I Pledge Allegiance to ?

Author's note: I know Chuck Smith and can vouch for his passion for the US Constitution. His article is reprinted here so that each of us can reflect upon its many accurate but ominous observations. Are we truly free any longer? Do "We the People" still matter? At what point does security strip us of our individual liberties and due process? Chuck tackles these head-on in a clear and articulate manner.

I PLEDGE ALEGIENCE TO ?

I can no longer, in conscience, stand for the Pledge of allegiance. My Pledge or Oath means something to me. They are not just words repeated because those around me expect me to, or to get a job. I do not make a pledge or take an oath to be part of something. I never felt the need to just join in something blindly in the name of fraternity. A pledge or oath is my individual promise to support, protect, and defend that to which I make the pledge or oath to.

Do I need go through my Patriotic Pedigree? I don’t think I will because it does not matter. Even if my family and I had done nothing but pay taxes and occasionally vote the issue I face would still be the same.

I no longer have anything I am willing to pledge allegiance to; save the Constitution, where my Oath still stands.

Is it to the Flag? Pretty shallow, that answer. Is it to the “Country”? But what is “Country”? Is it the dirt under my feet? That does not make sense. Is it to my fellow countrymen who will not support and defend his own individual liberty, let alone mine? Is it to an idea, ideal or mystique? What if another word is more accurate- a fantasy, a dream long past betrayed by men who desire power and a people too apathetic to stop them? Or is it the Government? That is in reality what most people think of when they think of Country. Old Glory flying bravely over our capital, statues of great men of our past, memorials to our fallen heroes who gave to keep us free. Nice picture that, but not reality today.

No, today we are at war all over the world and if you peel back the patriotic curtain you find the Bankers, Weapons Manufacturers, Corporate Looters, Politician Generals and our Elected Officials all feeding at that trough, shouting how they support the troops by getting them killed or maimed. War is Big Business and, of course Very Patriotic. We have the War on Drugs, War on Poverty and The War on Terror, all of which have become The War on Liberty.

We have numerous armed Federal agencies on top of State and Local armed agencies. Even the Department of Education sent a SWAT team to terrorize a man and his children because his estranged wife was behind on her student loans. You can’t make this stuff up. Google it yourself. We have Law Enforcement Officers (LEO) where we used to have Peace Officers. We have Courts of Law where we used to have Courts of Justice. We have Homeland Security, Fusion Centers, Body Scanners, and Cameras everywhere, we even allow our wives and children to be groped for the right to travel. We have lost the right to privacy in our communications, our finances, and even our health records. We have so many overlapping rules, regulations and laws that it is virtually impossible to go through a day without some violation of the Law.

In your own home you are subject to forceful entry and the threat of extreme violence based on an anonymous tip. Face you accuser? Not anymore. The State is your accuser. And by the way, if you are innocent but injured or killed anyway, there is no one prosecuted. They were just “Following Orders” and The Law shields them from prosecution. The Tipster (if he exists) is never known.

The minute you leave your home you are subject to: stop at the whim of a LEO, your identity papers demanded (show me your papers), search, ‘detainment’, restraint ‘for officer protection’, and questioning. This when you are walking. When you are driving; there you can add roadblocks and forced blood draws. Do you feel safe now? Be assured more ‘protections’ are coming.

I have personally had my property rights stolen from me, by some anonymous person(s).

So I will rise with you and Pledge Allegiance when I have something to pledge allegiance to. When my letters in this paper no longer echo The Declaration of Independence accurately, when Americans stand for individual freedoms, when those who write and enforce The Law are no longer above The Law, when personal property rights and privacy are again sacrosanct, and most of all, when the Constitution is restored.

See you at the next City Council Meeting. I will be the one not standing to say, “Baaaa, Baaaa…”.