains before reopening the tracks. >>> it's a big day in maryland after the state senate passed the same sex marriage law. sherrie johnson is here with where we go from here. >> reporter: megan, state lawmakers have approved the same sex marriage bill and that is big step for maryland. a 25 vote affirmative and 22 in the negative after last year's failed attempt this passage puts maryland on track to become the 8th state to legalize same sex marriage and it was a hard fight with wrangeling on bowing sides and hours of debate. the measure failed to come to a vote in the house but last week, the same sex marriage narrowly

this is phillip barton key, a nephew of the chief justice of the united states, the son of francis scott key, the author of "the star-spangled banner." we know he gets away with it with the first ever use of the insanity defense. even with a murder on his rap sheet, you know, daniel sickles isn't really the biggest rogue to penetrate mary's salon. that honor goes to henry wickoff. wickoff had kidnapped a tobacco heiress in italy and spent some time in prison for it. his account of this great my courtship and its consequences was reviewed as the least credible volume ever produced by an american. no less an authority than p.t. barnum credited wickoff of teaching him his first-ever lesson in the art of hook 'em. wickoff was washington insiders noted variously a terrible liberti northeast, a whore monger and swindler, an unclean bird, a vile creature, a social pariah, a man with a singular facility for thrusting his diplomatic fingers into other people's pies. it's a disgrace to american society, wrote lincoln's secretary, that it suffers such a thing to be at large. well, among his other shift

political schemers, military authorities shut down the paper and arrested the editor, whose name was francis scott key howard. not by accident. the irony here is he was the grandson of the author of the national anthem. thrown into fort lafayette prison. was he guilty of anything more than expressions opinions? his files showed secret resolutions to support the confederacy. martial law suppressed four others. asked to justify this by congress, lincoln said are all the laws but one to go unexecuted and the government itself go to pieces lest that one be violated? accusing rebels of what he called an insidious debauching of the public mind, a phrase i think reveals how deeply he felt about harnessing what he called public sentiment. he said that he could but perform this duty or surrender the entire existence of government. i purposely dwelled on these examples of 1861, probably because they're less known than the later incidents, but also because they definitely set precedence for what followed. they inured the country and the press to a greater period of repression. had the country, had the editors ri

they were evacuated before they were taken to francis scott key middle school. charges are pending against the female driver of the suv. >>> now to the republican race for the white house, mitt romney is hoping last night's victories in michigan and arizona will spell success on super tuesday, but rick santorum is still upbeat, heading into next week's critical showdowns and newt gingrich, he is conceding nothing. nbc's jennifer johnson has the latest from the trail. >> just kidding. well, it was a big night last night for me. i was very pleased, very good news. >> reporter: confident and relieved after victories in arizona and michigan, mitt romney is back on the campaign trail talking jobs and the economy to voters in ohio. >> do you want someone who spent his life in the private sector, who understands where jobs come from or do you want someone who spent his career in washington? >> reporter: rick santorum says he is pleased with how he did in romney's home state. >> we had a much better night in michigan than maybe was first reported a we actually won half

during the bombardment, an american lawyer, francis scott key, who was being held on board an american flag of truce vessel in baltimore harbor, beheld by the dawn's early light the american flag still flying atop fort mchenry. key realized that the americans had survived the battle and stopped the enemy advance. moved by the sight of the american flag flying over fort mchenry, he -- he composed the poem called "the defense of fort mchenry" which was later set to the music becoming "the star spangled banner" that officially became the national anthem on march 3, 1931. mr. president, we will be celebrating this weekend the 82nd anniversary of "the star spangled banner" becoming the official national anthem of our country. the flag that flew over fort mchenry is now a national treasure on display at the smithsonian institute, an insphraition separation to all americans, a very short distance from where we are today. the war of 1812 confirmed the legitimacy of the revolution and served as a critical test for the united states constitution and newly established democratic government. our y