"I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."
- Francis Bellamy, 1892
Francis Bellamy (1855 - 1931), a Baptist minister, wrote the original Pledge in August 1892. He was a Christian Socialist. In his Pledge, he is expressing the ideas of his first cousin, Edward Bellamy, author of the American socialist utopian novels, Looking Backward (1888) and Equality (1897).
Considering America's radical roots, it is sadly ironic that a political dynasty now rules our land in the form of Bush II.
Steve Hogan, the talented cartoonist and creator of Acid Keg commented, "We need real patriots like the great long haired radical agnostic hemp smoking fuckbeasts who founded our nation! Where did everything go wrong?"
And, I have to believe that real patriots are waiting, unafraid, for November 2, 2004, when the Bush dynasty will end.
I have to believe that those anti-war protestors who blocked traffic in San Francisco and those wives-sisters-mothers who hold daily candlelight antiwar vigils on streetcorners are waiting and unafraid.
I have to believe that movie makers like Michael Moore, TV journalists and commentators like Bill Moyers, Diane Sawyer and John Stewart, bloggers like Eric Alterman, Joshua Marshall, political cartoonists like Lalo Alcazar and Mikhaela Blake Reid are waiting and unafraid.
I have to believe that those tree huggers who live in the old-growth trees targeted for destruction, and those Sierra Club members who exposed Cheney's secret energy deals and fought the big boys all the way to the Supreme Court are waiting and unafraid.
I have to believe that those Senators and Congressmen of both parties who oppose the erosion of our civil rights, our air and water quality, our health and human rights are waiting and unafraid.
I have to believe that those families of soldiers and contractors who died in Iraq and let the American public see their caskets and know their faces are waiting and unafraid.
And, even though almost 50 percent of the voting public surveyed still supports the Bush dynasty, I have to believe that they will wait, unafraid, for the rest of us to avert the train wreck known as the Bush administration.
I've spoken recently to a neighbor who supports Bush. I know he's a Bush supporter because of the bumper sticker on his Dodge Ram truck. We were discussing the slow economy, unemployment and how the federal govt. continues to screw California over the Enron rip off. My neighbor was unaware that the feds have ordered California to pay Enron and other energy "providers" over 270 million in "refunds." ::I feel the bile rising in my throat, so I won't expound on this atrocity, but for those interested in Bush justice, here's a nifty link to the information."::
He was unaware that the Democrats in the US House of Representatives sponsored a measure which passed the House requiring FERC to make public all Enron documents, including the gloat-fest audio tapes of Enron traders previously withheld by FERC, and that 3 billion out of the 8.9 billion we lost would be refunded back to California.(Link)
I asked him if he would support Barbara Boxer and Diane Feinstein in their re-election campaigns as a reward for their tenacious work on righting this wrong. He commented that they were the ones that supported energy deregulation in the first place, and were just doing their jobs. I asked him if he would continue to support energy de-regulation in California and he said of course not. I let him know that the majority of California Democrats agreed with him, but the Republican Governor, Schwarzenegger, is supporting a modified energy deregulation proposal being debated right now. (Link)
We both shook our heads and I finished sweeping my sidewalk while neighbor Jim fired up the leaf blower and annihilated the debris on his driveway. Nothing wrong with Jim that a good cult deprogrammer couldn't fix.
The United States of America will survive this crisis in leadership. I am waiting, unafraid, to vote on November 2, 2004.
