MCCAIN, OBAMA DIFFER ON PLEDGE
My friend sent this to me in an email. One worthy of circulating. I can’t wait to see how liberals respond to this. If they dare!
John McCain’s remarks about the Pledge of Allegiance
In light of the recent appeals court ruling in California , with respect to the Pledge of Allegiance, the following recollection from Senator John McCain is very appropriate:
‘The Pledge of Allegiance’ - by Senator John McCain
‘As you may know, I spent five and one half years as a prisoner of war during the Vietnam War. In the early years of our imprisonment, the NVA kept us in solitary confinement or two or three to a cell. In 1971 the NVA moved us from these conditions of isolation into large rooms with as many as 30 to 40 men to a room.
This was, as you can imagine, a wonderful change and was a direct result of the efforts of millions of Americans on behalf of a few hundred POWs 10,000 miles from home.
One of the men who moved into my room was a young man named Mike Christian.
Mike came from a small town near Selma , Alabama He didn’t wear a pair of shoes until he was 13 years old. At 17, he enlisted in the US Navy. He later earned a commission by going to Officer Training School Then he became a Naval Flight Officer and was shot down and captured in 1967. Mike had a keen and deep appreciation of the opportunities this country and our military provide for people who want to work and want to succeed.
As part of the change in treatment, the Vietnamese allowed some prisoners to receive packages from home. In some of these packages were handkerchiefs, scarves and other items of clothing.
Mike got himself a bamboo needle. Over a period of a couple of months, he created an American flag and sewed on the inside of his shirt.
Every afternoon, before we had a bowl of soup, we would hang Mike’s shirt on the wall of the cell and say the Pledge of Allegiance.
I know the Pledge of Allegiance may not seem the most important part of our day now, but I can assure you that in that stark cell it was indeed the most important and meaningful event.
One day the Vietnamese searched our cell, as they did periodically, and discovered Mike’s shirt with the flag sewn inside, and removed it.
That evening they returned, opened the door of the cell, and for the benefit of all of us, beat Mike Christian severely for the next couple of hours. Then, they opened the door of the cell and threw him in. We cleaned him up as well as we could.
The cell in which we lived had a concrete slab in the middle on which we slept Four naked light bulbs hung in each corner of the room. As I said, we tried to clean up Mike as well as we could. After the excitement died down, I looked in the corner of the room, and sitting there beneath that dim light bulb with a piece of red cloth, another shirt and his bamboo needle, was my friend, Mike Christian. He was sitting there with his eyes almost shut from the beating he had received, making another American flag. He was not making the flag because it made Mike Christian feel better. He was making that flag because he knew how important it was to us to be able to Pledge our allegiance to our flag and country.
So the next time you say the Pledge of Allegiance, you must never forget the sacrifice and courage that thousands of Americans have made to build our nation and promote freedom around the world. You must remember our duty, our honor, and our country.’
‘I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisable, with liberty and justice for all.’
Oh……and then you have this clown, who refuses to place his hand on his heart and say the pledge…… 
Remember this picture on election day!
The Other Side Says: September 9th, 2008 at 12:06 am
who cares if obama didn’t put his hand on his heart for this picture? one gesture defines obama’s patriatism? this crap is akin to the “lapel-pin” contraversy and is a hollow attempt to define obama as unpatriotic.
Tyra Says: September 9th, 2008 at 3:50 am
Why should we care? Because it shows where his loyalty lies…and it’s NOT with his country, but with himself and his own agenda. I find most liberals to be extremely unpatriotic…I’m sure there are a few that love their country, but for the most part, I find that most bash the US but yet, want the Government to take care of them! It’s nonsensical.
I would be ashamed to vote for someone with such little disregard for his country’s symbol of freedom. Perhaps he was meditating on his preacher’s surmons on how God hates and damn’s the US…SCARY!
My grandfather was a WWar II and Vietnam War veteran who flew and then later trained soldiers in the Airforce on B36 bombers. He survived 4 plane crashes by parachuting out, and in one, was the sole survivor. He is now 86 years old and is still considered a hero. Obviously, you haven’t had loved ones in the military or you would understand how sacred and precious the American Flag is to our country’s heroes. Obama revealed his true colors by his irreverance and disrespect, and that’s why we care.
elizabeth Says: September 9th, 2008 at 6:38 am
What is the world coming to when someone running for president wont Pledge to the flag of the US. I liked Obama and was going to vote for him at first but more and more it seems like it was always people he knew that got him jobs. I know for a FACT that he had a man in congress he was friends with that got Obama his position in the congress. The only issue I look at is ABORTION! Im Pro-Life and I think abortion is horrible! I dont think its horrible, I KNOW IT IS! I dont care if gas is 5$ a gallon, I would pay that if it meant stopping abortions. As in injecting the womb with saline for the baby to injest and burn it on the inside and out til it dies (but wait dont you have to live first in order to die) people always say its not consider a living person. I just dont understand! Or they can opt for an abortion procedure called “head decompression” I wont go into those details but the name speaks for itself. Lets HELP STOP ABORTIONS! John Mccain has a plan to help!
The Other Side Says: September 10th, 2008 at 12:29 am
i seemed to hit a nerve with tyra. does putting a hand over your chest mean that you automatically love america and are patriotic? one picture is going to show obama’s complete patriatism? conservatives are using this picture and the lapel pin to begin an empty debate about obama. thats it. patriatism isn’t always putting your arm over your heart during the pledge of allegiance. its fighting for america to be the best country it can be. and sometimes that means not following the president. republicans have destroyed this country, yet they seem to own patriatism.
no one party has a monopoly on patriatism. thats what obama said in his acceptance speach. give me something tangible about obama’s patriatism then we can talk. does he plan to take down the american government? is he a terrorist? conservatives get into such a fit about patriatism yet their ideas have ruined this country.
and my father is a twenty-year veteran of the army and fought in vietnam. my grandfather fought in ww2 in asia and in europe. so before tyra makes another sweeping generalization about liberals and their families, think about what may happen if you’re totally wrong.
Zack Says: September 10th, 2008 at 2:54 am
“The other side” pretty much sums it up. People like this can never understand. “Conservatives get into such a fit about patriotism”. I’ll bet your father and grandfather don’t agree with you! If you are telling the truth about them. If you are telling the truth about them fighting for their country, I’ll also bet they don’t introduce you to many of their friends!
Kooky Liberals Says: September 10th, 2008 at 2:59 am
How did this guy become a candidate!
I’ve added a link to you from my blog. Any chance you would like to link back?
dooz Says: September 10th, 2008 at 4:56 am
Let’s see if I can explain this “patriotism” issue in terms that are not emotional rant and yet still might be understandable:
Many of us believe that one should have a loyalty to his/her country. Further, one should exercise that loyalty in acts which bring honor on the nation and her people.
Many of us understand that our liberty was hard-won to begin with, and has needed defending pretty much continually. We understand that thousands of Americans have died and more have suffered life-changing physical and psychological trauma to defend our freedoms and to defend the freedoms of others.
It can be argued that Vietnam was a war we never should have gotten into. I believe history will tell. But few doubt that WWII had to be fought. Had the US not gotten in, all of Western Europe would still be shouting, “Heil Hitler”. (And Hitler was only typical of the tyrants who seem always to be ready to enslave us. Osama bin Laden is only the most recent.)
Many of us believe that the Pledge of Allegiance is an important, if only symbolic, demonstration of our loyalty not merely to our nation but to the liberty and freedom which the US represents, at home and around the world (a representation hated by those who would have absolute control over their people).
Therefore, whether one believes as many of us do concerning the value and symbolism of the Pledge (and of the symbolism of the flag), it should be plainly obvious to even the most inept politician that to fail to join in the Pledge EVEN WHILE RUNNING FOR NATIONAL OFFICE is a very foolish omission indeed.
So did Obama simply fail to join in the Pledge? That would have been pretty dumb (and I’m not at all sure he’s dumb). Or did he REFUSE to join in the Pledge? Why? Does he not hold allegiance to the US? THEN WHY IS HE RUNNING FOR NATIONAL OFFICE?!!!!
Has he not realized that were he to win, he would be required to take an oath of office that includes pledging allegiance to the US and to upholding, defending her and her constitution? Will he have a problem with that?
If as many have charged, he lies a lot, couldn’t he have “lied” by going through the motions of joining in the Pledge? Why did he give his rivals and detractors such a huge target?
Anyhow, his failure or refusal to join in the Pledge even while in full view of the audience and while present there as a candidate for the leader of our nation only provides one more evidence to those of us who have grave doubts about him that he is either too stupid to be our leader or not nearly American enough to be our leader.
That’s what’s so important about “only where his hand is”.
(BTW, W.J. Clinton found out that where one’s hand is can be very important. So did Monica.)
Tyra Says: September 10th, 2008 at 3:51 pm
Thank you Dooz for making it more clear. I wasn’t trying to make an emotional rant, but perhaps it came out that way. Ditto to all of what you wrote.
dooz Says: September 11th, 2008 at 6:27 am
Actually, Tyra, I was replying to OtherSide, before you. Even so, I’m glad that what I said helped you. But you had already said basically the same thing.
Apparently OtherSide didn’t get it when you said it, but I wouldn’t be sure that was your fault.