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Allegiance Pledged
Minneapolis Star Tribune | Submitted by: anonymous
"Three small-town eighth-graders in Minnesota were suspended by their principal for not standing Thursday morning for the Pledge of Allegiance, violating a district policy that the principal now says may soon be reworded to protect free speech rights."
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From: flayed [Flayed]
Date: 10-May-2008 03:13
I did this all the time in HS to piss off teachers. Good times.
From: flayed [Flayed]
Date: 10-May-2008 03:23
You don't have to hate a country to not pledge allegiance to it. I pledge allegiance to no man, country, or ideal, but I'm more than happy to enjoy middle-class American living.
From: studgerbil
[Stud]
Date: 10-May-2008 04:21
Whe I was in grade school, if you mouthed off or acted up or otherwise pissed of the teacher, you would get a crack on your ass with a wooden paddle in front of the class. It worked a lot better than anything they've tried since, and you can look it up too. No little bastard ever died from standing for the Pledge of Allegiance, and it doesn't violate anyone's civil rights any more than learning to speak, read and write English and learning to add, subtract, multiply and divide, or learning the names of the state capitals. Yes, the country has gone to hell in the last 50 years, no doubts about it. Put that in your bong and smoke it.
From: cainmarko666
[cain marko]
Date: 10-May-2008 04:21
Having been brought up a JW, I Myself never did the Pledge of Allegiance I would on occasion do My I Pledge Allegiance to the Flag that Michael Jackson is a F@gg routine Hehe Good times.!!
From: androloma
[the Manchurian Centurion]
Date: 10-May-2008 04:48
The Pledge of Allegiance is an oath of fealty. Forcing anybody to praise the freedom they enjoy negates the entire concept of freedom. The brain-washed of this nation are brain-damaged. Insidious indoctrination. American propaganda is aggressive in its own sense of moral righteousness. It's high time Americans stopped praising themselves, and instead behave more in a mature fashion. In my opinion. Outlaw the Pledge. I'm quite sure the world won't end.
From: donkeyhotey [sir vantes]
Date: 10-May-2008 05:03
   I pledge allegiance to the flag, etc., etc., etc...
From: patsystonecheers
[Patsy Stone]
Date: 10-May-2008 06:04
One time in grade school, I was the kid in the front of teacher's desk assigned to hold the American flag. I was so small and the it was one of those huge flags on a huge pole from the 1960s. I could not get my hands around the pole and the flag was swaying. My knuckles were smacked with a ruler for not keeping the flag completely still for the entire pledge. Okay, now I realized what I just wrote, yeah yeah, big pole, hands around it, ha ha ha. Oh grow up!
From: fescue
Date: 10-May-2008 06:39
I could not get my hands around the pole and the flag was swaying. *************** Patsy, hon, that just means the flag was enjoying it. Sounds like you were about to get a few more white stripes.
From: wingedmonkeyminion [Satan Himself]
Date: 10-May-2008 07:02
I have to plead the fifth if I can't plead the first.
From: jaybegood
[Sir Robin of D'Hood]
Date: 10-May-2008 07:06
Its simple folks: If you are an American Citizen enjoying the fruits and labor and freedom our form of government provides, you stand and recite the Pledge of Alegience. If you are a visiting foreign national then you don't have to do either, but it's always nice if you at least stand. I'm a devout Atheist, but I belong to many groups, and attend many ceremonies that begin with a prayer. I'm always courteous enough to stand and bow my head. I don't care what your religion or politics are, it's always nice not to be a goddamn prick about them!
From: gargoyle1
Date: 10-May-2008 07:32
Actually, not standing and doing it are a form of political protest, protected under the constitution aren't they? Right now, I am not happy with my country, any form of protest that's peaceful should be allowed. Although, if it keeps up, I'm all for a revolution too.
From: aeon
[aeon]
Date: 10-May-2008 09:36
totally flayed, totally. i started staying put and staying quiet in middle school; even more lulz were had.
From: mrsstipic [Mrs. Stipic]
Date: 10-May-2008 12:07
Good for them. Fuck the Pledge, and the horse it rode in on. They can BBQ a bald eagle on a stick for all I care. God damn, people can be fucking silly sometimes. The ones who are all caught up in meaningless symbols are also the first ones who stick their heads in the sand when issues of real importance are mentioned. And, they tend to be the same ones who said the Gulf of Tonkin really happened, or that Iraq would be a cakewalk, or that the mission was accomplished, and so on and so on. Fiddle with stupid shit while Rome burns. Fucking idiots. Your nationality is arbitrary, solely a function of where your mother's stinky pussy was when you slid out of it.
From: noracejusthuman
[Alien From Earth]
Date: 10-May-2008 12:22
In the early 70s , I was ashamed of what my country was doing in the Vietnam War, and I felt very strongly about it. I somehow doubt these children have the same political awareness, however. I remember for several years I would sit during the pledge in High School. It was a different time. I never got in trouble as I recall. I DO know when my country elects Mr Obama, I'll feel like saying it again. 
From: jaybegood
[Sir Robin of D'Hood]
Date: 10-May-2008 12:51
Devout simply means "devoted to" it has no religous context unless it is added to something like "Christian" etc. I am "devoted to" being an Atheist. Therefore I am a "devout" Atheist.
From: hippityhopp
[bunny meat is good!]
Date: 10-May-2008 14:36
Christ how old am I that I can't even remember the pledge of allegiance without Googling it first? As to the kids in the story if they don't wanna recite the pledge, fuck em as long as they're quiet while everyone who wants to does...
From: rotteneggs13
[a bakers dozen]
Date: 10-May-2008 15:25
I pledge allegiance to the flag of the Daily Rotten Forum and to the macabre for which it stands, one website under gosh, divided, with hatred and horrific deaths to all. 
From: drmstrspoodle
[Daremaster Spoodle]
Date: 10-May-2008 16:22
We had the Pledge once a week in high school and close to the end of my tenure there I didn't stand for it. The way I looked at the issue was this - how can it be called "liberty and justice" when you're told to come into the classroom, sit down, and shut up? Why have classes on social studies and civics when your free speech rights are limited as a minor in a public campus?
From: jaybegood
[Sir Robin of D'Hood]
Date: 10-May-2008 16:44
From: drmstrspoodle [Daremaster Spoodle] Date: 10-May-2008 16:22 We had the Pledge once a week in high school and close to the end of my tenure there I didn't stand for it. The way I looked at the issue was this - how can it be called "liberty and justice" when you're told to come into the classroom, sit down, and shut up? Why have classes on social studies and civics when your free speech rights are limited as a minor in a public campus? Drmspoodle: Every veteran who has served and/or died to protect your right to state the above, says to you, and I quote: "YOU'RE A FUCKING ASSHOLE!"
From: brigadierland66 [XArmyXAF]
Date: 10-May-2008 17:50
This veteran supports any and all forms of free speech. We do not condemn others for exercising what our Consitution states is ours (includes free speech).
From: atomhartmother [yeah, m'kay]
Date: 10-May-2008 18:24
Some of you seem to be getting worked up. They seem to have been doing this all year with no problems. I will quess the real problem here is not freedom of speech, but rather these three are the assholes who disrupt the class. The teacher just used this as a reason to get a break from those assholes.
From: ciaochowbella
[I didn't do it and I wasn't there when it happened]
Date: 10-May-2008 19:20
Ladies and gentlemen, the pledge of allegiance is NOT a legal document, like the constitution or national anthem, and therefore demands no respect. It should be a voluntary, not obligatory, act to stand and recite the pledge. If you feel compelled to pledge your allegiance, fine. If not, that should also be fine. Having schools force children to stand and pledge their loyalty to this country smacks of fascism. The whole concept of freedom means you are free NOT to love this country. Also, the writer of the pledge didn't include the phrase "under God" in his original pledge. Hoover added that so as to separate us from the 'godless communist hordes'.
From: flayed [Flayed]
Date: 10-May-2008 19:46
Hey jaybegood, perhaps you could try not speaking for every American veteran ever. Or not... I mean it helps your being-a-self-righteous-prick agenda.
From: jaydawg [Aspiring Pornographer]
Date: 10-May-2008 21:07
"He said he backs the punishment, "being a veteran and a United States of America citizen, absolutely." Olson served in the Marines in Japan during the Vietnam War." In other words, he fought, but he didn't understand what it was he was actually fighting for...
From: ankharan [Ankharan]
Date: 11-May-2008 04:24
It is simple. Don't want to recite it, don't. It is a protected right. Want to act the fuck up in class on MY tax dollars instead if being there and doing what you are there to do, learn, get the fuck out of my schools, and go flip burgers. Pretty much all you are worth anyway. Want to be a punk assed kid who just needs some attention from their daddy in the form of a baseball bat to your heads to end your self-absorbed egotistical self-centered lives so daddy can go bang another one out of mommy that might actually want to be a person who doesn't think people owe them shit and that they can get away with wasting other peoples money because they "think" they are all that.... bring me a bat. I got not problems with going back to jail cause my kid needed his head caved in for acting stupid. This is exactly what this is about. A kid, acting stupid, and no one forcing the kid to act responsible for their actions. In public school. You better be learning something to get a good job once you are out. You are there on the backs of tax payer money and have an obligation to study, do your work, and graduate to be a citizen who can and does recycle the ability to put more money back into a system that they benefited from. This is not about a pledge. It is about dumb assed who want to make it an issue that it isn't to bang their drums and spout off that shit hole under their noses because they think they are witty and edgy. bah, fucking tards is all. Fucking tards.
From: absintheredux
[Green Death]
Date: 11-May-2008 04:39
"Every veteran who has served and/or died to protect your right to state the above, says to you, and I quote: "YOU'RE A FUCKING ASSHOLE!" ____________________________________________ This vet disagrees and Jay is not speaking for me. Mandated demonstrations of "patriotism" are incompatible with the concept of "Freedom". As usual some people confuse reality with mere symbols, a first and telling step towards the loss of freedom itself and its substitution with national icon worship.
From: erethism [i suspect]
Date: 11-May-2008 12:33
maybe the school districts there are having piety issues. in mineapolis there is an islamic public school with also, non obligatory but tacitly mandated after school prayer. you have to stand, face a flag, put your hand on your heart and if you dont feel like reciting you dont have to. its vestigial secularism.
From: jaybegood
[Sir Robin of D'Hood]
Date: 11-May-2008 13:44
"Also, the writer of the pledge didn't include the phrase "under God" in his original pledge. Hoover added that so as to separate us from the 'godless communist hordes'." It was Eisenhower, not Hoover, who added the phrase "under God."
From: absintheredux
[Green Death]
Date: 11-May-2008 16:32
Eisenhower did not add anything to the pledge. Congress did in 1954 at the instigation of the Catholic Knights of Columbus. J Edgar Hoover helped push it through.
From: atomhartmother [yeah, m'kay]
Date: 11-May-2008 17:49
From: absintheredux [Green Death] Date: 11-May-2008 16:32 Eisenhower did not add anything to the pledge. Congress did in 1954 at the instigation of the Catholic Knights of Columbus. J Edgar Hoover helped push it through \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ J. Edger Hoover ,,,,,,Everyones,,,,I dont know, Different breed of cat?
From: flayed [Flayed]
Date: 11-May-2008 23:01
Aww, do you feel better now ankharan? Ranting about them damn kids? Well pops, all I can say is I hope you were a flawless, immaculate person throughout your teenage years, never acting stupid or standing up to authority. Because if you did, that would make you a worthless fucking hypocrit right? A piece of dog-shit scum, too stupid to remember just a few decades ago, and more interested in preaching than making sense. Yeah, kids these days right? Kids were *way* better back in my day. Back in the age of NEVER.
From: mrsstipic [Mrs. Stipic]
Date: 11-May-2008 23:50
> Drmspoodle: Every veteran who has served and/or died to protect your right to state the above, says to you, and I quote: "YOU'RE A FUCKING ASSHOLE!" Fuck you. I just had Mother's Day dinner with 3 veterans, including my HIGHLY decorated father, and none of them would agree with you. The only rights our veterans protect is the right for corporations to pillage. I flat out fucking guarantee you that the Vietcong was NOT going to come and take away my right to say shit. Neither were the Koreans. Neither was Saddam. Neither was Hitler. Not even close. It's even more amazing that a military force that hasn't stood on the victor's side since the fucking 1940's somehow protected jack shit of mine. Anyone care to explain that? For a team that's been losing longer than the Arizona Cardinals, they sure can perform some incredible miracles when it comes to protecting my rights. Seriously, how can perennial losers get so much done? I ask the flag wavers that and all they can do is furrow their Mongoloid brows in frustration as they scramble for an answer. Take your stupid, meaningless, and totally unfounded slogans and shove 'em up your fat mama's hairy ass, you utterly worthless cocksucker. Our veterans are at best patsies, at worst criminal terrorists. Really, they're both. Fuck the pledge, and fuck any slack-jawed mouth-breather that wastes one second of his intellect on this stupidity. Sheeeesh.
From: studgerbil
[Stud]
Date: 12-May-2008 04:52
I can see that no one actually read the article. These are schoolkids. They are not "perfectly formed miniature replicas of adults", as so many idiots seem to think these days. They are not citizens. They are not old enough to vote or serve in the armed forces. They can fucking stand up and say the pledge. They are not old enough to protest something they only know about from their ignorant parents. They are too young and stupid to have a valid opinion about world affairs, truly. Any assholes that support these brats are merely using this case to further their own agenda.
From: bluegrasslass [Elizabeth Molloy]
Date: 12-May-2008 05:00
They're thinking of starting something similar here (UK), but I can't see it happening. I've always found the 'pledging allegiance' thing slightly sinister - standing with hand on heart, like you're all going to start goose stepping next. Mind you, some of you do like to burn books and music so ...
From: flayed [Flayed]
Date: 12-May-2008 05:20
Constitutionally speaking studgerbil, one's civil rights do not end upon entering a school building. The current legal opinion is that, by necessity, schools have to limit children's rights depending on their age and maturity. Thus, it isn't illegal to curb kid's free speech, punishing them for mouthing off, cussing, etc. However, a highschooler is old and mature enough to make his/her own political opinions, and thus doesn't have to take part in daily politcal affirmation.
From: ciaochowbella
[I didn't do it and I wasn't there when it happened]
Date: 12-May-2008 09:06
Gerbil, you say students are not citizens. If they aren't, then they shouldn't be compelled to recite a pledge that isn't a legal document anyway. In actuality anyone born in this country is a citizen from the first moment they draw breath.....even kids. They are not legal adults, but they are allowed rights and freedoms just like everyone else. Also, the kids involved are certainly old enough to have formed opinions about our nation and government. These aren't first graders, these were junior high kids....I had opinions then, didn't you? IMO, forcing the pledge on children is wrong. Why not have them learn something useful, like the Constitution or the Bill of Rights--both of which are legal documents--instead of bullying them into compliance? School is supposed to be for education, not brain-washing.
From: robotpope [Kiss my Titanium ass]
Date: 12-May-2008 10:58
Hoover pushed a lot of things through. . .
From: ballsosteel [and not even male!]
Date: 14-May-2008 05:56
Damn, studgerbil is starting to make sense. These are a bunch of 8th grade BRATS. If they can't be bothered to say The Pledge, then you know they can't be bothered to do a lot of other things the teacher asks, like pay attention, not disturb others, not write on the bathroom walls. Everyone here sure does go on a rant when some little pissant sticks gum on a painting in a museum, but then doesn't want the young uns to have to act civilized any other time? Get real. To grow up civilized and responsible means they have to learn when to toe the line. Standing your ass up (at the very least) when The Pledge is said in school is one of those times. It's NOT indoctrination, it's learning to live within a civilized society. Freedom is NOT the same as Anarchy. Liberty is NOT the same as Irresposnsibility.
From: jaybegood
[Sir Robin of D'Hood]
Date: 14-May-2008 11:49
I had many opinions when I was in Jr. High. Most centered around sex and self abuse though. I'll just go back to my first thought, "You can have closely held beliefs that are at contradiction with those around you, but you don't have to be a goddamn prick about it!"
Updated: 14-May-2008 11:49
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