Journal to a Muse

Why Sarah Palin is too much like George W. Bush
Read, Laugh, Weep and vote Democratic

"Palin thinks Pledge of allegiance was written by Founding Fathers
by JLFinch
Sun Aug 31, 2008 at 02:56:04 PM PDT
Good lord, this woman is a female George Bush.

Here is Palin's response to a candidate questionnaire for the Alaska 2006 gubernatorial race:

Q: Are you offended by the phrase “Under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance? Why or why not?
SP: Not on your life. If it was good enough for the founding fathers, its good enough
for me and I’ll fight in defense of our Pledge of Allegiance

JLFinch's diary :: ::
Ok.
First, the Pledge of Allegiance was not written by the Founding Fathers. It was
written much later. Secondly, the words "under God" were not originally part of the Pledge. "Under God" was added even later.

Wikipedia on the Pledge of Allegiance:
The Pledge of Allegiance was written in 1892 by Francis Bellamy (1855-1931), a Baptist minister, a Christian Socialist, and the cousin of Socialist Utopian novelist Edward Bellamy (1850-1898).
Bellamy's original "Pledge of Allegiance" was published in the September 8th issue of the popular children's magazine The Youth's Companion as part of the National Public-School Celebration of Columbus Day, a celebration of the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's discovery of America, conceived by James B. Upham.

Bellamy's original Pledge read, "I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."
...
In New York City on April 22, 1951, the Board of Directors of the Knights of Columbus adopted a resolution to amend their recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance at the opening of each of the meetings of the 800 Fourth Degree Assemblies of the Knights of Columbus by addition of the words "under God" after the words "one nation." In the following two years, the idea spread throughout Knights of Columbus organizations nationwide. On August 21, 1952, the Supreme Council of the Knights of Columbus at its annual meeting adopted a resolution urging that the change be made universal and copies of this resolution were sent to the President, the Vice President(as Presiding Officer of the Senate) and the Speaker of the House of Representatives. The National Fraternal Congress meeting in Boston on September 24, 1952, adopted a similar resolution upon the recommendation of its President, Supreme Knight Luke E. Hart. Several State Fraternal Congresses acted likewise almost immediately thereafter. This campaign led to several official attempts to prompt Congress to adopt the Knights of Columbus’ policy for the entire nation. These attempts failed.

...
After the service concluded, Docherty had opportunity to converse with Eisenhower about the substance of the sermon. The President expressed his enthusiastic concurrence with Docherty’s view, and the very next day, Eisenhower had the wheels turning in Congress to incorporate Docherty’s suggestion into law. On February 8, 1954, Rep. Charles Oakman (R-Mich.), introduced a bill to that effect.

And just FYI on the timing of the Founding Fathers:

The signatories of the Declaration of Independence are often called "Founders," and the delegates of the Philadelphia Convention which prepared the Constitution are often called "Framers."

According to Joseph J. Ellis, this concept emerged in the 1820s as the last survivors died out. George Washington was always the dominant figure. He was joined by John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and after that, James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, Benjamin Franklin, John Jay, George Mason, Samuel Adams, and others. Ellis says the "the founders," or "the fathers" comprised an aggregate of semi-sacred figures whose particular accomplishments and singular achievements were decidedly less important than their sheer presence as a powerful but faceless symbol of past greatness.

For the generation of national leaders coming of age in the 1820s and 1830s — men like Andrew Jackson, Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, and John C. Calhoun — "the founders" represented a heroic but anonymous abstraction whose long shadow fell across all followers and whose legendary accomplishments defied comparison. "We can win no laurels in a war for independence," Webster acknowledged in 1825. "Earlier and worthier hands have gathered them all. Nor are there places for us ... [as] the founders of states. Our fathers have filled them. But there remains to us a great duty of defence and preservation."

Stupid is as stupid does, Governor."

When are we going to learn that accuracy matters? That words matter? That education matters. It's all very well to "guestimate"... but we would all be better off if we admitted when we were guessing, and then went and consulted a RELIABLE SOURCE so that we were developing reasonable opinions based on sound information.

Oh, and I'd have prefered J.L. Finch had left out the "stupid" part. I don't know Palin's IQ, EQ, or SAT scores. I do know she is inaccurate.