Letter to the editor:
“If there is a compelling reason why this Pledge of Allegiance request should be delayed or denied, then an elected official should state that reason.”
So writes John Donohue at the close of his letter, “National Flag Day is a good day to begin including the Pledge of Allegiance at council meetings,” published recently in Fort Atkinson Online, proposing that the Pledge of Allegiance be placed on the permanent agenda of the Fort Atkinson City Council.
Not being an elected official, I offer nonetheless to the members of the council, the Fort Atkinson city manager, the city attorney, and the city engineer what I believe to be a sufficiently “compelling reason” – in the event they haven’t thought of it already – for use at their discretion in replying to Mr. Donohue’s request:
I have already, as a condition of my office, taken an oath to support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of Wisconsin. Listen to what I say, and pay attention to what I do. These will show you my allegiance to the flag and to the Republic for which it stands. Isn’t that enough?
John H Callan
Fort Atkinson
File photo/Kim McDarison.
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Thanks, Mr Callan, for your response to my initial letter regarding the Pledge at our city council meetings – that is, the absence of it. Among the possible outcomes to bringing this request forward, is that we can engage in thoughtful and well-reasoned discussion about local issues. No such open forum has existed in local political culture. Thank you.
What would saying the Pledge of Allegiance prove? Do you seriously think a terrorist in our government would refuse a request to say it? If a person is out to do some evil thing do you think he’d stop and think “wait a minute, I pledged allegiance and all…”? Attend some meetings, listen to what the representatives are discussing. Figure out if there’s a bad apple and get him voted out in the next election.