Pledge Of Allegiance

As Someone Much Wiser Than I Said, America is in the Heart — I have pledged my allegiance to my country thousands of times as a child mostly in a mindless mumbling of memorized mumbo jumbo that was the mandatory exercise every morning in my governmentally funded school. The tradition was passed down to us over the past hundred thirty years or so…

I pledge allegiance to the republican flag of the former United States, and to the guns for which we stand. One Nation, fascist, under Donald Trump, racist, with opression and supremacy for white Christian men.

“I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” With those words many children in the US still begin their day in school. They serve as a reminder of their…

What is the Pledge of Allegiance, truly? Students and teachers are required to recite it every day in schools all across America, and chances are you did too growing up. But, once again, what is it? …

I originally posted the following to Facebook on September 14, 2016: I love the blending of culture that the flag represents, and a much larger culture that I have only ever known. I love the values that it was meant to represent: liberty, equality, and justice. I admire those that have represented that flag while securing liberty and fighting tyrants. But overshadowing all of that, it represents a corrupt government that I do not believe is working in the best interest of my family and friends. At every turn, it revokes liberty and steals property from those I love. A government that has a deep history of grievances against innocent people. A government that punishes people for simply existing.

I am a long-standing member of my Toastmaster group, an organization I heartily encourage people to join. My particular group gathers on Thursday mornings at 7:30 AM via Zoom ever since the pandemic’s start. This morning my assigned role was to serve as invocator timer. This means that not only…

Solidarity … alongside Hypocrisy Last night was another one of those stare-at-the-corners-of-the-room-and-the-cobwebs-of-the-mind sort of nights. I felt a huge urge to cry and get the resulting biochemical benefits so I forced my eyes to stay open until a tear ran into my ear. That was the best I could muster…