Posted on Youtube September 06, 2009 was one of those angry town-meetings, in which California Congressman Sam Farr was asked why he did not begin the meeting with the Pledge.

When he explained that in the past he had never included the Pledge in the activities, the intense and sometimes rude audience immediately rose and quoted the Pledge to the Flag.

Surprised by this organized response, Mr. Farr waited for them to finish, creating an awkward moment and powerful YouTube propaganda to prove he somehow hated the symbol of the country he served.

The implication was clear.  These particular citizens were the only true patriots, and Mr. Farr was some kind of threat to “truth, justice, and the American way”.

It’s one thing to co-opt the Pledge for some mass demonstration.  It’s another to reflect on its words.  I would like to do just that in the words that follow:

I pledge allegience to the Flag (above all other flags, national, state, or regional)

of the United States (having endured at a great cost a passionate but misguided effort to divide)

of  America (that land of immigrants, recent or ancient)

and to the Republic (a republican democracy)

for which it stands (and therefore defined by the heart of the people that it signifies)

one nation under God (and therefore called to its highest and best motives)

indivisible (united, not by color or culture, but by the high regard with which we esteem one another, and therefore…)

with liberty and justice for all.

And that is what the Pledge of Allegiance means to me!