[WOODPIE]

The pledge was just fine the way it was before the 1954 addition of "under God", which, as I understand it, was done to fight communism. Keep in mind here, if good citizens are the objective of including these three syllables, it seems they weren't needed when raising our parents or grandparents, aka the greatest generation. I personally don't give a rat's pitootie one way or the other, as I remember my twelve years of public education and saying the pledge each morning as both equally meaningless jumbles of sounds I had to make before I could sit back down and get on with the important business of the day, which was to try sneaking a peek up Darlene Ramsey's skirt.

I think it odd that Judge Antonin Scalia has seen fit to recuse himself from this case, due to previously expressing opinion publicly, but cannot find conflict with his associations with VP Dick Cheney in that upcoming suit.

Aside from the Jerry Springeresque qualities of the "under God" case, I think that as long as the religious conservatives continue to impose their own peculiar beliefs onto the day-to-day aspects of everyone else's life, there has to be some individual or group to push back. This country is basically a Christian one, yes, but there is more than one flavor to Christianity as well, and I wouldn't want to live my life according to just one mortal man's interpretation.

Say, how's things in N. Ireland these days?

Ed