[Vision2020] Mayor Defends Pledge Decision

[Tom Hansen]

>From today's (January 27, 2006) Spokesman Review -

 

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Mayor defends pledge decision

 

Moscow, Idaho Mayor Nancy Chaney's decision to stop routinely reciting the
Pledge of Allegiance before City Council meetings has upset some veterans,
but she says the move is not a political statement and does not reflect a
lack of patriotism.

 

"I grew up in a patriotic household; my father was a Marine and I still have
flags hanging up in my house," she said.

 

But after concluding that council members and others may have been "going
through the motions" in reciting the pledge, she decided to open the Jan. 17
council meeting with a quote from the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., whose
birth was marked with a holiday Jan. 16.

 

Chaney said she does not plan to eliminate the pledge, but to have periodic
alternatives such as poetry readings - "we are finding other ways to express
our patriotism," she said.

 

"I think it's bunk," said World War II vet Don Swanson of the decision to
drop the pledge. "It's a disgrace to us guys who were in (the war) and got
shot at."

 

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I applaud Mayor Chaney's decision and strongly support a policy allowing the
council to express its commitment to our country and our way of life in its
own heartfelt fashion form week to week.

 

Thank you, Madam Mayor.

 

Tom Hansen

Just another patriot

Moscow, Idaho

 

"Patriotism is not a short and frenzied outburst of emotion but the tranquil
and steady dedication of a lifetime." 

--Adlai E. Stevenson, Jr.

 

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