Jeff Jarvis writes on the 9th Circuit's declaration that the Pledge of Allegiance is unconstitutional:
The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals declared recitation of the pledge of allegiance in schools unconstitutional because of the words "under God."
I expect packs of conservative jackels to come out of their caves with fang bared on this one. But I also expect that this is the true test of the libertarians out there: I can't see how they could agree with the government compelling anyone to pledge anything, eh?
When I was in school, in the Vietnam era, I was one of those obnoxious kids who refused to say it and I stand by that right now. The government at any level should not compel me to pledge anything, including God; that would be unAmerican. And I'm not libertarian.
I heard about the opinion â it's today's whoopdy-doo news story â and it got the obligatory eye roll out of me.
As is usual in such cases, this is much more about ego than about religion or patriotism. I could make the argument that a reference to God isn't the establishment of a religion. But Jeff brought up the libertarian angle, and from a libertarian angle I can agree that no one should be required to make the pledge. I'd point out that good manners and run-of-the-mill-nothin'-special patriotism would dictate that one do so, but if you don't want to, that's fine. Suit yourself, bub. It's a free country.
But I'd also point out that the case in question involves a second-grader, and Jeff's example involves himself when he was a kid. And for kids it's a different matter. Children go to school to learn something, and one of the things they should learn should be to revere the country they live in. Part of that should be the daily recitation of the Pledge; certainly they get little else in the way of instruction in patriotism, with history having become social studies, the Founding Fathers condemned as rapacious racist landlords, and teachers occasionally burning flags in the classroom. The little 7-year-old darling can recite or not recite the "one nation under God" part â I doubt if anyone would care except her father and his ego. She won't be harmed by a reference to God, nor will she feel "threatened" unless she's mentally unhinged. I doubt anyone who's ever been to Thailand, a predominantly Buddhist country with wats and temples and shrines and statues everywhere, has ever felt "threatened" by not being a Buddhist. I doubt that anyone who's ever been to the Caymans, where there are routine references to God and religion in the curriculum and public life, has ever felt "threatened" by not being a Presbyterian. I feel a lot more "threatened" living in the United States, where people feel not only free but obligated to shove their views down other people's throats.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
06/26/2002 02:34 pm ||
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#1
Personally, the "under God" always bugged me, because as a patriot I *wanted* to say the Pledge otherwise, and as a nonbeliever I felt like I was lying when I said it. (Occasionally I'd leave it out discreetly. Never got caught.) I also think it was added for stupid reasons during a paranoid period in history, and that the Pledge sounded better beforehand.
Is the current version a violation of the Establishment Clause? Probably not. Maybe. Don't immigrants say the Pledge when they become citizens? Is their citizenship ruled invalid if they later turn out to be atheists? If so, then that would be a clear violation of the Establishment Clause, but I seriously doubt it. (I hope I haven't just given somebody the idea.) Otherwise, I don't see the whole business as worth worrying about right now.
What have me cringing pre-emptively are the political knock-on effects whenever one of these dumb symbolic controversies comes up. I still remember how effectively George Bush the elder used some Pledge of Allegiance case as a club to beat Michael Dukakis in 1988. Once again, I'm going to have to try to ignore a bunch of politicians and editorial columnists telling me how unpatriotic I am for not believing in their God. It's hardly oppression but it's irritating. I might add that the irritants are as likely to be Democrats as Republicans.
Posted by: Matt McIrvin ||
06/26/2002 23:02 Comments ||
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As a deist it never bothered me to say "under God" but I see no reason to keep it in either. (It does bother me when god-botherers claim the US is a Christian country, it isn't, its deistic.) I can't see what the fuss is about and I really hope (yeah right) the Republicans don't jump on this one and make complete tits of themselves. If you want to be religious sneak Amen, Allah Akbar etc at the end of your pledge, then do so.
For me the Pledge of Alliegance does not make me feel any more or less American that if I were not saying it. Some people use it as a crutch in their daily lives to affirm their "love of country". Why it is necessary to say it every day is beyond me.
Posted by: Andrew Ian Dodge ||
06/27/2002 9:15 Comments ||
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Grouchy Old Cripple, the new guy on the link list, rants from Hotlanta. His preferred method of communication is to poke Molly Ivins with a sharp stick or to blow razzberries at politically correct drool leaking from MSNBC. I kinda like him.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
06/26/2002 08:44 pm ||
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I've reworked the links, since they were getting out of hand again. The short list is on the front page, the whole shebang â now approaching 100 links â is on the links page.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
06/26/2002 06:13 am ||
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Federal authorities have detained a Jordanian they believe was a roommate of at least two of the Sept. 11 hijackers after a raid at a Southeast Baltimore home. Rasmi Al-Shannaq was taken into custody early Monday, apparently for overstaying his visa. He is believed to have lived last year with two of the hijackers who were on board American Airlines Flight 77 when it crashed into the Pentagon. Neighbors described a swift raid about 6 a.m. Monday in which dozens of federal agents arrived at the house looking for Al-Shannaq. When he arrived about noon, the agents swarmed the blue Honda Civic Al-Shannaq was driving as he pulled up to the curb. Al-Shannaq tried to get away by driving down the narrow, one-way street, neighbors said, but was blocked by a van. "They were all over the place," [neighbor] Cheryl Seebach said of the federal agents. The 20 to 30 agents appeared to have been waiting on the block unnoticed until the raid. "I couldn't even tell they were FBI," she said. Nice to know they're still rounding them up. The ACLU wieners will probably be out in force to defend this guy, but most people don't room with someone they don't at least know, and most room with their buddies. The Starsky & Hutch car chase thing doesn't help his case, either.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
06/26/2002 09:34 am ||
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The FBI searched the apartment Tuesday of a biological weapons scientist in Frederick as part of the investigation into the mailing of anthrax-laced letters that killed five people last fall. An FBI car and Ryder rental truck were parked Tuesday evening outside Detrick Plaza apartments, and agents were carrying out large trash bags filled with unknown materials collected inside. The low-rise apartments are just outside the main gate to Fort Detrick. The scientist agreed to the search in the hope that it would remove his name from the list of possible suspects in the investigation, one law enforcement official said. The scientist, whom The Sun is not naming because he has not been charged or identified as a suspect, worked at the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, the top military bioterrorism research facility, for about two years in the late 1990s. I imagine he'll be cleared. I still think they're looking in the wrong place, though I'll admit I could be wrong.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
06/26/2002 09:34 am ||
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Al-Qaida fighters hiding in the home of a tribal elder opened fire on Pakistani troops who had come on a tip from U.S. intelligence to arrest them, Pakistani authorities said today. Ten soldiers were killed, including a major and a captain. Two al-Qaida fighters were killed and one was captured in the fight, which began late Tuesday and continued for four hours. Oooh. The Bad Guys draw some Pak blood...
An Interior Ministry official said troops went late Tuesday to the tribal elder's home near the town of Wana in Pakistan's North West Frontier Province. After surrounding the house, the Pakistanis demanded the al-Qaida members surrender. Instead, the Chechens opened fire. Some soldiers were wounded and evacuated by helicopter to nearby hospitals. Troops found uniforms, a mortar and al-Qaida literature in the house. There was no indication what happened to the tribal elder. He'll probably stop running when he gets to Fazlur Rehman's house...
By Wednesday afternoon, 500 Pakistani soldiers had been sent to the area to search for an estimated 40 al-Qaida fugitives still believed to be in the area, said Mohammed Farooq, a resident at Wana. Two Pakistani helicopters helping in the search were flying low overhead. Does this mean they're taking it seriously? Wowzers!
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
06/26/2002 09:34 am ||
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FBI agents in Pakistan are waiting for permission to search more than two dozen madrassas near the Afghanistan border. The FBI suspects that the madrassas are hideouts for top al Qaeda and Taliban leaders, and are said to have given a hit list of madrassas to the Interior Ministry. But Pakistani officials, fearing that raids would spark a local uprising, are negotiating with the FBI on a much shorter list. FBI headquarters says it can't confirm any such dealings, but that the raids "sure sound like a good idea." This is exactly what the Fundos don't want to happen — 'cause we kinda have an idea there are probably 1000+ thugs, gunnies, snuffies, and other assorted crazed killers enjoying free room and board mixed in with the schoolboys.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
06/26/2002 09:34 am ||
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U.S. diplomats are holding talks with Arab governments about the Bush administration's new framework for Middle East peace. Secretary of State Colin Powell began telephone conversations with his counterparts from Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia before President Bush's Monday speech. In a series of interviews Tuesday, Mr. Powell explained the U.S. break with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, saying the administration has been frustrated with his repeated failure to back up his rhetoric about curbing terrorism. The U.S. secretary said he expects to visit the Middle East soon for further consultations. But he did not announce a timetable for his visit. Bush has laid out his plan, and Powell's going to have to put the pieces in place for it to come together. The amount of inertia they're going to have to overcome is enormous. Yasser and his thugs are determined they're not going to give up power — Yasser expects to be "president" until he dies of old age. When his grip does appear to be weakening, the fundos in Hamas and Islamic Jihad will try to grab the power for themselves so turbans can make a comeback. I'm reassured, though, that Bush does have an eventual goal in mind, even though most of what's going on is behind the scenes and of necessity has to involve a lot of compromise.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
06/26/2002 09:34 am ||
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Yesterday, in a meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien, Mr Bush said: "What Palestinians need is leadership â elected leadership."
But Mr Chretien, while embracing Mr Bush's push for democratic elections, declined to back the call. "I don't have a specific point of view on that," the Canadian prime minister said. Decisive, dynamic leadership, firmly grounded in principle... Will one of you guys in the Great White North tell him to shut up?
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
06/26/2002 09:34 am ||
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We love to tell him to shut up but most of the time none of us can figure out what he saying
Posted by: Hare ||
06/26/2002 10:35 Comments ||
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He can't understand us any more than we can understand him. English isn't his second language and I doubt French is his first. The man is an idiot and it's to our shame he's been running our country into the ground for as long as he has.
#3
With Chretien's slide in the polls from a 48% some months ago to 42% today, I wouldn't be so big on the "d" concept either, particularly as he seems to be following the Fuerher-Prinzip in running his own party.
Posted by: Tom Roberts ||
06/26/2002 12:46 Comments ||
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Every major Palestinian city except Jericho, whose residents have sat out the uprising of the past 21 months, is now under Israeli military control. Bassam Abu Sharif, an Arafat adviser, called on Bush ''to convince the Israeli army to withdraw from the cities and the villages and allow the voters to vote freely.'' I don't think Bush is listening at the moment, Bassam. How 'bout if we leave a note, and he'll get back to you?
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
06/26/2002 09:34 am ||
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Defense Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer has pledged to evacuate 20 unauthorized settlement outposts in the West Bank. "I have determined that that there are 20 outposts that in my order of priorities, are at the greatest urgency for removal," Ben-Eliezer told Israel Channel One Television late on Tuesday. "I will take down these outposts." Asked about the possibility that settlers would resist orders to evacuate the sites, the defense minister added that "There are always two possibilities - either they will leave voluntarily, as soon as they realize that the decision is a determined one, or the Israeli army will remove them." Whoa! That says the Israelis have rilly-truly accepted the fact that there's going to be a Paleostinian state, and they're getting their citizens out. It'll also take some of the wind out of the sails of the yammering chorus demanding the settlements be dismantled, since the Israelis can point and say, "We are. See?"
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
06/26/2002 09:34 am ||
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According to Janeâs Foreign Report, six Palestinians arrested earlier this week near Beit Shemesh were en route to a suicide attack against an Israeli arms warehouse in which nuclear weapons and Jericho surface-to-surface missiles are stored. Janeâs reported Wednesday that the planned attack was thwarted as a result of information received by Shin Bet and by a large-scale manhunt that resulted in the capture of the six late on Monday. "Within Israel's defense establishment, officials are denying this morning that security information of this nature was indeed received," Israel Army radio said. Foreign news reports have said in the past that Jericho missiles and nuclear warheads and other devices were stored in underground bunkers near Moshav Zecharia, not far from Beit Shemesh. After the capture of the Palestinians, Jerusalem District Police chief, Mickey Levi told reporters that the capture "averted a major tragedy." That statement could be taken to back up the Jane's article, or it could simply that the patrons of a half dozen discos were spared. I don't imagine an Israeli nuclear weapons facility would be easy to penetrate.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
06/26/2002 09:34 am ||
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The Palestinian Authority says it will hold general elections in the West Bank and Gaza Strip next January. Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat said elections for president and the legislative council will take place between the 10 and 20 of January. Another senior Palestinian, Nabil Shaath, says Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat will seek re-election. Under that dirty kefiyeh, behind those rheumy eyes, is a massive ego. So what else is new?
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
06/26/2002 09:34 am ||
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About 150 Palestinians, who were holed up in the Palestinian government complex in the West Bank city of Hebron, surrendered Wednesday to IDF troops besieging the building. At this time it appears not all have surrendered, and some Palestinians are still inside the headquarters. Soldiers surrounded and fired machine guns at the building for a second straight day Wednesday, as security forces rounded up 300 Palestinian terror suspects in the area. About a dozen suspects in the building known as the Imara exchanged gunfire with troops outside, and a bulldozer began knocking down walls to subdue them. By Wednesday afternoon, the IDF was threatening to use sniper fire to force the wanted men out. IDF soldiers found hundreds of explosive devices in and areound the Imara, Israel Radio reported. The devices were similar in makeup to those used by Hizbullah in southern Lebanon in the past. No priests? No nuns? No Costa Brava. Sorry.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
06/26/2002 10:11 am ||
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US President George W. Bush decided to call for Yasser Arafat's removal after seeing intelligence reports last week that Arafat had approved a $20,000 payment to the Al Aksa Martyrs Brigade, which claimed responsibility for last week's suicide bombing at a bus stop in northern Jerusalem that killed seven, the New York Times reported today. That information, the Times reported, hardened Bush's resolve to seek Arafat's removal. "That was a key," one senior US administration official told the Times. "It sealed it." "Boss, we can't take a post-dated check. They're gonna turn our cable off. Don't worry about it â the Merkins'll never notice."
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
06/26/2002 10:19 am ||
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Philippine officials yesterday insisted that Abu Sayyaf leader Abu Sabaya had been killed by troops last week even as US navy commandos helped to search for his body in the seas off the southern Philippines. Navy officials said they had asked local fishermen in the southern province of Zamboanga del Norte to look out for a corpse or body parts. Let us know if you find something, okay?
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
06/26/2002 09:35 am ||
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Maybe they lost it the same way they lost the third hostage's body during the rescue raid.
Posted by: Tom Roberts ||
06/26/2002 12:48 Comments ||
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The Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI) has received crucial backing from legislators to use force against separatists in Aceh as a military offensive grew imminent in the troubled province. But doubts emerged whether the TNI's hardline option would be effective given the deeply entrenched nature of the insurgency in the area that is complicated by guerilla warfare and the military's acute shortage of weapons. Amris Fuad Hassan, who attended a parliamentary commission hearing on Monday where the newly installed army chief, General Endriartono Sutarto, made a pitch for the use of force not just in Aceh but other trouble spots such as Irian Jaya, said 'peaceful dialogue is no longer an option. The unity of Indonesia should never be taken for granted.' The unity of Indonesia's probably about as precarious as it can get. That's because it's an artificial construct.
Observers said the military might have secured 'vital insurance' by securing parliamentary support for a blitzkrieg against the Free Aceh Movement (GAM). And with a political umbrella now, it could crush the rebels without any fear of being accused of human rights abuses. For a start, it carved out another strategic zone for itself in the country by deploying troops there and appointing a one-star general to head the command. It scored another victory by earlier killing GAM commander Tengku Abdullah Syafi'ie. Free Aceh Movement wants independence for Aceh, which is the northern fifth or so of Sumatra, and it's recently said it wants all of Sumatra to break off from Indonesia. Given the ham-handed local administration, it's understandable. The Indonesian army just hates it when meddlers accuse it of human rights violations, which happens regularly since they don't appear to have any conception of human rights. Free Aceh wants to establish â surprise! â an Islamic state, but doesn't appear to have drawn the Soddy bucks the way Lashkar Jihad and Jemaah Islamiya have.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
06/26/2002 09:48 am ||
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However, the Organization of the Islamic Conference defends the "territorial integrality" of Indonesia, while it favors "self-determination" in Jammu and Kashmir, and the Phillipines. Gee, that sounds fair.
Unlike its aggressive attempts to crush rebels in Aceh, the Indonesian government has been half-hearted in ending sectarian conflict in Maluku. The government's differing stance is explained by the fact that Aceh militants demanding independence are perceived as far more threatening than the religious militants who merely threaten civilian lives, according to observers. The Aceh movement doesn't want to take over the country. They just want Aceh â and Sumatra â out of Indonesia...
Police in the Malukus have been reluctant to heed calls from both the central government and the Malukus' governor to arrest the leaders of militant groups, such as the Laskar Jihad. Jakarta was ignoring the Malukus at its own peril, said the Western diplomat. 'The joke is that now the government's lack of action over the violence in Maluku has re-created the separatist movement. RMS was refounded in November 2000 after the arrival of Laskar Jihad,' he said, referring to the Republic of South Maluku Movement (RMS). RMS was an independence movement formed in the 1950s, but most of its members fled to the Netherlands when it failed. It had not been heard from again until 2000. Another independence movement, the Maluku Sovereignty Front (FKM), has also sprung up. If they did a bit of searching, which I'm sure they won't, they'd find Saudi money driving Lashkar Jihad. The Aceh movement appears to be indigenous...
The military had shown little urgency in solving the conflict because it was not their responsibility, said Moluccan sociologist Tamrin Tomagola. "Is not my job, mon!"
Curiously, the presence of the Laskar Jihad is now an impetus for a crackdown on the RMS after Vice-President Hamzah Haz suggested that the religious fundamentalists could not be expelled from the province until the separatists had been thrown out as well. That's because the fix is in...
'The separatist element has given the security forces a good excuse to crack down on Laskar Jihad,' said the diplomat. Also, RMS has minimal local support, which makes it an easier target. Other observers noted that top Security Minister Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had begun to take action to end the three-year-old conflict in the Malukus. What'd he do? Form a committee?
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
06/26/2002 09:56 am ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
