Rep. Todd Akin is under fire for claiming that saying the Pledge of Allegiance “drives liberals crazy.” However, the Missouri congressman seems to stumble on the words when he leads a group of teabaggers in Washington.
Red Skelton did it a bit better:
Of course, Democrats do not help themselves by sitting through the pledge as a protest to the Republicans taking over one of their legislative houses:
Of course, there appear to many conservatives in places like Texas who hate both the pledge and the nation that it represents:
“I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one Nation UNDER GOD (w00t) indivisible with liberty and justice for all.”
I said this every day in first grade when my teachers were loving and I was a happy little boy who loved to read and hang out with my mom. I think I should start saying it again. I’m going to get a flag for my room.
Allegiance, respect, pledges, what is owed, what isn’t owed … my head hurts.
I think the flag is an icon. It means different things for different people at different times. I flew the flag to celebrate Nixon’s resignation and my country’s return to the rule of law while my neighbor flew his flag on the same day to honor Nixon’s service as President. Which flag-flying motive was superior? Who had more respect? Who had the greater allegiance?
Of course, my iconic celebration was compromised by Ford’s pardon as my neighbor’s was by subsequent releases of Nixon’s tapes. Our neighbor, two doors to the west, never flew the flag as his religion forbade the celebration of icons. He loved this country because of its freedom of religion and never took the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.
Beautifuly stated Mike S.
If flags aren’t the tangible symbol of a country why are they planted on every newly discovered or battle conquered patch of ground, including the moon? No one pledges allegiance to a piece of cloth, that’s just silly.
America makes it easy to pledge allegiance. It’s not founded on place or sovereign family, it’s about an idea that is so succinctly explained in our founding Declaration and Constitution that it’s citizens are graced by the glimpse of national perfection just by reading them. You can hate America’s government du jure and still feel pride in pledging allegiance to the ideal on which it is founded. Owing allegiance to the ideal is the least we should do as citizens, otherwise we’re all just a bunch of Wall Street bankers at heart and you can’t even hope to have an honorable society on that basis.
My 2cents anyway.
Imposter,
I assume you mean that the part about pledging allegiance to the FLAG, and not the rest, otherwise you’re instance on using the literal definition of a word in there makes little sense. If I’m reading you wrong, please let me know.
I think you’re getting the concepts of “citizen” and “subject” mixed up. They are closely related and in some societies can be used interchangeably, but not in this one.
Byron and Mike,
Well put.