Rally 'Round The Pledge

Don't look for a split along party lines in the hottest issue to hit official Washington in quite some time: a court ruling striking down the Pledge of Allegiance as unconstitutional.

Lawmakers from both parties are expected to arrive early today to publicly recite the pledge on the floor of the Senate, to show their defiance of the court decision that the White House calls "wrong" and Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle calls "just nuts."

A federal appeals court ruled Wednesday that the Pledge of Allegiance, recited daily by generations of American students, is an unconstitutional endorsement of religion and cannot be recited in schools.

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a 1954 Act of Congress that added "under God" to the pledge, saying the words violated the basic constitutional tenet of separation of church and state.

"The text of the official Pledge, codified in federal law, impermissibly takes a position with respect to the purely religious question of the existence and identity of God," the court's three judge panel wrote.

"A profession that we are a nation 'under God' is identical ... to a profession that we are a nation 'under Jesus,' a nation 'under Vishnu,' a nation 'under Zeus,' or a nation 'under no god,"' it said.

The 9th Circuit covers Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon and Washington state. Those are the only states directly affected by the ruling.

The court's ruling, the first of its kind in the country, overturned a lower court ruling that dismissed a case against the Pledge brought by the father of a schoolgirl.

"This is another dispute likely to get the attention of the Supreme Court," said CBSNews.com Legal Analyst Andrew Cohen. "It's a decision out of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, a federal appellate court which is frequently overturned by the more conservative Supreme Court."

Cohen said the court kept this fact in mind when crafting its decision, which cites some of the high court's earlier decisions. "So basically it would force the Supreme Court to overturn themselves if they disagree with this decision," Cohen explained.

In Canada, where President Bush was taking part in an economic summit, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said: "The president's reaction was that this ruling is ridiculous."

"The Supreme Court itself begins each of its sessions with the phrase 'God save the United States and this honorable court,' " Fleischer said. "The Declaration of Independence refers to God or to the Creator four different times. Congress begins each session of the Congress each day with a prayer, and of course our currency says, 'In God We Trust. The view of the White House is that this was a wrong decision and the Department Justice is now evaluating how to seek redress."

The Senate has already taken symbolic action, approving late yesterday a resolution denouncing the court ruling.

Members of the House also weighed in, gathering on the steps of the Capitol yesterday to recite the pledge.

The appeals court said that when President Dwight Eisenhower signed the legislation inserting "under God" after the words "one nation," he wrote that "millions of our schoolchildren will daily proclaim in every city and town, every village and rural schoolhouse, the dedication of our nation and our people to the Almighty."

The court noted that the U.S. Supreme Court has said students cannot hold religious invocations at graduations and cannot be compelled to recite the pledge. But when the pledge is recited in a classroom, a student who objects is confronted with an "unacceptable choice between participating and protesting," the appeals court said.

"Although students cannot be forced to participate in recitation of the pledge, the school district is nonetheless conveying a message of state endorsement of a religious belief when it requires public school teachers to recite, and lead the recitation of, the current form of the pledge," the court said.

The case was brought by Michael A. Newdow, a Sacramento atheist who objected because his second-grade daughter was required to recite the pledge at the Elk Grove school district. A federal judge dismissed his lawsuit, but the 9th Circuit ordered that the case proceed to trial.

"This is obviously a big issue and people who so convinced that God should be in the pledge should be aware that others think it should not be," Newdow said.

The government had argued that the religious content of "one nation under God" is minimal.

But the appeals court said that an atheist or a holder of certain non-Judeo-Christian beliefs could see it as an attempt to "enforce a 'religious orthodoxy' of monotheism."

Across the country Wednesday many blamed Newdow for imposing his views on everyone else.

"This does not offend anyone except people who have a chip on their shoulder against people of faith and any god anywhere," said the Rev. Jerry Falwell.

The ruling was also attacked on Capitol Hill, with Senate Majority Leader Thomas Daschle, a Democrat, calling it "just nuts."

As you Requested..

I Am The Flag

Sad, as the dear departed Red Skelton’s words (end of this essay) were prophetic…sad.

Please allow me to present an insightful commentary made years ago by Red Skelton.

Red Skelton's Commentary on 'The Pledge of Allegiance'
From the Red Skelton Hour, January 14, 1969

To listen to this actual recording with 'Real Audio' press here:

"…….Getting back to school, I remember a teacher that I had. Now I only went, I went through the seventh grade. I left home when I was 10 years old because I was hungry."

[laughter]

"And ... this is true. I worked in the summer and went to school in the winter. But, I had this one teacher, he was the principal of the Harrison school, in Vincennes, Indiana. To me, this was the greatest teacher, a real sage of ...of my time, anyhow."

"He had such wisdom. We were all reciting the Pledge of Allegiance one day, and he walked over. This little old teacher ... Mr. Lasswell was his name."

"He said: 'I've been listening to you boys and girls recite the Pledge of Allegiance all semester and it seems as though it is becoming monotonous to you. If I may, may I recite it and try to explain to you the meaning of each word?'"…….

I
- - Me; an individual; a committee of one.
Pledge
- - Dedicate all of my worldly goods to give without self-pity.
Allegiance
- - My love and my devotion.
To the Flag
- - Our standard; Old Glory ; a symbol of courage; and wherever she waves there is respect, because your loyalty has given her a dignity that shouts, Freedom is everybody's job.
Of The United
- - That means that we have all come together.
States
- - Individual communities that have united into forty-eight great states. Forty-eight individual communities with pride and dignity and purpose. All divided by imaginary boundaries, yet united to a common cause, and that is love of country, of America
. And to the Republic
- - Republic--a sovereign state in which power is invested in representatives chosen by the people to govern. And government is the people; and it's from the people to the leaders, not from the leaders to the people.
For which it stands
One Nation
- - One Nation--meaning, so blessed by God.
Indivisible
- - Incapable of being divided.
With Liberty
- - Which is Freedom; the right of power for one to live his own life, without fears, threats, or any sort of retaliation.
And Justice
- - The principle, or qualities, of dealing fairly with others.
For All
- - For All--that means, boys and girls, it's as much your country as it is mine.

And now, boys and girls, let me hear you recite the Pledge of Allegiance:
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.
Since I was a small boy, two states have been added to our country, and two words have been added to the Pledge of Allegiance: Under God. Wouldn't it be a pity if someone said that is a prayer, and that be eliminated from schools, too? “

Red Skelton ( July 18, 1913 - Sept 17, 1997)
Thanks Red, … "Good Night ... and ... God Bless"

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