RE: Appeals Court Declares Pledge of Allegiance Unconstitutional

["Smith, Gerard" <gsmith@xxxxxxxxx>]

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"And to the Republic for which it stands," another wonderful paradox. When
my son had to recite the pledge of allegiance in first grade, he asked "why
don't we say" and "to the Democracy for which it stands."  Sharp kid.  I had
difficulty expressing the difference in terms he understood:  Say you're
playing a pick-up game of baseball. Your side wants to pick Albert for
captain because he's the best.  You vote and he wins: that's democracy.
However, in a Republic, you vote. But then a group of "parents" who might
not even be your parents, who you may or may not have wanted to represent
you, get to choose your captain based upon some rules that you don't quite
understand. Instead little George, who ended up on your team by default (he
was the last kid left to choose), gets picked for captain.  Though a weak
analogy for the "electoral college" he understood the main point: direct
elections are not "Republican".

Gerard


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