Playing swf file by onclick in html web page

Question

First time poster so please forgive any protocol lapses.  I'm trying to play an  AS3 swf embedded in my web page by an onclick javascript function in my page.  Have tried many different ways, including the ExternalInterface class but no luck. Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.  I have a feeling that I'm overlooking something very basic.
javascript :
function playCorrectMovie() {
          var getSwfObj = swfobject.getObjectById("FlashID2");
          if(getSwfObj)
                    getSwfObj.play();
<script type="text/javascript">
swfobject.registerObject("FlashID");
swfobject.registerObject("FlashID2");
</script>
html:
<div id="answer1" class="answer_box">
  <ul>
    <li><a href="#" id="gifted" onclick="MM_effectShake('answer1'); return false;">gifted musicians who trace their genealogy back to Monteverdi.</a></li>
    <li><a href="#" id="wealthy" onclick="MM_effectShake('answer1'); return false;">successful entrepreneurs (the folks who brought us the original Bazooka bubble Gum.</a></li>
    <li><a href="#" id="slackers" onclick="playCorrectMovie();" >slackers, swindlers and ne'er do wells.</a></li>
  </ul>
</div>
flash:
<div id="popupswf">
  <object classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" width="300" height="200" id="FlashID2" title="Your answer was correct!">
    <param name="movie" value="correct.swf" />
    <param name="quality" value="high" />
    <param name="wmode" value="transparent" />
    <param name="play" value="false" />
    <param name="swfversion" value="6.0.65.0" />
    <!-- This param tag prompts users with Flash Player 6.0 r65 and higher to download the latest version of Flash Player. Delete it if you don’t want users to see the prompt. -->
    <param name="expressinstall" value="scripts/expressInstall.swf" />
    <!-- Next object tag is for non-IE browsers. So hide it from IE using IECC. -->
    <!--[if !IE]>-->
    <object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="correct.swf" width="300" height="200">
      <!--<![endif]-->
      <param name="quality" value="high" />
      <param name="wmode" value="transparent" />
      <param name="play" value="false" />
      <param name="swfversion" value="6.0.65.0" />
      <param name="expressinstall" value="scripts/expressInstall.swf" />
      <!-- The browser displays the following alternative content for users with Flash Player 6.0 and older. -->
      <div>
        <h4>Content on this page requires a newer version of Adobe Flash Player.</h4>
        <p><a href="http://www.adobe.com/go/getflashplayer"><img src="http://www.adobe.com/images/shared/download_buttons/get_flash_player.gif" alt="Get Adobe Flash player" width="112" height="33" /></a></p>
      </div>
      <!--[if !IE]>-->
    </object>
    <!--<![endif]-->
  </object>
</div>

Answer 1

No need to be sorry...  one other thing... the url to the swf uses the "public_html" directory as a lead-in.
<param name="movie" value="public_html/our nations.swf" />
The public_html directory of a web site is typically where a web site's content is placed as the base for a web site on a host server.  Unless you have a directory named public_html within what is probably already the public_html folder, then you do not want to specify that.  It is more probably supposed to be...
<param name="movie" value="our nations.swf" />
If you look at the various images that are specified in the html code, they do not specify that directory.  So if the swf is in the same folder as them, you do not want to be specifying the public_html part of that address.