11 September 2008

We pledge ignorance...

The latest (and possibly best?) example (hat tip to Boston 1775, via MRhe) of why Sarah Palin is a bad, bad choice for Vice President:

[H]ere’s vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin’s invocation of the
founders in a response to a questionnaire from the hard-right Eagle
Forum Alaska during her run for governor in 2006. (After this exchange
received national attention, the webpage was deleted, but it survives
on an archive site.)

11. 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.

The phrase “under God” was added to the pledge in 1954. Francis Bellamy wrote the rest of the pledge in 1892. The founding fathers never heard it.

The relationship between modern US government and its origins in the Constitution is one of the greatest strengths of American governance. Not everyone has to appreciate that, or study early US history, but I think it's a reasonable requirement for a job actually named in said document.



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