[Boot Hill]

missileboy says:   "...I have principles that are being compromised...and the US is not today what it was at its founding, and I will not pledge allegiance..."

The pledge of Allegiance does not say "I pledge allegiance to the current government...", it says:   "I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands..."

That the temporary residents of the White House and the Capitol Building may have forgotten "the Republic for which it stands", in no way impairs my allegiance to the Republic of our founding fathers. That is what the pledge is all about. You may be willing to cede our country, our flag and our Republic to these people by obstinately refusing to pledge allegiance to those things, but true conservatives are not.

And, yes, what your comments do "smack of disloyalty" and much, much more.

--Boot Hill

[missileboy]

Well now we've gotten to the heart of the matter.

Though your comment about pledging allegiance to the Republic sounds somewhat reasonable, I suspect that what you have in mind for the Amerikan Republik is markedly different from the ideas set forth by the founders. We can debate specifics if you like, such as the drug war, education, and the income tax.

More importantly, though, there exists a difference between loyalty to a country (which is rooted in not just a love for the principles the country is founded upon but also an ADHERENCE to those principles, as opposed to giving mere lip service to upholding some hollow oath to the Constitution just before passing a prescription drug benefit) and pledging allegiance to a country. The founders spoke often of love for one's country and most definitely recognized the concept of loyalty (treason is certainly a crime). However, you'll find that the idea of pledging allegiance to a symbol was not what they held dear. Above all, they held the idea of a true Republic, which actively defends the liberties of the individual, to be sacred - not some hollow symbol of ideas that once existed. There's a difference, and if you can't see that, then you don't really understand the concept of liberty to begin with.

[DAnconia55]

That the temporary residents of the White House and the Capitol Building may have forgotten "the Republic for which it stands", in no way impairs my allegiance to the Republic of our founding fathers.

This part I agree with. In fact, I'm fond of saying America isn't a geographic place, but an Idea.

That is what the pledge is all about.

This part I do not agree with. As the purpose of the pledge, no matter what words it has in it, is to condition the young to support the state.