Fox News knows that saying the Pledge of Allegiance is a true test of patriotism and that those who don't want to say it are liberal traitors who should leave the country. Defenders of the Pledge are greeted as heroes, such as Brian Kilmeade's guest who is standing up against a Pledge ban that, uh, really isn't a ban except for Fox News.
Monday's Fox & Friends Pledge "ban" segment began with stirring, triumphant music heavy on the timpani. The background image was the American flag which, along with Jesus and the Pledge of Allegiance, is considered a Fox sacred icon. Video, of a New Paltz, NY Planning Board members voting (4 to 3) to not say the Pledge of Allegiance at the beginning of their meetings, was played.
Kilmeade began the propaganda session: "There you have it, a New York town planning board slapping a motion to recite the Pledge before meetings because it is quote a total waste of time, it could raise First Amendment issues." The banner beneath read "Plea for the Pledge, Town Rejects Motion for Pledge at Meetings" while the words "Flag Day" were in the lower right corner. (Thought Flag Day was June 14th?) He didn't mention that, according to one member, the Pledge is not "germane to business" and that he "'didn't want to create division on the Board, where some people felt uncomfortable because we need to work together'.
Kilmeade introduced his guest, Amy Cohen, a Planning Board Member who voted for the Pledge and who, according to Kilmeade, is "making it her personal mission to bring the Pledge back." He asked if she was "shocked" by the vote. She expressed surprise and informed us that she is a member of other groups that do say the Pledge. Video was shown of board members explaining their reasons for voting against the Pledge. In reacting to one comment, Kilmeade interjected, "there you go, they love the country, but they don't love the Pledge." The banner boldly proclaimed "Pledge Problem, Planning Board Bans Pledge of Allegiance." What Fox doesn't seem to get is that the use of the term "ban" is inaccurate, given that the Board hadn't been saying the Pledge prior to the vote. (Nuance - not a strong suit at Fox)
Cohen spoke about why the Pledge should be said as the banner reinforced the outrage: "No Pledge in Paltz (It's "New Paltz")." She asserted that "our veterans, our soldiers, our families of veterans, soldiers, and first responders, all appreciate it. And it takes so little time and it means so much to so many." What neither she nor Kilmeade mentioned was that one of Pledge opponents is a veteran. Another member volunteers his time to veterans' causes. At the end of her plea for the Pledge, Kilmeade said "right" and thanked her and those who voted with her including one whose name he got wrong.
I wonder how Brian Kilmeade would react if an atheist objected to a majority vote to include prayer before a public meeting. On Fox, not all victims are created equal?
Secondly, Francis Bellamy was a Baptist minister and a Christian socialist (which could be a bit of a redundancy if using the most historically accurate understanding of each—it was necessary in the late 19th Century, however, as most Socialist movements of the era de-emphasized the role of religion in society). He originally wanted to include frightening words like “equality” and “fraternity” in his Pledge (to reflect the motto of the French Revolution—liberté, égalité, fraternité) but realized that a lot of state education superintendents (the Pledge was originally designed for school children) might balk at the idea of “equality” and “fraternity” being in the Pledge at a time when there was a lot of open belief against the idea of equal rights for women and for Blacks. (The man was NOT stupid.)
Then, the pledge idea was supported by a corporate marketer to sell flags. The Pledge was devised in time for upcoming Columbus Day celebrations which were to be observed by schools across the country, and wouldn’t it be nice if all those schools had nice new flags just in time for the celebration?
Incidentally, Bellamy’s original used the phrase “my Flag” which was later changed to “the Flag of the United States” because OF immigrants. A Flag Conference in 1923 (can you believe it!) decided that the change would help new immigrants accept their new flag.
The full Balch pledge: “I pledge allegiance to my flag, and the republic for which it stands. I pledge my head and my heart to God and my country. One country, one language and one flag.”
Bellamy’s original: “I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”
The pledge was written by Colonel George Balch, hardly a socialist, when he was auditor at the New York City Board of Education, to promote patriotism in the public schools (public is by no mean synonymous to socialist, except for libertarian crackpots). The same Colonel Balch is well known for his campaign to erect flagpoles and fly the US flag in front of all public schools. The pledge was then revised by Bellamy (who was socialist), adopted by Congress in 1942 (was Congress socialist, or national-socialist ? No).
The nazi salute has nothing to do either with the pledge of allegiance : it is inspired by the roman salute, a salute that had become in modern times the rallying sign of italian fascists. It was the adopted by the NSDAP, the fascists going by the name of National-Socialists.
The “discoveries” of Rex Curry are just a rewritting of history to suit his hatred of socialism.
discoveries of the historian Dr. Rex Curry, as described in the many books about Dr. Curry’s work). The early pledge began with a military salute that was then extended outward to point at the flag (thus the stiff-arm gesture came from the pledge and from the military salute). The pledge was written in 1892 for kindergartners to be forced to recite under the flag at government schools (socialist schools). The pledge was written by an American socialist who influenced other socialists worldwide, including German socialists, who used the gesture under their flag’s notorious symbol (their symbol was used to represent crossed “S” letters for their “socialist” dogma -another of Dr. Curry’s discoveries). The pledge continues to be the origin of similar behavior even though the gesture was changed to hide the pledge’s putrid past. The pledge is central to the US’s police state and its continued growth.