Start your own revolution, and cut out the middle man

[cyrano]

"Our founding fathers must be spinning in their graves. This is the worst kind of political correctness run amok."
— Sen. Christopher Bond, R-Missouri

Hmmmm. It's odd that our founding fathers saw no need to include God in a Pledge of Allegiance. Maybe they're just slapping their foreheads and saying "D'oh" in their graves because they forgot.
The phrase "under God" was crammed into the Pledge by Tailgunner Joe to protect the world from the infection of Communism about 150 years after we protected the colonies from the infection of Imperialism. It's done its job, and it's earned a cushy retirement.
Despite claims from the Congress and the layman that removing these two words will cause rioting and anarchy. But we established a republican democracy without it, we fought 'The Great War' and won without it, we bought the Louisiana Purchase and expanded to the Pacific without it, we abolished slavery without it. We got Watergate and Iran-Contra and Operation Desert Maxi-Shield and Bill Clinton's Hummerfest with it.
It's not the final sign of the apocalypse. I think it's a sign that we are having troubles staying whipped up into a frenzy over terrorism.

Edit
Now that it's not early in the morning, I'd like to rephrase my main point in more coherent fashion. (After all the commentary has been finished....) "The worst kind of political correctness run amok" is where people actually suffer--kids suspended from school for having a bottle of aspirin, a city councilman called upon to resign for using the word 'niggardly'--not because two words are taken out of a loyalty oath that had been tacked on fifty years ago. And using those two words as a political vehicle to take a joyride around the media is inexcusible given the number of actual problems--things that actually need to be dealt with--we have facing us currently.

Comments

[cyclotron.livejournal.com]

Personally, I don't mind if they remove the two words - nor am I troubled by them in the first place.

What I find troubling is that our government continues to bend over for the vocal minority and set precedent or pass legislation for the benefit of the individual at the expense of the many.

Instead of being responsible for his daughter and making sure she understands the words of the Pledge he demands the entire nation change and forces the nation to be responsible for his daughters welfare.

If it were "just words" that could be included or removed, we'd think an individual could learn to cope with it, wouldn't we?

[tahnan.livejournal.com]

"It's odd that our founding fathers saw no need to include G-d in a Pledge of Allegiance."

In fact, our founding fathers saw no need to write one at all; it was written in 1897 and printed in a magazine for youth. According to one web page, the original version was:

"I pledge allegiance to my flag and to the Republic for which it stands -- one nation indivisible -- with liberty and justice for all."

The page goes on to explain,

"The original Pledge was recited while giving a stiff, uplifted right-hand salute, criticized and discontinued during WWII. The words 'my flag' were changed to 'the flag of the United States of America' because it was feared that the children of immigrants might confuse 'my flag' for the flag of their homeland. The phrase 'Under G-d' was added by Congress and President Eisenhower in 1954..."

Just to be exact, you know. :-)

[cyranocyrano.livejournal.com]

Well yes. I've also heard tell that the author was a big fan of Karl Marx, which I found very interesting.

[miss-friday.livejournal.com]

I'll vote with the first guy. The judicial decision is political correctness in the sense of 249.999998 million people (adjust for current US population as necessary, I don't know it off the top of my head) are being forced to change their lives for the benefit of 2. When instead, these 2 people could have an adult conversation on how we do and say lots of things in life we don't really mean (a pretty big lesson in itself), and that's okay since it is not hurting anyone. Then they could suck it up and pipe down. But that would make sense and be the adult mature thing to do. *snort* Welcome to the Litigation Age.

I will say that I'm not surprised the 9th Circuit Court came up with this decision. I doubt any of the others would. But there will be the inevitable appeal, so I'm not going to be too incensed just yet.

However the story will crop up in my new writing project. And it may take someone's mind off the $4 billion Worldcom created out of thin air

[cyranocyrano.livejournal.com]

Enh. Those 249 million people (who are not polytheistic, agnostic, atheistic, or Muslim... not positive how the Hebrew faith reacts to speaking the name of the Creator like that) adjusted pretty well when Ike changed it a few years back.
And personally, I don't much like the idea of lying because it's what's expected. If I had to stand up in class every day and proclaim how much I adored (as an example) Li'l Bow Wow's music, just because everybody else loves it....
And my main point is not that this guy is protecting his daughter from religious brainwashing, nor that it's all that important whether these two words are said or not. What I'm saying is that a lot of people are getting very excited over an issue that, given the world around us and the number of things that are going on that are really important, this is a non-issue and way too much energy has been spent on it--on both sides.
Of course, if I insist on writing posts early in the morning, my main point may become obscured.

[miss-friday.livejournal.com]

Of course! Because it's easier to think about than terrorism, corporate supernovas, insider trading, globalization, China becoming the pre-eminent economic force in Asia, Arizona and Colorado being on fire, inadequacies of the Australian asylum system, corruption in the Korean government, Argentina's melting economy, Austrian Catholic women becoming ordained priests, school vouchers, random drug tests for high school students, breast cancer, perscription drug coverage under Medicare, or dead British bass players.

It's as easy to think about as changes in the SAT and Amtrak, but most folks don't have contact with either one of those, so don't care.

It should be treated with all the respect the issue deserves, which I think I've done more than adequately elsewhere.

[aerin-pegadrak.livejournal.com]

The thing is, you don't have to say it. Last year we had announcements (and the Pledge) during drama, and no one paid much attention. A couple of kids would stand and give the flag a Communist salute, but they weren't being serious. You can't force kids to say something and mean it. Honestly, it's not that big a deal.

[cyranocyrano.livejournal.com]

It's been long enough since I was in elementary school (I didn't have to take loyalty oaths in secondary school) that I can't accurately say what the social situation is like when the class stands to recite the pledge. And no, it's probably not that big a deal. But if you had all the kids stand up and say "I love my country and rough sex" I bet there'd be a really different reaction.
(Communist salute? Which one is that?)

Re:

[aerin-pegadrak.livejournal.com]

Stand at attention, right arm extended in the air like you see in the old Nazi newsreels. At the end, they said "Heil!" really loudly. It was rather amusing when you knew they were kidding (the assistant principal walked in one day and had a fit).