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

[SaltySaltillo]

Sadly, here is why the Palin pick puts McCain in a position to in Nov: he prevents defections from McCain. Recent polls (pre-Palin) indicate that as much as 9% of Colorado voters are voting for McKinney or Nader, and 9% of Nevada voters are voting for McKinney and Nader with 2% in CO saying they wont vote and 3% in NV saying they wont vote. McCain isn't bleeding conservative base votes to the "no opinion" or "Barr' categories any more, which puts McCain on top in both CO and NV.

[Indedave]

So take that, all you pointy-headed librul scumbags! Seriously, though, this joke of a VP pick is getting funnier by the minute. Studio heads in LA-LA land must be tripping over each other in the rush to get the rights to what will be THE defining American political story of the post-Reagan era: Mr. Deeds Meets Mrs. Bundy.

[tellner]

Unfortunately Palin plays to the Republican base. And it really doesn't matter how many lies or gaffes there are. They just zip past the RWAS (Right Wing Authoritarian Submissive) personality. So does hypocrisy, which only counts if it's committed by liberals.

[Smirk]

It's not just hypocrisy. For many (maybe most) Republicans, any kind of a no-no only counts if a liberal or Democrat commits it.

[JailNeoconVicts]

Can someone please compile all of her idiocies into one concise list and then send to the MSM who are sure to ignore them otherwise?

My God. If the American people fall for this one, then we're surely down the path of the Roman Empire...as it headed into the Dark Ages.

[acflynn]

Poorly educated in science... now she is showing us how poorly educated in history. More please? Keep talking, Sarah. You are doing a fine job of shooting down the GOP ticket.

[jethrock]

There's too many and they are coming in too fast. But here is one attempt:

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/9/1/113810/3053

[JailNeoconVicts]

Thanks, that's a must read! What an astonishing record of incompetence, venality and abject stupidity. And this is after only two days of scrutiny. We can only imagine what more will come out.