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Jane in NC's avatar

This is a clear First Amendment violation, and no state law can override the Constitution. See: Supremacy Clause.

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RegularJoe's avatar

Um....have you forgotten about the Roberts Court? The Constitution is no longer the supreme foundation of our Rule of Law, it's really more of a bunch of suggested ideas from people who had no idea just how bloody fucking ๐‘พ๐‘ถ๐‘ฒ๐‘ฌ 'Merica would get.

The Bible is the only religion you're allowed to freely worship.ยน

You ๐‘พ๐‘ฐ๐‘ณ๐‘ณ recite the Liberty Incantationยฒ with gusto and prideยณ otherwise the Magic Skycloth won't spew Freedomโด.

You ๐‘พ๐‘ฐ๐‘ณ๐‘ณ recite the prayer. Period.โต

Also, hamberders and covfefe are the official school lunch now.โถ

(ยน Assuming you've chosen the correct flavor of Christianity....think "Two Corinthians...")

(ยฒ Written by a Socialist Baptist minister as an advertising jungle to sell flags to schoolchildren.)

(ยณ Not ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘Ž๐‘ก kind of pride, those are Yahweh's rainbows.)

(โด And that's how the godless commie bastards win.)

(โต Both Yahweh and Orange God require your undivided attention. Don't make that 14-year-old varsity nose guard who casually tosses bales up into the hay loft have a ๐‘๐‘œ๐‘›๐‘ฃ๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘ ๐‘Ž๐‘ก๐‘–๐‘œ๐‘› with you out behind the barn. The poor dear doesn't know too many words.)

(โถ Deal with it, vegans.)

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Jane in NC's avatar

So, you're saying it's more like The Pirate Code?

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RegularJoe's avatar

Aye, that's rrrrrright, lass! Arrrrrg.....grog.....popping on deck.....{crap, what are some other pirate words, something about really cold logs or frozen lumber or some such....shit, it'll come to me}....rum! Yeah, flagon o' rrrrum! Eat your citrus!

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Jane in NC's avatar

"And ye must be an actual pirate for the code to apply, and it's more like guidelines than actual rules. Welcome aboard the Red Court. Make sail!"

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phelpsmediation's avatar

With a bought and keep on retainer SCOTUS majority who knows what the Constitution will mean in the near future. There is absolutely NO basis for the immunity ruling and it fact under historical precedent the founders chose NOT to include it for the executive. Most came to American to get away from kings and theocracy. (Based on 40+ years law practice)

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Stephen Brady's avatar

Not in the Theofascist States of America. The Constitution is only a suggestion.

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ericc's avatar

I can see the parental permission bit being allowed by SCOTUS. They are minors; requiring parental/guarding permission for a lot of things is just standard practice.

However I agree the 'you must stand, hand on heart' thing seems to be a flagrant violation of freedom of expression and of precedent. Courts ruling 'you don't have to do this' directly implies that they mean 'you don't have to do *any* similar, replacement, or proxy expression of the same sentiment.'

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James's avatar

Children have free speech and religion rights. Those do not require parental permission.

That said, the Calvinball Court views children as property, no different than a car.

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ericc's avatar

Those rights are limited in public school settings because the government is coercing each child to be in social contact with people they might not otherwise choose to associate with.

This is the "your right to swing your arms ends at my nose" principle: because kids are *forced* to be in school together, their right to express themselves or their religion ends when it imposes on the right of the kids *who are forced to be in the room with them*, to be free of that religious expression. Which means you can't necessarily express yourself or your religious views in school the way that would be protected on a street corner.

But be that as it may, since 1943 AFAIK the courts have generally agreed that a kid doesn't need a permission slip to not say the pledge. However with THIS court being as conservative as it is, I wouldn't be surprised at all if they upheld that part. I do not think they will uphold required standing or required hand on heart, because even for this court I think that's a bit of a bridge too far.

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Mommadillo's avatar

Stealing โ€œCalvinball Courtโ€ - will happily provide attribution.

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Jane in NC's avatar

Forced patriotism, especially as applied to underaged kids, is performative nonsense.

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Whitney's avatar

Forced performative nonsense patriotism is the kind the current MAGA crowd seems to like best, really. It's got everything: they look like authority figures, it makes people they don't like anyway unhappy, it kowtows to a nationalist cult mindset, and everyone knows on some level it's meaningless drivel. Honestly, I'd be more surprised if they didn't love it.

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Jane in NC's avatar

The MAGA version is what I call fake-triotism.

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Maltnothops's avatar

The Moms for Liberty/We Hate Trans folks are always going on about "parental rights". Seems parents ought to have the right to decide their kids don't need to stand with hand on chest.

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Ann Higgins's avatar

Those arenโ€™t the rights they mean.

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Zorginipsoundsor's avatar

Yep, their right to make decisions for everyone's children.

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Steven King's avatar

Yeah, but they can make any law doing whatever they like and wait till someone challenges it. In the meantime, some of those kids go through school being forces to do it.

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Val Uptuous NotAgain's avatar

Forced speech is not free speech.

Forced speech is not free speech.

Forced speech is not free speech.

Forced speech is not free speech.

Get that into your thick skulls you fucking fascists.

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Old Man Shadow's avatar

Nothing says how free we are by being forced to say a loyalty oath to the State every day, children.

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RegularJoe's avatar

Personally, I'd much rather recite the Preamble to the Constitution instead of the Pledge of Allegiance. It's short, simple, and sums up what our nation is supposed to be about.

๐‘พ๐’† ๐’•๐’‰๐’† ๐‘ท๐’†๐’๐’‘๐’๐’† ๐’๐’‡ ๐’•๐’‰๐’† ๐‘ผ๐’๐’Š๐’•๐’†๐’… ๐‘บ๐’•๐’‚๐’•๐’†๐’”, ๐’Š๐’ ๐‘ถ๐’“๐’…๐’†๐’“ ๐’•๐’ ๐’‡๐’๐’“๐’Ž ๐’‚ ๐’Ž๐’๐’“๐’† ๐’‘๐’†๐’“๐’‡๐’†๐’„๐’• ๐‘ผ๐’๐’Š๐’๐’, ๐’†๐’”๐’•๐’‚๐’ƒ๐’๐’Š๐’”๐’‰ ๐‘ฑ๐’–๐’”๐’•๐’Š๐’„๐’†, ๐’Š๐’๐’”๐’–๐’“๐’† ๐’…๐’๐’Ž๐’†๐’”๐’•๐’Š๐’„ ๐‘ป๐’“๐’‚๐’๐’’๐’–๐’Š๐’๐’Š๐’•๐’š, ๐’‘๐’“๐’๐’—๐’Š๐’…๐’† ๐’‡๐’๐’“ ๐’•๐’‰๐’† ๐’„๐’๐’Ž๐’Ž๐’๐’ ๐’…๐’†๐’‡๐’†๐’๐’„๐’†, ๐’‘๐’“๐’๐’Ž๐’๐’•๐’† ๐’•๐’‰๐’† ๐’ˆ๐’†๐’๐’†๐’“๐’‚๐’ ๐‘พ๐’†๐’๐’‡๐’‚๐’“๐’†, ๐’‚๐’๐’… ๐’”๐’†๐’„๐’–๐’“๐’† ๐’•๐’‰๐’† ๐‘ฉ๐’๐’†๐’”๐’”๐’Š๐’๐’ˆ๐’” ๐’๐’‡ ๐‘ณ๐’Š๐’ƒ๐’†๐’“๐’•๐’š ๐’•๐’ ๐’๐’–๐’“๐’”๐’†๐’๐’—๐’†๐’” ๐’‚๐’๐’… ๐’๐’–๐’“ ๐‘ท๐’๐’”๐’•๐’†๐’“๐’Š๐’•๐’š, ๐’…๐’ ๐’๐’“๐’…๐’‚๐’Š๐’ ๐’‚๐’๐’… ๐’†๐’”๐’•๐’‚๐’ƒ๐’๐’Š๐’”๐’‰ ๐’•๐’‰๐’Š๐’” ๐‘ช๐’๐’๐’”๐’•๐’Š๐’•๐’–๐’•๐’Š๐’๐’ ๐’‡๐’๐’“ ๐’•๐’‰๐’† ๐‘ผ๐’๐’Š๐’•๐’†๐’… ๐‘บ๐’•๐’‚๐’•๐’†๐’” ๐’๐’‡ ๐‘จ๐’Ž๐’†๐’“๐’Š๐’„๐’‚.

https://youtu.be/RtGc69HQY4k?feature=shared

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ericc's avatar

Conservatives don't want kids to know that the government exists to promote the general welfare. That's socialist atheist commie talk!

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Dianne Marie Leonard's avatar

Yes, I remember having to memorize that in 5th grade, the first of three times I was required to take US history (the others were 8th and 11th. Civics and Government was required in 12th grade. We had to spend 6 months writing a constitution for a hypothetical country, that year. The only limit the teacher put on our work was "in that country, you don't get to know who you will be." The discussions among the students were amazing! This was in 1969-70.)

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Su Pellitieri's avatar

That's a good alternative, although for me, I don't think I could say it without singing the Schoolhouse Rock version. ๐Ÿ˜€

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RegularJoe's avatar

That's not just unconstitutional, it's antithetical to our American values.

Compulsory patriotism isn't patriotism.

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Bensnewlogin's avatar

Thatโ€™s why they like it

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Bensnewlogin's avatar

We do have a few interesting things in this article.

First, my own point of view. I have not said the Pledge of Allegiance in over 40 years, and I will not say it, except perhaps at the point of a gun. And that very real possibility, that someone would feel entitled to cause that to happen, and be justified in the law, is precisely why I will not say it. Now, when other people want to say it, I will stand with them, but only because Iโ€™m a nice guy, and donโ€™t want to be disrespectful to other peopleโ€˜s beliefs, as long as they are respectable beliefs.

Why will I not say the pledge? Above all, because as a gay man, I have watched the people who want to use the pledge as a clubโ€” Just like their spiritual brothers who wished to use the Bible as a clubโ€” Debate my right to exist in society and participate fully and its benefits for no other reason because they cannot stop thinking about whatever it is they believe to be my sex life. My existence and my participation in society are neither of them open to debate, especially when the debate is all about lies, bigotry, and despite.

When there is no longer a debate in this country about my worth as a human being, we can talk about the pledge. As long as I am what I amโ€” a citizen, a law abiding, tax paying, contributing member of societyโ€” whose worth as to all of those things is open for debate because someone doesnโ€™t like my sex life, Iโ€™ll not be willing to say the pledge.

Thatโ€™s the main issue. But there is another one. The flag is a piece of cloth, decorated in a particular way. It is not democracy, freedom, morality, or anything Like them. It is a symbol, and as a symbol, it is whatever people believe it to be. Authoritarians just love symbols, and they are as addicted to symbols as the most far out junkie is addicted to heroin. Sorry not sorry, but Iโ€™m not a junkie. And as I already said, unless you have a gun pointed in my direction, your symbols are your own.

And this Brings us to the other Issue, tying my previous paragraphs together. During the wedding cake wars, conservatives claimed that โ€œforcingโ€œ a baker to make a cake for a gay wedding was in fact coerced speech. No one should be coerced into making speech that he disagrees with. And yet, here they are, defying what they claim are their principles, defying what they claim the flag actually stands forโ€” freedomโ€” in favor of coercing speech.

Coercing speech simply is the opposite of what they claim the flag stands for. And it reveals their weakness.

They are symbol junkies.

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Bagat's avatar

BRAVISSIMO!!! I stand with you as a Gay man.

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Bensnewlogin's avatar

Thanks.

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Alverant's avatar

Ah yes, let's single out people who don't want to pledge for religious or personal reasons so they can be harassed. Great way to show freedom.

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larry parker's avatar

Plus, a convenient list of subversive parents.

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Troublesh00ter's avatar

Check me on this, but wasn't there a court case that went all the way to SCOTUS about forcing recitation of the Pledge? I also seem to recall that Hemant's series on the Pledge of Allegiance included mention of that case. Yet North Dakota wants to (once again) waste time and money (and some good will, to boot) attempting to coerce students into saying the Pledge each day.

The stupid ... it gets tiresome ... FAST.

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Len's avatar
Jan 16Edited

As Iโ€™ve said before (and others before me): itโ€™s (also) about exhausting the resources of people who actually care for America and fight this stupidity.

Edit for typo.

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Stephen Brady's avatar

It doesnโ€™t matter. The whole concept of โ€˜decided lawโ€™ Stare Decicis is gone. These Supremes are willing to usher in a new world order to control โ€˜Those Peopleโ€™ - meaning anyone not wanting to be bound by white christianist privilege.

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Joe King's avatar

West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette. 1943. In the middle of WWII when real patriotism was at its highest.

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Dianne Marie Leonard's avatar

You beat me to it. I remember this exact same thing happening in the late 1960s when I was in junior high and high school. I served a couple of detentions for not standing for the pledge (along with a bunch of other kids--this was in 8th grade) til the school district got it into their thick skulls that They Couldn't Do That. Some people never learn. And everything old is new again.

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RegularJoe's avatar

New Orange god, new rules.

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ericc's avatar

1943, West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette.

The SCOTUS ruling includes the famous line "If there is any fixed star in our constitutional constellation, it is that no official can prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion, or other matters of opinion"

However it was 6-3, so even back then this wasn't a slam dunk. The court we have now is more conservative.

Also from my very limited understanding, the whole topic of permission slips just didn't come up and wasn't addressed by SCOTUS. The 'no permission required to exercise my freedom of expression' came later, from lower courts. So SCOTUS could take THAT question up and rule conservatively even if they wanted to keep Barnette intact.

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Anri's avatar

Presumably, they're trying to get a new one to SCOTUS, understanding the difference between SCOTUS then and SCOTUS now.

Put a case like that in front of the current Court, and there's a measurable chance we'll have a mandatory daily oath to the sitting President. To him personally, not the country or the office.

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Greg Aydt's avatar

Of course, the law is automatically unconstitutional under West Virginia SBOE v. Barnette, which in a previous pledge case in the middle of WWII, held that "no official, high or petty, can prescribe what shall be orthodix in politics, nationalism, religion, or other matters of opinion, or force citizens to confess by word or act their faith therein."

If only these Republican legislators were to pass a basic Civics class before they were allowed to take office, we might be saved from the enactment of such unconstitutional statutes.

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James's avatar

The goal is to overturn that case with the new Christian Nationalist Supreme Court. It bans forced religion and compelled speech and conservatives can't have that.

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Dianne Marie Leonard's avatar

My guess is that they've never been required to actually take (not to mention, pass) a basic high-school-level civics class.

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Joe King's avatar

๐ผ๐‘› ๐‘ โ„Ž๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ๐‘ก, ๐‘’๐‘ฃ๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘ฆ๐‘œ๐‘›๐‘’ โ„Ž๐‘Ž๐‘  ๐‘ก๐‘œ ๐‘๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘ก๐‘–๐‘๐‘–๐‘๐‘Ž๐‘ก๐‘’ ๐‘ข๐‘›๐‘™๐‘’๐‘ ๐‘  ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’๐‘–๐‘Ÿ ๐‘๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘’๐‘›๐‘ก๐‘  ๐‘”๐‘–๐‘ฃ๐‘’ ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’๐‘š ๐‘๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘š๐‘–๐‘ ๐‘ ๐‘–๐‘œ๐‘› ๐‘›๐‘œ๐‘ก ๐‘ก๐‘œโ€”๐‘คโ„Ž๐‘–๐‘โ„Ž ๐‘š๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘ฆ ๐‘๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘’๐‘›๐‘ก๐‘  ๐‘š๐‘Ž๐‘ฆ ๐‘๐‘’ ๐‘ฃ๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘ฆ ๐‘Ÿ๐‘’๐‘™๐‘ข๐‘๐‘ก๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘ก ๐‘ก๐‘œ ๐‘‘๐‘œ ๐‘’๐‘ฃ๐‘’๐‘› ๐‘–๐‘“ ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’๐‘ฆ ๐‘Ž๐‘”๐‘Ÿ๐‘’๐‘’ ๐‘œ๐‘› ๐‘๐‘Ÿ๐‘–๐‘›๐‘๐‘–๐‘๐‘™๐‘’โ€”๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘‘ ๐‘’๐‘ฃ๐‘’๐‘› ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’๐‘›, ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’ ๐‘˜๐‘–๐‘‘๐‘  ๐‘ค๐‘œ๐‘ข๐‘™๐‘‘ ๐‘๐‘’ ๐‘“๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ๐‘๐‘’๐‘‘ ๐‘ก๐‘œ ๐‘๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘ก๐‘–๐‘๐‘–๐‘๐‘Ž๐‘ก๐‘’ ๐‘–๐‘› ๐‘ ๐‘–๐‘™๐‘’๐‘›๐‘๐‘’.๐ผ๐‘› ๐‘ โ„Ž๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ๐‘ก, ๐‘’๐‘ฃ๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘ฆ๐‘œ๐‘›๐‘’ โ„Ž๐‘Ž๐‘  ๐‘ก๐‘œ ๐‘๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘ก๐‘–๐‘๐‘–๐‘๐‘Ž๐‘ก๐‘’ ๐‘ข๐‘›๐‘™๐‘’๐‘ ๐‘  ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’๐‘–๐‘Ÿ ๐‘๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘’๐‘›๐‘ก๐‘  ๐‘”๐‘–๐‘ฃ๐‘’ ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’๐‘š ๐‘๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘š๐‘–๐‘ ๐‘ ๐‘–๐‘œ๐‘› ๐‘›๐‘œ๐‘ก ๐‘ก๐‘œโ€”๐‘คโ„Ž๐‘–๐‘โ„Ž ๐‘š๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘ฆ ๐‘๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘’๐‘›๐‘ก๐‘  ๐‘š๐‘Ž๐‘ฆ ๐‘๐‘’ ๐‘ฃ๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘ฆ ๐‘Ÿ๐‘’๐‘™๐‘ข๐‘๐‘ก๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘ก ๐‘ก๐‘œ ๐‘‘๐‘œ ๐‘’๐‘ฃ๐‘’๐‘› ๐‘–๐‘“ ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’๐‘ฆ ๐‘Ž๐‘”๐‘Ÿ๐‘’๐‘’ ๐‘œ๐‘› ๐‘๐‘Ÿ๐‘–๐‘›๐‘๐‘–๐‘๐‘™๐‘’โ€”๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘‘ ๐‘’๐‘ฃ๐‘’๐‘› ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’๐‘›, ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’ ๐‘˜๐‘–๐‘‘๐‘  ๐‘ค๐‘œ๐‘ข๐‘™๐‘‘ ๐‘๐‘’ ๐‘“๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ๐‘๐‘’๐‘‘ ๐‘ก๐‘œ ๐‘๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘ก๐‘–๐‘๐‘–๐‘๐‘Ž๐‘ก๐‘’ ๐‘–๐‘› ๐‘ ๐‘–๐‘™๐‘’๐‘›๐‘๐‘’.

It's as though they think kids are unable to make up their own minds. It's as though they think that the parents own the kids. Requiring kids whose parents have opted them out to still go through all the motions short of actually mouthing the words shows that they aren't really interested in anything other than forcing strict obedience.

This was declared unconstitutional in 1943. Do you think the ND NSGOP is looking for a case to overturn WV v Barnette? Or are they just stupidly focusing on their desire to force everyone to obey them?

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Val Uptuous NotAgain's avatar

Do you really think thereโ€™s a single Republican politician that knows US history enough to be able to address the actual court case? Or even know that their bill is wildly unconstitutional?

They might not all be convinced of Jewish space lasers, but most of them are too ignorant to do their jobs, and those that arenโ€™t, are too greedy and corrupt to work for the people.

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Joe King's avatar

So, a vote for just stupidly focusing on theier desire to force obedience. I am inclined to agree, but there has to be at least one who IS aware enough of our history and really hates that people have more rights.

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Stephen Brady's avatar

There are no precedents now. They have done a hard reset on constitutional law and you can bet they will pull more English Common Law and other nonsense out of Alitoโ€™s ass to justify anything required to bring about the overthrow of our Republic. edit for typo.

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Phyllis S's avatar

โ€œIt's as though they think kids are unable to make up their own minds.โ€ More to the point, theyโ€™re terrified that the โ€œkidsโ€ are both able and willing to think for themselves. Thatโ€™s what they want to suppress.

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Troublesh00ter's avatar

Further Thought: Once the government uses coercion to compel an action, particularly one which has NOTHING TO DO WITH EDUCATION, that government will likely feel free to coerce all sorts of other actions.

This can include but not be limited to prayer and loyalty oaths, and regarding the latter, particularly to a certain Orange Orangutan.

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Joe King's avatar

It's a safe bet that at least one of them is champing at the bit to insert "and President for Life Trump" somewhere in the pledge.

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John Smith's avatar

Or worse, the pledge includes the phrase: โ€œFor I swear that my life is yours to command in all my actions and thoughts or until death takes me in your serviceโ€. Or some similar claptrap. Oh boy, better not give them ideas!

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Janice Laz- Romo's avatar

How about making it compulsory to enforce strict gun laws so children donโ€™t have to be murdered, maimed and terrified to go to school!? The compulsory Pledge of Allegiance means nothing

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RegularJoe's avatar

๐‘บ๐’‰๐’‚๐’๐’ ๐‘ต๐’๐’• ๐‘ฉ๐’† ๐‘ฐ๐’๐’‡๐’“๐’Š๐’๐’ˆ๐’†๐’…

Fuck them kids. ~ Trumpublicans

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Robot Bender's avatar

A lot of them literally do that anyway. See: child marriage.

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larry parker's avatar

No tassels on guns.

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Zizzer-Zazzer-Zuzz's avatar

Oh, I was expecting other Hello Kitty accessories.

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cdbunch's avatar

"I filled that kitty cat so full of lead, we'll have to use her for a pencil instead."

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NOGODZ20's avatar

Mixed message, there.

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Ethereal Fairy's avatar

To quote the old joke:

Republicans reply to โ€œfuck those kidsโ€ is โ€œDo you think we have timeโ€?

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RegularJoe's avatar

"One way to find out....." ;-)

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Joe King's avatar

From Justice Jackson's majority opinion in WV v Barnette:

๐—œ๐—ณ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐˜† ๐—ณ๐—ถ๐˜…๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐˜€๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ฟ ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—ป๐˜€๐˜๐—ถ๐˜๐˜‚๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—ป๐˜€๐˜๐—ฒ๐—น๐—น๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป, ๐—ถ๐˜ ๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—ป๐—ผ ๐—ผ๐—ณ๐—ณ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ถ๐—ฎ๐—น, ๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ด๐—ต ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐˜๐˜๐˜†, ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—ป ๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐—ฐ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ ๐˜„๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐˜€๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—น๐—น ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐˜๐—ต๐—ผ๐—ฑ๐—ผ๐˜… ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐—ฝ๐—ผ๐—น๐—ถ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐˜€, ๐—ป๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฎ๐—น๐—ถ๐˜€๐—บ, ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ถ๐—ด๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป, ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—ผ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐˜๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜€ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐—ผ๐—ฝ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ ๐—ฐ๐—ถ๐˜๐—ถ๐˜‡๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜€ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ณ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜€ ๐—ฏ๐˜† ๐˜„๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ฑ ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐˜ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ถ๐—ฟ ๐—ณ๐—ฎ๐—ถ๐˜๐—ต ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ถ๐—ป.

Elsewhere in the same opinion:

๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜† ๐—ฝ๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ฝ๐—ผ๐˜€๐—ฒ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐—ฎ ๐—•๐—ถ๐—น๐—น ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐—ฅ๐—ถ๐—ด๐—ต๐˜๐˜€ ๐˜„๐—ฎ๐˜€ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐˜„๐—ถ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฑ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐˜„ ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐˜€๐˜‚๐—ฏ๐—ท๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐˜๐˜€ ๐—ณ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—บ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐˜ƒ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ถ๐˜€๐˜€๐—ถ๐˜๐˜‚๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐—ฝ๐—ผ๐—น๐—ถ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—ป๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜€๐˜†, ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—ฝ๐—น๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—บ ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐˜†๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ต ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐—ท๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ผ๐—ณ๐—ณ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ถ๐—ฎ๐—น๐˜€ ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ฏ๐—น๐—ถ๐˜€๐—ต ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—บ ๐—ฎ๐˜€ ๐—น๐—ฒ๐—ด๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฐ๐—ถ๐—ฝ๐—น๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ๐—ฝ๐—ฝ๐—น๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—ฏ๐˜† ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐˜๐˜€. ๐—ข๐—ป๐—ฒ'๐˜€ ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ด๐—ต๐˜ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—น๐—ถ๐—ณ๐—ฒ, ๐—น๐—ถ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜๐˜†, ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜๐˜†, ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—ณ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฒ ๐˜€๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐—ต, ๐—ฎ ๐—ณ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฒ ๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜€, ๐—ณ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ๐—ผ๐—บ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐˜„๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐˜€๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ฝ ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ฎ๐˜€๐˜€๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ฏ๐—น๐˜†, ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ผ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐—ณ๐˜‚๐—ป๐—ฑ๐—ฎ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ด๐—ต๐˜๐˜€ ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐˜† ๐—ป๐—ผ๐˜ ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ ๐˜€๐˜‚๐—ฏ๐—บ๐—ถ๐˜๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐˜ƒ๐—ผ๐˜๐—ฒ; ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ๐˜† ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐˜๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ฒ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐—ป๐—ผ ๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป๐˜€.

It is clear that the North Dakota Republicans who proposed this abomination believe that they not only can prescribe orthodoxy of opinion, but that they MUST. Their poor attempt at submitting fundamental rights to the vote, by allowing parents the ability to opt their children out of mouthing the words while doing everything else according to their mandate, shows that they want parents to identify their "disloyalty" and that children have absolutely zero rights.

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Troublesh00ter's avatar

๐‘‡โ„Ž๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘’ ๐‘–๐‘  ๐‘›๐‘œ ๐‘ ๐‘ข๐‘โ„Ž ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘–๐‘›๐‘” ๐‘Ž๐‘  ๐‘“๐‘Ÿ๐‘’๐‘’๐‘‘๐‘œ๐‘š ๐‘œ๐‘“ ๐‘โ„Ž๐‘œ๐‘–๐‘๐‘’ ๐‘ข๐‘›๐‘™๐‘’๐‘ ๐‘  ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘’ ๐‘–๐‘  ๐‘“๐‘Ÿ๐‘’๐‘’๐‘‘๐‘œ๐‘š ๐‘ก๐‘œ ๐‘Ÿ๐‘’๐‘“๐‘ข๐‘ ๐‘’.

-- David Hume

And just as Trumpublicans want to deny women freedom of choice, they want to do the same for kids and the Pledge. This resembles democracy about as well as a hole in the head.

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Joe King's avatar

"Unless we each conform, unless we obey orders, unless we follow our leaders blindly, there is no possible way we can remain free."

-- Major Frank Burns

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Troublesh00ter's avatar

Sorry (not sorry), Ferret Face. Not happening here. Probably not happening on this site, either.

I'd tell Frank to go boohoo to Hot Lips, but I doubt she's having any more of his crap.

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Val Uptuous NotAgain's avatar

โ€œAnd frankly, our country isnโ€™t always one that deserves admiration. Why would we want to โ€œpledge allegianceโ€ to a nation that is so often a global embarrassment?โ€œ

The reason theyโ€™re forcing this is because they know damned well that the country will become an ever bigger embarrassment in the coming years. And once they get this shoved down our throats, theyโ€™ll make more pledges (or change this one) that force us to be loyal to Tangerine Tojo. And soon we will be marching in the streets is Jack boots and snitching on our neighbors for speaking bad about the government.

Not a slippery slope, itโ€™s what has happened before.

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Claudia's avatar

Forgive my question, please, but is this the most important issue for North Dakota? Have they sorted all the other problems such as healthcare, homelessness, poor nutrition and environmental issues?

Thatโ€™s a stupid question, Claudia! Of course not!

(Goes off to research North Dakotaโ€ฆโ€ฆ)

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ericc's avatar

Is this the most important issue for North Dakota? No.

Is reelection rhetoric the most important issue for North Dakotan legislators? In most cases, yes.

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NOGODZ20's avatar

Hmmm. What would Jesus say?

"But I tell you, do not swear an oath at all; either by heaven, for it is God's throne; or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. All you need is to simply say is 'Yes' or 'No.' Anything beyond this comes from the evil one"

-- Matthew 5:34-37

Oops. You folks in North Dakota don't read your bibles, do ya?

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Bensnewlogin's avatar

And yet, there are other places in the Bible which require swearing oaths.

You donโ€™t know whether your left hand or your right hand should go over your heart.

But I will say this much. I will not swear on any book. And this is one of the places I agree with Jesus. Either my word is good enough or it is not.

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