The Pledge Is...BS

[Hoplite]

I got intrigued when I read this article, the first section
6 Supposedly Ancient Traditions (That Totally Aren't) | Cracked.com

Cracked is sort of like Wikipedia, they do present information but more often it's a starting place. The primary purpose of Cracked is also to entertain, not inform.

Some of the things I read about the pledge of allegiance we often make school children say and we tend to want others to say seemed...off. Outlandish, they couldnt possibly be true.

So I decided to check it out. I checked the links, verified them...and...found them to be, for the most part, true.

The pledge of allegiance was written in 1892 and not penned by any of our beloved founding fathers or their descendants. Rather it was written by, and hold on to your ****ing socks, a Socialist. Francis Bellamy published the pledge in a popular youth magazine at the time. Bellamy may sound somewhat familiar as his cousin Edward was the author of several popular works of fiction (Looking Backward (1888) and Equality (1897).

Most of us (should) already know that "under God" wasnt added until 1954 when the specter of McCarthyism meant everyone had to bleed not only red but white and blue as well in addition to endorsing a very particular brand of Americana otherwise you were a dirty dirty Commie.

There was also a fun salute to go along with this pledge. It involved raising right hand in the air at an angle with the palm pointing towards the ground and-

Oh dear I bet that got awkward circa 1941. It was, predictably, discontinued during WW2.


I repeat a statement I made earlier: History is NOT pretty.

 

[mpg]

already been discussed here at least once

 

[molten_dragon]

I'm honestly not sure why people make such a big deal over the pledge of allegiance. I'm pretty sure I haven't said it since I got out of grade school (and I'm assuming most people are about the same), and most kids in school simply don't care.

 

[Simba]

I got intrigued when I read this article, the first section
6 Supposedly Ancient Traditions (That Totally Aren't) | Cracked.com

Cracked is sort of like Wikipedia, they do present information but more often it's a starting place. The primary purpose of Cracked is also to entertain, not inform.

Some of the things I read about the pledge of allegiance we often make school children say and we tend to want others to say seemed...off. Outlandish, they couldnt possibly be true.

So I decided to check it out. I checked the links, verified them...and...found them to be, for the most part, true.

The pledge of allegiance was written in 1892 and not penned by any of our beloved founding fathers or their descendants. Rather it was written by, and hold on to your ****ing socks, a Socialist. Francis Bellamy published the pledge in a popular youth magazine at the time. Bellamy may sound somewhat familiar as his cousin Edward was the author of several popular works of fiction (Looking Backward (1888) and Equality (1897).

Most of us (should) already know that "under God" wasnt added until 1954 when the specter of McCarthyism meant everyone had to bleed not only red but white and blue as well in addition to endorsing a very particular brand of Americana otherwise you were a dirty dirty Commie.

There was also a fun salute to go along with this pledge. It involved raising right hand in the air at an angle with the palm pointing towards the ground and-

Oh dear I bet that got awkward circa 1941. It was, predictably, discontinued during WW2.


I repeat a statement I made earlier: History is NOT pretty.

Holy Moly! Nows dar der picture of dems whites children salutin' all proper must be pleasin' da hearts of everys true blooded American who wants peeps to believe George Washington himself wrote the Pledge. *winks*

 

[Deuce]

Our country DOES have an ugly ass history. The difference between liberals and conservatives is that liberals are willing to face and accept it.

 

[Redress]

I got intrigued when I read this article, the first section
6 Supposedly Ancient Traditions (That Totally Aren't) | Cracked.com

Cracked is sort of like Wikipedia, they do present information but more often it's a starting place. The primary purpose of Cracked is also to entertain, not inform.

Some of the things I read about the pledge of allegiance we often make school children say and we tend to want others to say seemed...off. Outlandish, they couldnt possibly be true.

So I decided to check it out. I checked the links, verified them...and...found them to be, for the most part, true.

The pledge of allegiance was written in 1892 and not penned by any of our beloved founding fathers or their descendants. Rather it was written by, and hold on to your ****ing socks, a Socialist. Francis Bellamy published the pledge in a popular youth magazine at the time. Bellamy may sound somewhat familiar as his cousin Edward was the author of several popular works of fiction (Looking Backward (1888) and Equality (1897).

Most of us (should) already know that "under God" wasnt added until 1954 when the specter of McCarthyism meant everyone had to bleed not only red but white and blue as well in addition to endorsing a very particular brand of Americana otherwise you were a dirty dirty Commie.

There was also a fun salute to go along with this pledge. It involved raising right hand in the air at an angle with the palm pointing towards the ground and-

Oh dear I bet that got awkward circa 1941. It was, predictably, discontinued during WW2.


I repeat a statement I made earlier: History is NOT pretty.

I don't much care when the pledge was written, or when it was rewritten to include "under god". I knew the answer roughly to both. You get a thanks for the Cracked link though, I have had a good time there the last hour or so.

 

[TurtleDude]

Our country DOES have an ugly ass history. The difference between liberals and conservatives is that liberals are willing to face and accept it.

and liberals want to throw the baby out with the bathwater.

I cannot tell you how many times liberals arguments come down to

BUT EUROPE HAS

1) socialism

2) confiscatory taxes

3) gun bans

4) gay marriage

5) cradle to grave "free medical care"

 

[Redress]

and liberals want to throw the baby out with the bathwater.

I cannot tell you how many times liberals arguments come down to

BUT EUROPE HAS

1) socialism

2) confiscatory taxes

3) gun bans

4) gay marriage

5) cradle to grave "free medical care"

And I cannot tell you how many times liberal arguments have nothing to do with any of that...broad inaccurate generalizations FTW!

 

[Josie]

This video is also disturbing. I didn't realize there were many supporters of Stalin, Hitler and the like in this country back then.

[nomedia="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wt5ADdybTug"]YouTube- American Nazis in 1930s[/nomedia]

 

[Josie]

And Woody Guthrie was a Communist.

[nomedia="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XaI5IRuS2aE"]YouTube- Woody Guthrie-This Land[/nomedia]

 

[dontworrybehappy]

Hmmm, I don't know.....pretty consistently when one of those 5 topics is the debate it does almost always get brought up.

 

[Aunt Spiker]

The Bellamy Salute at that time wasn't bad or representative of anything Nazi - it was used for a very long time, actually, before the Nazis took it and warped it which is why we had to disconnect ourselves from it.

The overall original purpose of the pledge and the salute was to bring new Americans into the comfort of being an American. Almost like 'be a part of the gang' type of a deal.

Liken it to brainwashing if you like. But I like the pledge and simply wish that the foul part of history (Hitler) didn't abduct our history and turn it into something that seems wretched even though it's not.

 

[Redress]

And Woody Guthrie was a Communist.

YouTube- Woody Guthrie-This Land

America the Beautiful > * when it comes to patriotic songs.

 

[Deuce]

Hmmm, I don't know.....pretty consistently when one of those 5 topics is the debate it does almost always get brought up.

Um, no, nobody actually argues those things.

1) European countries aren't socialist and American liberals don't want socialism.

2) "Confiscatory" taxes? You think any liberal has actually ever argued in favor of that?

3) Europe's gun control laws are widely varied. Heck, Europe as a whole is a widely varied place. You DO know there's quite a few countries there, right?

4) This one i'll agree with actually. Some European countries and some US states have legalized gay marriage and their societies have not collapsed as a result, divorce rates haven't gone up, and the children are doing just fine thank you.

5) Nobody has ever argued that health care is free anywhere.

 

[jallman]

Our country DOES have an ugly ass history. The difference between liberals and conservatives is that liberals are willing to face and accept it.

No, I think difference between liberals and conservatives is that liberals want to piss and moan about it while conservatives are constantly striving to do something more with it.

 

[Dav]

Our country DOES have an ugly ass history. The difference between liberals and conservatives is that liberals are willing to face and accept it.

America has done good and done bad. The difference between liberals and conservatives is that liberals can only seem to ever focus on the latter.

No other way anyone could see it as an "ugly ass history", when it's probably the least ugly of any major country in world history.

 

[Hoplite]

No other way anyone could see it as an "ugly ass history", when it's probably the least ugly of any major country in world history.

At the risk of getting in a pissing contest, that isnt exactly a fair statement. America is one of the younger countries on the block and hasnt had as much time to polish up it's CV when it comes to treating people like crap. I feel compelled to point out two things:

First, there is nothing so special about America that makes it immune or even resistant to events that generate "ugly history." It's a group of people with their own faults and failings, their own cultural identity. There is nothing intrinsic about America that insulates it from bad choices.

Second, even before America was a country, we were killing off and dehumanizing the native inhabitants. We STILL treat the Native Americans like garbage to this day when we should know better. We started as a country in bad circumstances and we've made plenty of bad choices since then, our history is no cleaner than anyone elses'

 

[jallman]

Second, even before America was a country, we were killing off and dehumanizing the native inhabitants. We STILL treat the Native Americans like garbage to this day when we should know better. We started as a country in bad circumstances and we've made plenty of bad choices since then, our history is no cleaner than anyone elses'

Wait a minute...How, exactly, are we still treating the native americans like garbage?

 

[Redress]

No, I think difference between liberals and conservatives is that liberals want to piss and moan about it while conservatives are constantly striving to do something more with it.

I got to call BS on this bit of hyperbole. Just because liberals have different solutions than you does not mean we are not striving to do something with our history.

 

[winston53660]

And Woody Guthrie was a Communist.

YouTube- Woody Guthrie-This Land

Damn the guy was smart about geography for a person of his time.

 

[jallman]

I got to call BS on this bit of hyperbole. Just because liberals have different solutions than you does not mean we are not striving to do something with our history.

I notice you didn't bother to take any exception to the "bit of hyperbole" to which it was a response.

Liberal "solutions" tend to be appeasement, submission, and apologies. Blame America is the liberal mantra with little or no recognition for the great that America has done.

To make an omelet, a few eggs have to be broken. Liberals would have us apologize to the eggs (unless they are fertilized human eggs; screw them) and then not make the omelet. Besides, the individual eggs all in a mess are so much easier to convince of their victimhood and make better voting blocks that way.

 

[Hoplite]

Wait a minute...How, exactly, are we still treating the native americans like garbage?

Ever been on a reservation? The federal government comes through and gives a few people a new truck every few years, but there isnt enough fuel to run the trucks, there's little access to running water, few jobs, limited access to electricity and schooling.

 

[spud_meister]

No other way anyone could see it as an "ugly ass history", when it's probably the least ugly of any major country in world history.

its more or less the same as every other country the poms settled that had a native population, from south africa to new zealand, the natives got trampled on, shot, diseased etc. and then it tried to make amends, with varying degrees of success.

 

[Renae]

Ever been on a reservation? The federal government comes through and gives a few people a new truck every few years, but there isnt enough fuel to run the trucks, there's little access to running water, few jobs, limited access to electricity and schooling.

So a real life experiment in Government run living is a failure? So uhm... two questions come to mind:

1. Why don't the residents of the Reservations stop waiting for the Gov't to take care of them, because isn't painfully obvious they are failing.

2. Why do people think the Gov't can handle something like healthcare when they cannot handle Indian Reservation Management?

 

[Jerry]

I got intrigued when I read this article, the first section
6 Supposedly Ancient Traditions (That Totally Aren't) | Cracked.com

Cracked is sort of like Wikipedia, they do present information but more often it's a starting place. The primary purpose of Cracked is also to entertain, not inform.

Some of the things I read about the pledge of allegiance we often make school children say and we tend to want others to say seemed...off. Outlandish, they couldnt possibly be true.

So I decided to check it out. I checked the links, verified them...and...found them to be, for the most part, true.

The pledge of allegiance was written in 1892 and not penned by any of our beloved founding fathers or their descendants. Rather it was written by, and hold on to your ****ing socks, a Socialist. Francis Bellamy published the pledge in a popular youth magazine at the time. Bellamy may sound somewhat familiar as his cousin Edward was the author of several popular works of fiction (Looking Backward (1888) and Equality (1897).

Most of us (should) already know that "under God" wasnt added until 1954 when the specter of McCarthyism meant everyone had to bleed not only red but white and blue as well in addition to endorsing a very particular brand of Americana otherwise you were a dirty dirty Commie.

There was also a fun salute to go along with this pledge. It involved raising right hand in the air at an angle with the palm pointing towards the ground and-

Oh dear I bet that got awkward circa 1941. It was, predictably, discontinued during WW2.


I repeat a statement I made earlier: History is NOT pretty.

What's your point?