randomWalks

And there's Gary Snyder:

I pledge allegiance

I pledge allegiance to the soil

of Turtle Island,

and to the beings who thereon dwell

one ecosystem

in diversity

under the sun

With joyful interpenetration for all.

And I seem to remember Lawrence Ferlinghetti had one, too, but damned if I can find it.

Gotta love that 9th Circuit!

Um,

Not all of the Feds banned the Pledge everywhere. It's a federal court in a district based in San Francisco. So, it's not nationwide, though everyone seems to be acting like it is.

Sidenote: didn't mike dukakis say that he expected that the Supreme Court should have challenged George senior on this back in 98 or 94? I seem to remember that they both had different views on the pledge. Dukakis was pointing out that the pledge is unconstitutional, and Bush went political, hyping the pledge and the seducing the crowds in some type of vague simplistic frenzy of nationalistic ardor.

haha...I logged in to post a link to this exact article. You beat me to it, man!

Unconstitutional is unconstitutional. I don't know if I've ever been prouder of our judicial branch.

it is quite a stand, i do admit. And what do you think it makes Bush look like that he's been sending out flurries of "God Bless America," and "God Watch Over Us" all over the air waves?

Tee hee!

We talked about this at dinner tonight, and here is the doug family's idea of what should be on the dollar bills:

"Don't Trust Nobody! And spend this shit as quick as you can! Amen."

They are changing the dollar, right?

What I've found interesting is the things people have been saying in indignation. You get the impression that most of them have no idea how or when all the God references started appearing.

And how everyone in local and national media makes stupid jokes like, "Oh, I guess I can't say God Bless you now."

Dorks.

This Post article includes some good bonehead statements of that ilk. "There is still a very credible argument that at some point you have to stop trying to relentlessly extirpate religious symbolism from the life of a country that is after all very religious," one expert said. Hmm.

I wonder if they think that the founding fathers went around saying the pledge, singing God Bless America, stamping IOUs with In God We Trust, etc.

I love it when some "expert" decides that we are all very religious, which is a coin of term for "Right wing Christian."

Keep us at bay, boys. Keep us at bay!

Who knows what a thinking public might accomplish!

Doug, with all due respect, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals most certainly has *federal* authority.That's why they call it a federal court. Just because it's seated in San Francisco doesn't mean its authority is limited.The Supremes will probably overturn this, though.

I find it interesting that the protestors keep talking about mainstream American thought. Wasn't the Constitution written to protect everyone, not just those in agreement with the majority opinion?

Great article. Maybe I'll have to move to one of the states under the 9th Circuit....

Whether he exists or not, God truly has us all in a stranglehold.

Some of this points to what I was probably talking about in a vague and uncentered way on my site.

The part about freedom of expression.

Down with mainstream thought.

judelw, thanks. i am aware that the federal courts have national jurisdiction, but i was trying to point out that it wasn't taking effect right now, as we speak.

sorry for the lack of clarity.

1. thanks for the clarification on the courts. yes, i knew it was the 9th district when i posted, i was using "feds" as (admitedly vauge) shorthand, sorry. there have been some landmark decisions (prison issues like pelican bay, demonstrators rights, police powers etc) that have come out of the 9th circuit in the last couple decades. as former s.f. legal worker i watched it with interest. but alas, yes, it may indeed be knocked down at higher courts. and then there's the whole issue of schools making kids say it anyhow. didn't other folks have to say it or was it just me?

2. strigoia, no the constitution was not written for everyone. great text on that is "towards an american revolution"

3. doug, great comments, and i'd like to see the website, but adam took the web link out of this form. is it on the right column?

yeah, elihu, it is. it's called

"a boy and his elephant" on the right, but it's real name is "Traditional Chimp."

Traditional Chimp

I never had to say it in school, so I feel a little left out of the national debate. Never oppressed or part of the awful majority. Never involved at all.

I say, if Tom Brokaw's Greatest Generation of Americans grew up saying the Pledge without the "under God" part and it was good enough for them, then it's good enough for us. And he should take the same stance. I'm disappointed if he doesn't. The addition of the controversial two words didn't do much for the baby boomers.

Plus, the cadence of the Pledge without the "under God" part is so much better. Its 24 beats lend themselves well to maybe a patriotic club mix.

But why are we pledging ourselves to a flag? That's the part I would like to have removed. I would rather pledge allegiance to the United States, bypassing the flag. That's really the part that always seemed silliest to me. But say it without "to the flag of" and it totally messes up the rhythm.

Ooh, actually, count it out:

I pledge allegiance to the United States of America (6 7 8)

one nation (boom), indivisible (bam!), with liberty and justice for all! (8)

So much easier to memorize. 16 beats now, which makes it MUCH more musical. I love my new pledge! Now, sure, you can say that the nation doesn't always offer liberty and justice to all - but this is an ideal to strive for.