Posted on 07/04/2007 4:18:54 AM PDT by Diogenesis
By Red Skelton:
I - - Me; an individual; a committee of one.
Pledge - - Dedicate all of my worldly goods to give without self-pity.
Allegiance - - My love and my devotion.
To the Flag - - Our standard; Old Glory ; a symbol of Freedom; wherever she waves there is respect, because your loyalty has given her a dignity that shouts, Freedom is everybody's job.
United - - That means that we have all come together.
States - - Individual communities that have united into forty-eight great states. Forty-eight individual communities with pride and dignity and purpose. All divided with imaginary boundaries, yet united to a common purpose, and that is love for country.
And to the Republic - - Republic--a state in which sovereign power is invested in representatives chosen by the people to govern. And government is the people; and it's from the people to the leaders, not from the leaders to the people.
For which it stands One Nation - - One Nation--meaning, so blessed by God.
Indivisible - - Incapable of being divided.
With Liberty - - Which is Freedom; the right of power to live one's own life, without threats, fear, or some sort of retaliation.
And Justice - - The principle, or qualities, of dealing fairly with others.
For All - - For All--which means, boys and girls, it's as much your country as it is mine.
And now, boys and girls, let me hear you recite the Pledge of Allegiance:
I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic, for which it stands; one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
Since I was a small boy, two states have been added to our country, and two words have been added to the Pledge of Allegiance: Under God. Wouldn't it be a pity if someone said that is a prayer, and that would be eliminated from schools, too?
This is great. Rush played it in it’s entirety on his show yesterday. I had never heard it before.
Ping for later
Then you probably haven't seen it either...
I, too. I had forgotten how welll done it was. After the intro, Skelton abandoned his usual comic voice and read it perfectly, without excessive sentimentality.
Thank you! That’s a keeper.
You're right...it was perfect in tone and sentiment.
You’re welcome. Just came across it today!
Yes, it was great to hear again - too bad kid’s minds today have been indocrinated by the libs before 3rd grade to understand it.
Yes, was delighted he played it as his closer. Anybody who hasn't heard Skelton needs to find the audio.
Happy Independence Day everyone!
You’re welcome.
Pookie18 has provided a link to the audio and video in post #4.
It was not that often that he did it, but he would have the audience laughing in the isles and all of a sudden, boom, he was making a serious point. It always stuck.
Not only have the enemies of freedom been removing ‘under god’ from school. They’ve come into our state and local governments, and into our communities, trying to create the ‘kind of community’ they want - restricting our rights. Compare today to those days - we need government permission for so many things. Building a deck, putting up a fence, building a house, buying a gun, having a dog, a myriad of little things that used to be simple freedoms. And they want more - they want to control what you grow (native plants), what you cut (requiring removal of “invasives”, forbidding cutting of native trees), whether motorized vehicles or horses traverse the land, what size your house is, how much energy you use, the list is endless.
They’ve been working at all these restrictions for decades at the local level, but since they can’t get every community to buy in, they are working at the state level. PA went for state-wide building codes a couple years ago, prompted by a single horrible developer in the Pocono's - those codes have opened the door for government inspection of premises in every part of the state. The state can change the code anytime, expanding from purely safety issues (proper footers) to anything else they slip in with the omnibus bills at the end of a session. A number of other states have state-wide restrictions as well, and more will as radical environmental organizations lobby for them as a tool to get “environmental protection”.
We’re under attack from within by those who would take our freedom, and from without by the Islamists who would take our freedom. Today is the day to reconfirm our belief in individual freedom and individual rights, and to vow to fight it on every front!
I heard Rush play this on his show yesterday. I stopped what I was doing and just listened.
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