Inalienable Rights

House Takes Up 'Pledge' Protection Jul 19th - 11:02am By JIM ABRAMS Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) - House debate on a bill to protect the Pledge of Allegiance from legal challenges because of the "under God" phrase erupted in heated rhetoric Wednesday with lawmakers from both parties using religious references to support their side. (WTOP News)

There they go again, confusing the Constitution and what is in it with trivial poems like the pledge of allegiance (which, when actually looked at is a joke). Why? Well, let us start with the following small details:

1) There is no Pledge in my copy of the Constitution, nor the Bill of Rights, nor does it appear to be a requirement for becoming a citizen.

2) There is nothing about God of any stripe or flavor in the Constitution, nor is there any need for it, other than:
Congress (you, know the blowhards that are wasting time on trivialities while the nation burns) shall make no law (my emphasis) respecting an establishment of religion (which to me, indicates that there is to be no State sanctioned religion) or (my emphasis again) prohibiting the free exercise thereof (which includes not recognizing one to begin with) (Amendment 1 to the US Constitution, ratified December 15, 1791)

The pledge, in its glory includes some wonderfully patriotic language (that George Orwell, in his essay on Politics and the English Language would have a field day with) that is frankly so banner waving, so banal, as to be completely inane and out of place. The Republican party is doing everything in its power to turn the words and the heart of the pledge upside down and backwards as fast as possible. What was meant as a way for people to show their patriotism has become a trite verse that has so little meaning for most, they recite it as rote without any fervor or understanding. There is no liberty in a nation that requires ID cards to cross internal borders by rail, plane or bus. There is no justice if you are not of the ruling (white) class, and there is certainly no God when you cannot define what you mean by the term much less who's god you are under.

Meanwhile, people are struggling to make ends meet as the economy slags into a morass of confusion and lost earnings, prices go up as energy costs skyrocket, and the infrastructure crumbles while intellectuals sit in ivory towers and worry about how to keep atomic bombs out of the country where more people will be killed by gun fire, drunk drivers and obesity in a week than will ever be killed by terrorism.

It is time to stop waving the flag and time to start doing some real work. So, can we perhaps get back to the business of running the country instead of ruining it? Please?