Why does Congress stand and say the Pledge of Allegiance??

[kentuck]

They sound like a bunch of 1st graders. Do they think it proves they are "patriotic"? I seriously doubt that any Congressional District in America would vote for a candidate they did not think was "patriotic".

Are they trying to wrap themselves in the flag by mumbling a Pledge? Do they think if someone refused to say it, then they could railroad them as unpatriotic? We know they are Americans and they are all patriotic. It is a silly waste of time, in my opinion.

[saltpoint]

1. To give lobbyists access to their hindquarters.

[Auggie]

2. They forgot the words to "I'm a little teapot."

[LibDemAlways]

3. Last week in my daughter's high school level

American Sign Language class they were taught how to sign the pledge. Over the weekend I asked her to demonstrate it for my 85-year-old father. His comment was something to the effect that he was impressed by her ability, but that the pledging loyalty to a piece of cloth and, by extension, a corrupt government is stupid and pointless.

When I see that bunch of mostly bought-and-paid-for idiots reciting their loyalty, it's so obviously a crock that it's just laughable.

[pansypoo53219]

4. because

we are in a neo-McCarthism era. the McBushy era, were if you don't follow the neocon herd, you aren't patriotic.

now, attach a flag pin to your clothes!

[kentuck]

5. Right!

Remember how they jumped on Obama for not wearing his lapel pin on his coat?

[in_cog_ni_to]

6. Why do they pray before each session? Separation of Church and State?

My ass. It's all crap. The praying and pledging daily is ridiculous, IMCPO....

[rusty fender]

7. I don't do...

..."The Pledge" and I no longer stand for the "Star Spangled Banner." When the USA is out of Iraq, I will once more respect this country and its symbols. "The Pledge" is so meaningless and gratuitous that for some, doing it is just exercising a physical memory. People need to start thinking about what they're doing.

[Frogger]

8. Does it matter if they do?

Why get your panties in a wad over this non-issue?

[kentuck]

9. What issue..?

..gets your panties in a wad? How do you equate saying it is silly with "getting your panties in a wad"?? Sounds like you are prone to hyperbole?

[Frogger]

16. It's a figure of speech.

Why are you disturbed about Congress saying the Pledge?

[gratuitous]

10. Because it reinforces an odious trope

That being that by reciting the pledge, it somehow marks one as patriotic or fit to be a citizen and enjoy the privileges of citizenship.

The flip side is that we don't have privileges, we have rights, and that those rights are guaranteed by our common humanity, not granted at the point of a gun, not granted by a court of law, not something earned. Because if rights are only guaranteed at the point of a gun or by a court, or earned by being a good citizen (as evidenced by reciting a pledge), then those rights are not rights at all, but privileges reserved for a specified elite.

And as long as the fiction can persist that rights can be granted, then they can also be taken away: By someone with a bigger gun, or a slicker court argument, or because we're not a good enough citizen to have "earned" the right to rights. It's a very useful fiction for some people, because they can then argue that we're holding the worst of the worst off of U.S. soil, and those awful individuals are so bad that they aren't "entitled" to the rights enumerated in our Constitution, or any rights whatsoever. And what we're really saying is that those rights are therefore privileges. Today, by reciting the pledge of allegiance, I have earned that privilege. Tomorrow? Well, maybe something more will be required.

[kentuck]

12. Very well said, gratuitous.

Bravo!

[Frogger]

17. Certainly a confused argument.

Yes, we are entitled to our rights as human beings. Nevertheless, don't ever fool yourself that they can, if not be taken away then violated, from the point of a gun. Ask any mugging victim whose right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness has been snatched by some thug. Ask the citizens of North Korea or China or Cuba.

Lots of countries don't recognize or enforce the rights that we take for granted here in the USA. And yes, we can lose them.

But the Pledge has nothing to do with all that crap you spouted. It is an expression of solidarity. A recognition that we are all Americans who, despite our differences support our society.

[kentuck]

18. "It is an expression of solidarity." ?

Is that your opinion? I don't agree with that.

[gratuitous]

21. Well, talk about confused

We're not "entitled" to rights, we have them regardless - it's part of the human condition. You clearly didn't read my post very carefully at all, and your unseemly hyperventilating and name-calling indicate that the point would be lost no matter how carefully it was explained.

Sorry you got your panties in such a bunch.

[goddess40]

11. Thanks - now I don't feel so alone

I stopped saying the pledge when the schools stopped forcing me to- so I haven't said the pledge since grade school. I find it insulting when people demand that other partake in the silliness. And don't even get me started on the prayer shit.

[Beausoleil]

13. If the Pledge was good enough for

George Washington and Abe Lincoln, it's good enough for me!

Oh, yeah: :sarcasm:

[CT_Progressive]

14. Because its a tradition. Its done at the state and local levels too.

When we start any Town meeting, we do it.
When we begin our Democratic Town Committee meeting, we do it.
The State legislature in CT does it.

Pretty much, its done everywhere.

[The2ndWheel]

15. Because they are the state, and the state requires allegiance?

At least from those that actively work to acquire more power for it. Sort of the same thing as brand loyalty in the case of corporations.

Ritual? Tradition? A robotic process? The way a central authority continues to operate?

[quip]

19. It's a sign of respect nt

[orleans]

20. because they're a bunch of FUCKING HYPOCRITES!

(and first graders! playing follow the leader, seeing how much they can sneak and get away with, trying to find out if they will get caught. fuck them!)