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Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 30th 2023 at 11:03:59 AM

JackOLantern1337 Shameful Display from The Most Miserable Province in the Russian Empir Since: Aug, 2014 Relationship Status: 700 wives and 300 concubines
Shameful Display
#136776: Aug 30th 2016 at 9:02:04 AM

It's probably just because she forgot or got tired. Anyway Gabby Douglass won the dam country a medal she doesn't have to explain herself to anyone. The poor woman is a real life Woobie.

edited 30th Aug '16 9:02:28 AM by JackOLantern1337

I Bring Doom,and a bit of gloom, but mostly gloom.
megarockman from The Sixth Borough (Experienced Trainee)
#136777: Aug 30th 2016 at 9:06:24 AM

[up][up]Article indicates new law doesn't run afoul of Barnette because students still aren't required to recite it, only that it be done daily rather than weekly. Not fond of the move either, but I don't think Barnette covers it - think that lead sentence contradicts the rest of the article (bottom).

edited 30th Aug '16 9:07:12 AM by megarockman

The damned queen and the relentless knight.
LeGarcon Blowout soon fellow Stalker from Skadovsk Since: Aug, 2013 Relationship Status: Gay for Big Boss
Blowout soon fellow Stalker
#136778: Aug 30th 2016 at 9:07:52 AM

Did every school not recite it daily? Mine did.

Oh really when?
smokeycut Since: Mar, 2013
#136779: Aug 30th 2016 at 9:09:37 AM

So did every school I went to.

pwiegle Cape Malleum Majorem from Nowhere Special Since: Sep, 2015 Relationship Status: Singularity
Cape Malleum Majorem
#136780: Aug 30th 2016 at 9:11:47 AM

Kids just parrot the words, with no clue as to what they really mean.

One comedian remarked that kids don't even get the words right: "...and tuna Republic, four midgets stand, one Asian, Wonderbra, invisible, with livery, injustice for all." "No, it's not 'four midgets stand,' it's 'four witches stand'!"

edited 30th Aug '16 9:15:14 AM by pwiegle

This Space Intentionally Left Blank.
JackOLantern1337 Shameful Display from The Most Miserable Province in the Russian Empir Since: Aug, 2014 Relationship Status: 700 wives and 300 concubines
Shameful Display
#136781: Aug 30th 2016 at 9:18:32 AM

I personally took it seriously for the first few years, this was after 9/11. But after that it became an absolute joke. Most kids just view it as a pointless morning ritual, rather than a critical tradition, or some sort of fascist pledge.

Did anyone else celebrate Flag Day?

I Bring Doom,and a bit of gloom, but mostly gloom.
Medinoc from France (Before Recorded History)
#136782: Aug 30th 2016 at 9:20:44 AM

Wow, talk about drilling "patriotism" into peoples' skulls.

If French schools started to require daily singings of the Marseillaise, we'd all be khornate berserkers by now.

edited 30th Aug '16 9:20:55 AM by Medinoc

"And as long as a sack of shit is not a good thing to be, chivalry will never die."
Greenmantle V from Greater Wessex, Britannia Since: Feb, 2010 Relationship Status: Hiding
V
#136783: Aug 30th 2016 at 9:25:32 AM

[up] Nothing like this ever happened to me on this side of the Channel, either. Not into commonplace, overt displays of Patriotism, us British.

edited 30th Aug '16 9:26:10 AM by Greenmantle

Keep Rolling On
Deadbeatloser22 from Disappeared by Space Magic (Great Old One) Relationship Status: Tsundere'ing
#136784: Aug 30th 2016 at 9:29:00 AM

People don't mind The Mall being lined with Union Flags or the other elements of Royal pageantry.

"Yup. That tasted purple."
Rationalinsanity from Halifax, Canada Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
#136785: Aug 30th 2016 at 9:31:25 AM

[up][up]Canadians probably picked that up from Europe as well. Not much intense or overt patriotism in Canada. Other than international sports when we play countries like Russia and the US.

[up]Flying flags is pretty mundane in a lot of places.

edited 30th Aug '16 9:32:12 AM by Rationalinsanity

Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
speedyboris Since: Feb, 2010
#136786: Aug 30th 2016 at 9:34:22 AM

Our schools recited the pledge every day too. EDIT: Though, in high school, we merely had to stand as the pledge was read over the intercom by the student announcer.

"One comedian remarked that kids don't even get the words right: "...and tuna Republic, four midgets stand, one Asian, Wonderbra, invisible, with livery, injustice for all." "No, it's not 'four midgets stand,' it's 'four witches stand'!""

FTR, that was Ted Alexandro.

There was also a Histeria! sketch about this very topic.

edited 30th Aug '16 10:02:56 AM by speedyboris

NativeJovian Jupiterian Local from Orlando, FL Since: Mar, 2014 Relationship Status: Maxing my social links
Jupiterian Local
#136787: Aug 30th 2016 at 9:37:32 AM

Presumably because they are supposed to salute the flag instead.
Saluting is only technically appropriate while in uniform. If you're off duty, retired, or otherwise not currently wearing your uniform for whatever reason, you're not supposed to salute.

Really from Jupiter, but not an alien.
AceofSpades Since: Apr, 2009 Relationship Status: Showing feelings of an almost human nature
#136789: Aug 30th 2016 at 9:49:51 AM

Good riddance to that nutball, I say. He's becoming increasingly an embarrassment to his state and his party.

smokeycut Since: Mar, 2013
#136790: Aug 30th 2016 at 9:52:00 AM

Shocker.

And honestly I wish that we didn't have our kids state the pledge everyday. It accomplishes nothing, and just comes across as creepy once you find out other countries don't do it.

Kayeka (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#136791: Aug 30th 2016 at 9:56:33 AM

[up]Incredibly creepy. I always assumed that's the kind of thing you'd only see in some backwater private school and North Korea, but apparently it's a thing across the entire USA.

JackOLantern1337 Shameful Display from The Most Miserable Province in the Russian Empir Since: Aug, 2014 Relationship Status: 700 wives and 300 concubines
Shameful Display
#136792: Aug 30th 2016 at 9:57:17 AM

Frankly I say we keep it just because it annoys the Europeans so much.

I Bring Doom,and a bit of gloom, but mostly gloom.
Deadbeatloser22 from Disappeared by Space Magic (Great Old One) Relationship Status: Tsundere'ing
#136793: Aug 30th 2016 at 9:58:30 AM

Frankly I say we keep it just because it annoys the Europeans so much.

Pity is not annoyance.

"Yup. That tasted purple."
PhiSat Planeswalker from Everywhere and Nowhere Since: Jan, 2011
Planeswalker
#136794: Aug 30th 2016 at 9:59:17 AM

We sing the national anthem every day in schools in Canada. Seems like a better alternative than a pledge to the flag.

Oissu!
Rationalinsanity from Halifax, Canada Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
#136795: Aug 30th 2016 at 10:02:23 AM

I mean, I swore loyalty oaths (or rather I took the solemn affirmation option because I'm agnostic) as a Scout and a government intern. But oaths like that and the pledge of allegiance are to states/institutions (or a constitutional monarch), which are much better than any oath to an individual or a party.

Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
JackOLantern1337 Shameful Display from The Most Miserable Province in the Russian Empir Since: Aug, 2014 Relationship Status: 700 wives and 300 concubines
Shameful Display
#136796: Aug 30th 2016 at 10:05:34 AM

[up] That's basically what the pledge is.

I Bring Doom,and a bit of gloom, but mostly gloom.
Pingu Since: Dec, 2010 Relationship Status: In Lesbians with you
#136797: Aug 30th 2016 at 10:06:39 AM

I don't care for the pledge, and wouldn't mind if it was gotten rid of (which I can't see happening due to outrage from traditionalists). I also have never thought of it as a problem. Weird to see it eliciting comparisons to North Korea. [lol]

LeGarcon Blowout soon fellow Stalker from Skadovsk Since: Aug, 2013 Relationship Status: Gay for Big Boss
Blowout soon fellow Stalker
#136798: Aug 30th 2016 at 10:11:38 AM

Because that's like the only other country in the world where children stand up and swear allegiance to their flag and their country every single day.

Oh really when?
smokeycut Since: Mar, 2013
#136799: Aug 30th 2016 at 10:11:46 AM

It's incredibly uncomfortable for some people to have to recite it. Pledging loyalty to a country that wouldn't let you get married until recently? Pledging loyalty to a country where police barely investigate the murders of people like you? Pledging loyalty to a country where hatred of your religion is the norm?

There are a lot of people who have very bitter feelings towards this country. I'll pledge allegiance to it when it stops being a bigoted shithole.

Euodiachloris Since: Oct, 2010
#136800: Aug 30th 2016 at 10:12:40 AM

[up][up][up]Why? It's in the same bracket of weird by the standards of most of the globe.

The only thing that it compares to are daily prayers. :/

edited 30th Aug '16 10:13:09 AM by Euodiachloris


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