Posted on 09/02/2015 7:04:59 PM PDT by markomalley
The latest endorsement for Hillary Clinton comes from a New York City politician who has refused to stand during or recite the Pledge of Allegiance to the United States.
New York City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, who was born and raised in Puerto Rico and endorsed Clinton on Wednesday, is known for her decision not to stand up during the Pledge of Allegiance as a protest of her home territory’s current status.
Though Mark-Viverito has refused to explicitly state her opposition to pledging allegiance to the United States, her colleagues say it is a symbolic “protest” of the United States.
City Councilwoman Karen Koslowitz, also a Democrat, has said that Mark-Viverito told her that she does not stand because she wants Puerto Rico to be granted independence.
“When I met with her months ago, I asked her why she didn’t pledge to the flag,” said Koslowitz. “She told me she wanted Puerto Rico to be independent.”
State Sen. Ruben Diaz, a Democrat who is also from Puerto Rico, had harsher words for Mark-Viverito.
“She doesn’t care about America,” said Diaz, who added that he believes Mark-Viverito is “a communist from Puerto Rico.”
Diaz’ comments came following a 2014 ceremony commemorating the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2011.
Mark-Viverito was the only attendee who chose not to put her hand over her heart during the national anthem, which caught the eye of those who knew Mark-Viverito’s stance on the pledge.
“She goes on sacred ground and disrespects America that way,” said Diaz following the incident. “It’s disrespectful to the heroes, the fallen who died on 9/11, it’s disrespectful to the victims and families of 9/11.”
Mark-Viverito has defended her refusal to participate in the pledge, claiming that she was “unfamiliar” with it because she grew up in Puerto Rico.
Koslowitz, who has said she convinced Mark-Viverito to begin participating in the pledge, said the “unfamiliar” excuse does not fit for Mark-Viverito.
“She’s a very smart woman who has lived in New York a long time,” Koslowitz said. “She definitely knows what the Pledge of Allegiance is.”
Puerto Ricans in the past have protested their birthplace’s lack of statehood by silently sitting during the Pledge of Allegiance, and have won wide support from others in their community for doing so.
Koslowitz said her discussion about the Pledge of Allegiance with Mark-Viverito was a “very emotional thing for her and for me.”
Mark-Viverito supports radical measures for advancing Puerto Rico’s cause. Earlier this year she delivered the eulogy for the convicted terrorist Isabel Rosado Morales, calling her an “icon.”
Among other acts, Morales helped to plot a shooting at the United States Congress by four Puerto Ricans that injured four congressmen. Mark-Viverito called Morales, who was sentenced to 17 years in prison for the assassination attempt, “our icon and national patriot.”
Morales is also not the only terrorist Mark-Viverito supports.
She continues to work to secure the release of the Puerto Rican terrorist Oscar Lopez Rivera, who is believed to have been behind a 1975 bombing in New York City that killed four.
Rivera was offered a pardon toward the end of Bill Clinton’s second term in the White House, but he refused it due to the pardon’s condition that Rivera would have to renounce terrorism.
The Clinton campaign would not comment on whether it will disclaim Mark-Viverto’s endorsement or whether Mark-Viverto would be used as a surrogate for the campaign.
Mark-Viverto said last month that she is looking to play an “important role” for the Democratic National Committee’s outreach to Latinos in 2016.
“I want to lend my voice to whatever candidates that I decide to support for president,” she told Fox News Latino in August.
——Mark-Viverito told her that she does not stand because she wants Puerto Rico to be granted independence.-——
Works for me....one less parasite sucking off America...
Official versions
1892 (first version)
“I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the republic for which it stands, one nation indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”
1892 to 1922
“I pledge allegiance to my Flag and to the republic for which it stands: one nation indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”
1923
“I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States and to the republic for which it stands; one Nation indivisible with liberty and justice for all.”
1924 to 1954
“I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands; one Nation indivisible with liberty and justice for all.”
1954 (current version)
“I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”
Stay Safe !
Your wish is our wish. Get them off the federal tit and out of our back pockets.
“City Councilwoman Karen Koslowitz, also a Democrat, has said that Mark-Viverito told her that she does not stand because she wants Puerto Rico to be granted independence.”
Sounds good to me! We have enough illegals already.
Mark-Viverito supports radical measures for advancing Puerto Rico’s cause. Earlier this year she delivered the eulogy for the convicted terrorist Isabel Rosado Morales, calling her an “icon.”...
It gets a lot worse from there. The paragraphs after are stunning.
Hey, puerto ricans, mexicans, blacks, and the 50 percent of white kids under 30 who would live somewhere else if they could...get the ######## OUT!!!!!!
How ‘bout that! Another America-hating scumbag foreigner in the American government. Had enough yet?
I believe Mr. Diaz pretty much said it all. But it might be worth cutting Puerto Rico loose if she will go back. And if she will take Luis Gutierrez with her.
Honestly, the USA needs to xrop P.R.... it’s a parasite.. :(
Isn’t that the guy on the Heineken commercials?
I thought that Puerto Rico was voluntarily in the status they are in and have referendums on their status from time to time
Puerto Rico: what happens when you give a perfectly good island to Mexicans
The headline is sensational BS pandering. From the article.
Allegiance to the United States.
New York City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, who was born and raised in Puerto Rico and endorsed Clinton on Wednesday, is known for her decision not to stand up during the Pledge of Allegiance as a protest of her home territory’s current status.
The fetishization of the Pledge of Allegiance should stop.
The Declaration of Independence lists the right of secession as one of our natural rights. It lists among the “self-evident truths” that we have a natural right to overthrow abusive government.
The Pledge denies this proposition in the Declaration, calling the United States “indivisible.”
The only way the Pledge could be correct is if the United States Government were metaphysically incapable of being abusive.
This dog-ugly piece of libtard trash ALWAYS comes out on the side of Porko Rico specifically and Hispanics in general when talking about “someone should be entitled to something”. Something she doesn’t pay for. It’s extremely difficult to ascertain whether she represents people from NYC or the people of Porko Rico, since she is such a vocal advocate for anything benefiting Porko Rico.
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