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<DIV>Donovan,</DIV>
<DIV>I strongly disagree with you. In my opinion it is a waste of time for our
elected officials to spend their time on so trivial a matter as the flag pledge
when at most of the meetings I've attended time has been at a premium.
</DIV>
<DIV>Granted other people attach more importance to such rituals than I do. I
spent 20 years in the Marine Corps, 12 of them as an infantry officer, and I
suspect I have as much respect for our flag as anyone on the list. I cringe to
see it flown disrespectfully from the antenna of a pickup truck, or on a jacket
or pair of jeans, or tatooed on someone's arm, leg, or less visible place, and
so on and so on.</DIV>
<DIV>But realistically, pledges and oaths are meaningless as professions of
loyalty and even less meaningful to attempt to keep unworthy (by whatever
description) persons from places of public trust. You can bet that Aldridge Ames
had no reservations whatsoever about saying the pledge or taking oaths. I bet
even the 9/11 hijackers said the pledge in their flight schools if it was
recited there and would have taken any oath required in order to deceive or
confuse their opponents. </DIV>
<DIV>So we each have our own reasons for wanting or not wanting certain actions
taken or not taken. Let's not identify those who disagree with us with the
issues themselves and consequently lose our perspective on the issues. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT lang=0 face=Georgia size=3 FAMILY="SERIF" PTSIZE="12">Don
Huskey<BR><BR>"First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight
you, then you win." Mahatma Gandhi</FONT></DIV></FONT></BODY></HTML>