Fuck the fucking Yankees.

Since this weekend in Blogtopia (® Skippy) is an unofficial memorial to Steve Gilliard, it makes sense to pass on this little tidbit that we found at Hoffmania on another reason why the Yankees are worthy of our contempt:

The most patriotic moments at Yankee Stadium can also be the most confining.

Seconds before ''The Star-Spangled Banner'' and ''God Bless America'' are played, police officers, security guards and ushers turn their backs to the American flag in center field, stare at fans moving through the stands and ask them to stop. Across the stadium's lower section, ushers stand every 20 feet to block the main aisle with chains.

As the songs are played or sung, the crowd appears motionless.

The national anthem has long been a pregame staple at sporting events. But after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Major League Baseball directed teams to play ''God Bless America'' before the bottom of the seventh inning at every game. Baseball scaled back the next season, telling teams they needed to play the song only on Sundays and holidays, which is still the case.

Only the Yankees continue to play ''God Bless America'' at every home game. They are also the only ones to use chains to prevent fans from moving during both songs, which concerns some civil liberties advocates.

Howard J. Rubenstein, the spokesman for the Yankees' principal owner, George Steinbrenner, said the policy was an expression of patriotism.

Jawohl. You VILL sing "God Bless America" vithout moving -- and you vill presumably issue the Nazi salute at the same time.

I hate to tell George Steinbrenner this, but "God Bless America" is not even the National Anthem. I realize that Irving Berlin was a staunch conservative and wrote many patriotic songs, but it's hard to believe that someone whose family escaped the 19th century pogroms of Belarus would advocate this kind of knee-jerkism.