Uh, I think you've got the wrong poster. I never called him a liar, nor did I say that the Pledge was not a part of the service. I have no idea if it was or not. What I did call him was a nutjob for demanding an explanation from Schwartzenegger, and I stand by that.
He should be criticized, certainly, particularly if Lady Thatcher, who was so ill that she couldn't even offer the eulogy back in DC, that day, from the podium but rather from a taped interview from weeks or months before, was able to recite the Pledge.
I love Thatcher, but the idea of a presumably loyal citizen of another country saying the Pledge strikes me as odd.
She's not even a citizen of this country.
Exactly. Does she really "pledge allegiance" to a foreign government? Singing the national anthem is different, but reciting the Pledge....
Now you said that someone else also refused to say the Pledge, and that it was entirely inappropriate for a memorial service to a fallen US President? Well, then he was wrong, too. And I think you're wrong. I disagree with you.
I said it looked like McFarlane wasn't saying it either in the picture on the first page of this thread. I don't know if he actually said it or not. I know you disagree about the Pledge and like I said, I think its something about which patriotic Americans can disagree. Does that make me a commie or Howard Stern listener? Because that's the nature of the comments to which I was responding.
That is, what the heck, in your opinion, is so wrong with someone saying - The Pledge of Allegiance?
Did you read my post? I have no problem with saying the Pledge. Do it all the time. But my grandmother died about a year and a half ago. And if part of the service had been the Pledge of Allegiance, I'd have been flabbergasted. Politics has no place at a funeral. It's a time to celebrate/mourn the deceased.
Reagan's funeral obviously was different from my grandmothers because he was a political man, and you couldn't eulogise his life without talking about his political accomplishments. And that's fine. References to his accomplishments is essential. Just as references to my grandmother's accomplishments were necessary at hers. But the Pledge still strikes me as just misplaced in that context. I wouldn't say the Pledge at my Grandma's funeral, so why at Reagan's?
One thing I do resent is the implication that I lack patriotism because of my views on this. I fought under this country's flag, supported Reagan, George Bush, Dubya, and what we're doing now both in Afghanistan and in Iraq. I resigned my commission rather than serve under Clinton. There's just a time and place for everything, and, IMHO, a funeral is not the right time/place for the Pledge of Allegiance.
Alright. Seems quite a few have been saying that - for reasons of their own, I'm sure. That's the good thing you see on 'freeper'. It's not just conservative opinion. You've got some 'moles', or whatever, who pop up to question basic belief in this, or that. But you need that give and take - at least in my opinion.
loyal citizen of another country saying the Pledge strikes me as odd.
Respect for the nation.
And if part of the service had been the Pledge of Allegiance,
It's different when it's the late President.
I resigned my commission rather than serve under Clinton.
Not that it might matter, but I admire you for that. Actually, that itself was an act of patriotism; standing up for the nation, what it is supposed to represent, standing for a true sense of honor against one who really held that and the nation in contempt - clearly who still does. But the reason for saying the Pledge at a state funeral might be because it's a state funeral. And clearly Arnold should have said the Pledge. I'm pretty sure you or I would have proudly recited the Pledge, if we'd been invited.