I pledge---Data Masked---to the United States of America, to protect and defend the---Data Masked---from all enemies foreign and domestic. To obey all lawfull orders from---Data Masked---appointed over me. So help me---Data Masked---

...with libery, justice, and s'mores for all

1 by Secret Squirrel (Anonymous user) Friday, September 16, 2005

pledge---Data Masked---to the United States of America, to protect and defend the---Data Masked---from all enemies foreign and domestic. To obey all lawfull orders from---Data Masked---appointed over me. So help me---Data Masked---

could I please see the masked data? I had a secret clearance at one time.

#2 by Demosthenes Locke Friday, September 16, 2005

s'mores for all

no that discriminates against real thin people that have no appatite. heh

hahaha, good point, and i like your version, by the way. I might pledge heart and mind to it, for emotionally I am attached, but I can also intellectualize the beauty and righteousness of our ideals.

Everything pre-McCarthy era is fine with me; i.e. verbatim with only 'under God' taken out.

I pledge allegience to the United Federation of Planets.

"I pledge allegiance to nothing and will live until I die. The flag's just a cloth, the country is just an artificial political construct created with the best of intentions but having fell from idealism into cynicism deserves to be destroyed in revolution. Quasi-religious rote memorization oaths are meaningless and insulting to the intelligence of thinking people everywhere. One Nation, or many, doesn't matter, survival is everthing for all."

Cheers.

And that would probably get you "re-educated" in every nation you hold up in contrast to the US...

...and besides, it seems hypocritical as hell to laud "idealism" in one breath, and to utter "One Nation, or many, doesn't matter, survival is everthing for all" with the next. If you really believed that, you'd have no problem with the free market or conservatism or anything else. DOn't paint yourself as machiavellian and then start trying to laud the benefits of intangible ideals.

You just want the nihilist mystique and still be able to condemn people self-righteously based upon whatever values system you happen to favor that particular moment...

Why don't we just tell the kid to pledge allegience to nothing but themselves... oh yeah, that's what we already do. Don't worry about learning to read, write or do math, we wouldn't want to impose someone else's standards on you. Those rules are for others, not you! No one has the right to tell you "no" or make you feel uncomfortable in the least. Your own self esteem is so important, nothing else should matter. The world revolves around you and if anyone tells you different, sue the crap out of them!!!

That is the only pledge our schools seem to honor now.

Surely you can make your point about 'under God' without inflating it to mean that the rest of the pledge is meaningless, para. Evidently, without the mention of God words like "liberty" are meaningless. How sad for you.

Para, if you want to blame something for the decline in the educational system, go ahead and blame popular culture, as it is the real culprit behind just about everything you said in your post above.

How that has something to do with the words 'under God' taken out of the Pledge, I have no idea....

Surely you can make your point about 'under God' without inflating it to mean that the rest of the pledge is meaningless, para. Evidently, without the mention of God words like "liberty" are meaningless. How sad for you.

BakerStreet, I made no such claim. What I have said is I don't think anyone should fault anyone else for leaving "under God" out of the pledge if they choose. I was merely making a statement on what I see as the only thing the school systems seem to ask the kids to pledge allegience to.

jrutherchevy: unless I'm wrong, the article isn't about taking "under God" out of the pledge at all. MM stated what his pledge would be, and I replied with what I see as the only thing the school system seems to ask the kids to pledge allegience to.

Self Esteem, Self centeredness is their only allegience and Comfort, Convenience and Sex is their holy trinity.

And for the record, no I don't blame pop culture for the decline of education in America, I blame the paranoid fear of anything resembling a standard.

"I was merely making a statement on what I see as the only thing the school systems seem to ask the kids to pledge allegience to."

Huh? no, you said:

" Why don't we just tell the kid to pledge allegience to nothing but themselves... oh yeah, that's what we already do"

Even without the 'under God', the pledge goes way beyond "nothing but themselves." Otherwise, I don't see what you mean by "already do".

There are a lot of good standards in society, Para. I'd add that you HELP make them seem meaningless when you deflate their value to make 'under God' seem so damned important.

Baker, MM didn't ask anything at all about "under God", his article stated what what his pledge would be and I replied with what I see as the only allegience our schools ask of our students. in fact, scrolling up, it was YOU who brought "under god" into the discussion. I was not replying to your comment, I was replying to MMs article.

There are a lot of good standards in society, Para. I'd add that you HELP make them seem meaningless when you deflate their value to make 'under God' seem so damned important.

Yes, I realize that, since we agree on a great many things. I am not making "under god" the be all end all of education, in fact I didn't even make it the be all end all of my comments on this thread.