Palin On Pledge Of Allegiance: "If It Was Good Enough For The Founding Fathers, It's Good Enough For Me"

In a 2006 questionnaire for Alaska's gubernatorial race, vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin seemed to muddle her American history.

Question: Are you offended by the phrase "Under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance? Why or why not?

Palin: Not on your life. If it was good enough for the founding fathers, its good enough for me and I'll fight in defense of our Pledge of Allegiance.

The pledge, of course, was not written until 1892 and the words "under God" were not added until the 1950s. From Wikipedia:

The Pledge of Allegiance was written in 1892 by Francis Bellamy (1855-1931), a Baptist minister, a Christian Socialist, and the cousin of Socialist Utopian novelist Edward Bellamy (1850-1898). Bellamy's original "Pledge of Allegiance" was published in the September 8th issue of the popular children's magazine The Youth's Companion as part of the National Public-School Celebration of Columbus Day, a celebration of the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's discovery of America, conceived by James B. Upham.

...

The Knights of Columbus in New York City felt that the pledge was incomplete without any reference to a deity. Appealing to the authority of Abraham Lincoln, the Knights felt that the words "under God" which were from Lincoln's Gettysburg Address were most appropriate to add to the Pledge. In New York City on April 22, 1951, the Board of Directors of the Knights of Columbus adopted a resolution to amend their recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance at the opening of each of the meetings of the 800 Fourth Degree Assemblies of the Knights of Columbus by addition of the words "under God" after the words "one nation."

...

Senator Homer Ferguson, in his report to the Congress on March 10, 1954, said, "The introduction of this joint resolution was suggested to me by a sermon given recently by the Rev. George M. Docherty, of Washington, D.C., who is pastor of the church at which Lincoln worshipped." This time Congress concurred with the Oakman-Ferguson resolution, and Eisenhower opted to sign the bill into law on Flag Day (June 14, 1954).

Comments

[tetsuo29]

11:08 AM on 09/16/2008

That blog (eagleforumalaska.blogspot.com) is now gone. Some kind person captured an image of the page before it was taken down. You can see it her:

http://karmicdragonfly.livejournal.com/405592.html

[kasty]

10:32 PM on 09/05/2008

The one thing I hate more than bridges that lead to nowhere....are LINKS that lead to nowhere. Must be a slow news day. Universities obviously give out Journalism degrees like candy.

[Humbuzz]

01:54 AM on 09/07/2008

That page was likely removed by eagleforumalaska; it is not the Huff Post writer's fault. Google has a cached version of the questionnaire which you can access.

[CalvinistHobbesian]

01:48 PM on 09/03/2008

Interestingly, as of this timestamp that link to the questionnaire no longer works...

[drec1500Madrid]

07:23 AM on 09/02/2008

The woman doesn't even want to be part of America...Spent the '90's in some radical fringe political party that don't even recognize the United States...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwvPNXYrIyI

[08politicaljunkie]

07:39 AM on 09/02/2008

LOL you beat me to it. They're talking about that right now on CSPAN!

She's not patriotic -- unless it suits her political ambition. She wants to rule her own little island. God help us, do not let her rule our land.

[drec1500Madrid]

08:28 AM on 09/02/2008

Really, on CSpan?...Hallelujah! The MSM wont look at this. And it is far more serious than the whole Rev Wright nonsense.

[drec1500Madrid]

07:13 AM on 09/02/2008

Why does my six year old know more about US history than this "Wildcat"....

This is making my head hurt...I think that we all know where she stands at this point....Im just going to turn of my internets and let the chips fall where they may....I'm from one of those heathanistic blue states however....so my vote dont count.

[calliope]

02:15 AM on 09/02/2008

OMFG you must be kidding me. This woman is a twit, and an embarrassment to her sex.

Hey, GOPers: happy now?

[Pragmatus]

01:19 AM on 09/02/2008

I say let McCain keep Palin. There's no better proof of GOP insincerity and BS than the two of them. The GOP will continue to talk as if Palin is a great big plus to their cause, meanwhile hordes of voters are quietly making their minds up to have nothing to do with them.

[DuPageDem]

12:04 AM on 09/02/2008

The pledge was first promulgated by flag salesmen, to convince schools to buy a flag for every classroom. Palin's just doing her job as a good corporate shill, like every good GOPer.

[solarbear]

11:31 PM on 09/01/2008

As an American, and specifically an Alaskan-American, and a huge Sarah Palin fan, I am really offended by your supposition that the Founding Fathers could not have written our sacred Pledge of Allegiance. Specifically, it was penned by Benjamin Franklin in August of 1771 as a token of admiration to his wife Betsy Ross' ex-father-in-law, Richard Stanz, whom Franklin initially pledged the Republic to.

"...and to the Republic, for Richard Stanz, One Nation, UNDER GOD, Indivisible, with Liberty and Justice for All."

When Benjamin and Betsy Frankllin-Ross and the rest of the Founding Fathers landed at Plymouth rock in the Mayflower, they walked with dinosaurs and ate Indians. I mean they ate WITH Indians. The Indians told the Founding Fathers that this new place, called A-M-E-R-I-C-A, was a nation founded on Christian principles, even though they themselves were not Christians yet, and would soon be annihilated by Christians anyway. The Founding Fathers were quite impressed by this, grew corn.

Benjamin Franklin and Betsy Ross had one son, whom they named Ronald Reagan Franklin (he later dropped the "Franklin"), who would one day marry Margaret Thatcher and bring light to all corners of this dark, dark world. Ronald and Maggie lived for over three hundred years. Few people today know they were ever married to each other, because they divorced sometime in the late 19th century.

And THAT is how the Pledge of Allegiance came to be.

[ThankGodforAtheists]

12:24 AM on 09/02/2008

Finally a breath of creationism history. Will you also be publishing the history of The Star Spangled Banner?

[suec03]

04:47 AM on 09/02/2008

Ow! My head hurts! Put a disclaimer next time you lob a high-explosive satire like that one, solarbear!

[enemyofgod72]

10:49 PM on 09/01/2008

Hard to believe that McCain found the one possible choice for VP who actually makes Dubya look smart. If he wins (I'll shoot myself) at least the late night talk shows won't run out of material. Bushisms to Palinisms I must have missed that sign for the Twilight Zone.

[Big0725]

10:41 PM on 09/01/2008

Oh no she didn't?

[LonghornDem70]

09:14 PM on 09/01/2008

So maybe this story is apocryphal but for what it's worth: Back in the 20's and 30's, a woman named "Ma" Ferguson was Governor of Texas--having been elected to that position after her husband, "Pa" Ferguson, was impeached and convicted and so couldn't run again. Anyway, Ma wasn't that wise in the ways of the world. Someone asked her whether she thought it was a good idea to have bilingual education in Texas, given the number of Spanish speaking children in the schools there. She said no. Why? Because, she reportedly said, "if English was good enough for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, then it's good enough for the schoolchildren of Texas!"

[frustratedhonestyfreak]

10:25 PM on 09/01/2008

Another story that is apocryphal: In the early 1960's, I worked on the staff of a Congressman from Minnesota. It was during that time that "daylight savings time" came into being. While it was being debated, my Congressman received hundreds of letters from constituents saying, "Don't change God's time."

[deepintheheartoftejas]

04:00 AM on 09/02/2008

Yeah, that's a cute story, but almost completely unlikely to be true. That quote has been attributed to a number of other people, going back to the 19th century before she was even born. She's best remembered now as publicly opposing the KKK and for pardoning hundreds of people in the Texas prison system.

[collprof]

08:50 PM on 09/01/2008

John Stewart, Mr. Colbert, Mr. Maher.....have at it.

[ResearchGuy]

08:40 PM on 09/01/2008

She is becoming the new dictionary photo-illustration for the word "airhead."

[cbeenthere]

08:36 PM on 09/01/2008

So sad she did not know about the inclusion in reference to God NOT included via the " Founding Fathers", but during the 50's. I would hope Palin would withdraw, and go back to family and her home state. Is that too much to ask of her for her country??? She really has nothing to offer the country.

[ThisIsCrazy]

10:17 PM on 09/01/2008

Go back to her family? Does it sound like this woman is really about family? She flew on an airplane for an 8-hour flight from Texas to Alaska after her water broke before delivering her last child. She went back to work 3 days after delivering a baby with Down's Syndrome. Her oldest child is going to Iraq, as opposed to a military academy like West Point or the Naval Academy (mom probably had no time to help with homework) and now her 17-year old daughter is unmarried and 5-months pregnant. Her husband has been arrested with a DWI- God knows what is going on with the 2 middle children. How in the world does this woman represent right-wing Conservative family values when she is the worst possible hand that could rock a cradle?

[enemyofgod72]

10:39 PM on 09/01/2008

If these are the "family values" that conservatives like to rant about then please let me be an orphan.

[ejay579]

11:06 PM on 09/01/2008

The youngest daughter followed her around on the stage when he mother was being introduced by McStain. She looked like a lost soul and her mother seemed like a cold fish. I also thought it was interesting that the oldest daughter was carrying the baby and thought of the dynamic often found in large families where the older kids are conscripted to raise the younger kids. Of course we know now what was going on with the oldest daughter.