[thechat] More Pledge news

[Janet Green]

>>>Oh, and did I mention that for the first fifty years of its use, the Pledge
was recited with the right arm extended straight up and slightly forward,
palm facing out? Sound familiar? Yeah, it got changed in the 40’s, when we
realized that Hitler was also fond of that particular gesture.

Finally, of course, the particular phrase which is causing the controversy -
“under God” - was not part of the pledge until 1954. It was installed then
by Eisenhower in a effort to aid Senator McCarthy and his thugs in rooting
out the godless communists, anarchists, and queers among us.<<<

The blogger makes an intelligent case, Rudy - I read the whole thing and I thought, THANK YOU for giving me an intelligent response to the whole issue so I don't sound like an intolerant reactionary right-winger. Because I was having some problems reconciling the whole thing, seriously. But the theme running through the snips you selected is that the Pledge has *evolved*. We dropped the salute and we added "under God"... so why should we not recognize that while the Pledge itself started out as a "marketing gimmick" (according to the blogger, but where are his sources?), it's evolved way beyond that and taken on a much more prominent and emotional role in American life? Maybe I should go comment on the blog itself, rather than here, but williamted's point seems to be that we shouldn't take the Pledge so seriously because it was originally a marketing ploy - and in the next breath he's pointing out how it's changed over the years. I've forgotten completely why this was relevant - guess I just think he's SAYING one thing blatantly (don't buy into the Pledge) but maybe undermining his own point in the long run.

Janet
http://gdmpwebdiva.blogspot.com