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Political Rant
Jun. 27th, 2002 12:05 pmOf all the stupid things to come out of the political and judicial system lately, this "under God" issue has got to be the most brainless one of them all. Maybe it's a legitimate issue that the phrase was put in just 50 years ago, maybe there's a point that 50 years was not just yesterday, but is almost a quarter of the age of this country, and almost half the age of the modern post-Civil War US, but who the hell cares?
I mean, kids are stuck in a draconian school system that consistently fails, and parents can't move their own kids unless they shell out more money on top of money they're already shelling in property taxes. Especially if their kids are in a school that scores lower than any of the other schools in the district or state. Teachers who consistently don't understand the subject matter they teach are kept in positions so that teacher's unions can get the extra $10 a week in union dues along with the grateful votes. But are any of these issues addressed in the media or the national debate with any of the same level of fervor, pro or con?
The Pledge of Allegiance is just a bunch of syllables, learned mindlessly by rote, that stand for a personal commitment to the US. I, Peter Krause, do pledge my allegiance to the United States of America, and I don't need a bunch of memorized phrases to guide my sense of duty and honor. And I certainly don't need the literary assistance of a centralized Federal government who thinks it is the government's duty to make sure all 280 million citizens repeat exactly the same phrase, whether God is a part of it or not.
I mean, kids are stuck in a draconian school system that consistently fails, and parents can't move their own kids unless they shell out more money on top of money they're already shelling in property taxes. Especially if their kids are in a school that scores lower than any of the other schools in the district or state. Teachers who consistently don't understand the subject matter they teach are kept in positions so that teacher's unions can get the extra $10 a week in union dues along with the grateful votes. But are any of these issues addressed in the media or the national debate with any of the same level of fervor, pro or con?
The Pledge of Allegiance is just a bunch of syllables, learned mindlessly by rote, that stand for a personal commitment to the US. I, Peter Krause, do pledge my allegiance to the United States of America, and I don't need a bunch of memorized phrases to guide my sense of duty and honor. And I certainly don't need the literary assistance of a centralized Federal government who thinks it is the government's duty to make sure all 280 million citizens repeat exactly the same phrase, whether God is a part of it or not.
