Pledge a Little, Pledge a Lot

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United Federation of Planets, and to the galaxy for which it stands, one universe, under everybody, with liberty and justice for all species.

A kid just tries to have a little fun by making up his own version of the Pledge and knickers begin to twist faster than longjohns hanging out on a clothesline in an Oklahoma tornado. Oh well. I suppose in the end the kid will have learned some important life lessons: adults often over-react to things, make great mountains out of little molehills, and a lot of times they just don't get it.

We all know the story but it never hurts to be reminded.

"I pledge allegiance to my Flag and (to*) the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all".

The basically original Pledge, with the word "to" inserted as noted at a later time.

About thirty years after the 1892 creation of the Pledge, the reference to the flag "of the United States of America" was added, and Francis Bellamy, who penned the original, was displeased.

Bellamy did not live to see the words "under God" added by Congress in 1954, but relatives said he wouldn't have gone for it, as he himself was never a cowardly Cold War fraidy-cat McCarthyite eager to villify the people of entire countries as "godless Communists." No, he was simply a Socialist and a patriot.

Maybe the school principal who suspended the kid for writing a more universal Pledge is the only person left who takes it that seriously anymore. There are obviously people in government who do not. The Plame leakers would seem to value their political party and its narrow agendas more than they value the flag and that for which it stands. Isn't that treason?

How many times did Karl Rove stand beside his school desk and recite the Pledge with hand on heart? How many times did he thusly lie?

Lots of times. Lots and lots.