Now more than ever, we Americans must stand up and let our voices be heard. There is an attack on our Constitutional rights and as voters, it is our duty to compel Members of Congress to listen to US, the voters of the USA. The Republican Led Congress is deciding what is right and best for us. I am not OK with that. I am holding Members of Congress accountable to reach across the aisle to work in a bi-partisan way to act for the greater good of ALL Americans. I have added the following historical note to emphasize that Americans must be united if we are to remain a true democracy.
Let's show our pride and support of our country by acknowledging what is written in our The Pledge of Allegiance.
Regardless of which version one chooses, the words ONE NATION, INDIVISIBLE, LIBERTY, JUSTICE, and ALL must be defended.
http://www.ushistory.org/documents/pledge.htm
The Pledge of Allegiance was written in August 1892 by the socialist minister Francis Bellamy (1855-1931). It was originally published in The Youth's Companion on September 8, 1892. Bellamy had hoped that the pledge would be used by citizens in any country.
In its original form it read:
"I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."
In 1923, the words, "the Flag of the United States of America" were added. At this time it read:
"I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."
In 1954, in response to the Communist threat of the times, President Eisenhower encouraged Congress to add the words "under God," creating the 31-word pledge we say today.
Today it reads:
"I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."
This article written by Yascha Mounk is a timely reminder of our freedoms and what happens if we do not stand in unity to defend them. A must read.
SundayReview | OPINION
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — I always thought I knew what I would do the day I became an American citizen: I’d go to the nearest park with some close friends, open a bottle of champagne — and hope a cop would give me a ticket.
Since coming to the United States from Germany on a student visa in 2005, I’ve been a little paranoid about breaking the law. When roommates headed up to the roof to have a few beers, I stayed behind in the living room. When a romantic prospect started to feed the ducks on a trip to Central Park, I remained on the gravel path some 50 yards away, pointing to the “Don’t Walk on the Grass” sign.
Admittedly, I was probably being overly cautious. But, I would sheepishly explain to my friends, immigration benefits are a privilege rather than a right. When applying for a work visa, or for a green card, or for naturalization, I would have to document every citation and arrest. And since the law explicitly instructs the officer who would decide my fate to ascertain whether I am of “good moral character,” I preferred to avoid the slightest risk of legal trouble.
I am middle-class and highly educated, white and with a valid visa. I know that I’ve always had it far better than millions of other immigrants. Unlike them, I had little reason to think that an open-container violation might mean getting kicked out of the country.
This contrast has only become more stark as the new administration has ramped up deportations, rescinded thousands of visas, even attempted to stop green-card holders from countries like Syria and Yemen from entering the country. In the past few months, thousands of families have been torn apart. Millions more live in a state of terror.
Many of them face a trade-off that is much more pernicious than any I ever had to endure: They can protest the government at the risk of getting deported, or they can stay silent in the face of injustice aimed directly at them.
This month, the long-awaited day finally came. I put on a bright blue suit, a white shirt and a small black button with a quotation from the protest movement against the Vietnam War: “There comes a time when silence is betrayal.” As I drove to my citizenship ceremony at the John F. Kenedy Presidential Library, I thought about all the reasons I want to be an American.
Since I’ve come to the United States I’ve gotten a Ph.D. in political science. At first, I focused my research on more abstract questions, like the role of personal responsibility in the welfare state. But a few years ago — long before Britons voted to leave the European Union or Donald J. Trump announced that he was running for president — I started to worry that liberal democracy was under real threat in the United States and around the world.
In my studies, I showed that citizens now give less importance to living in a democracy than they once did, and that they are more open to authoritarian alternatives like military rule. So it did not come as a surprise when frustrated citizens from Britain to Hungary, and from the United States to India, began casting ballots for authoritarian populists who promised a radical break with the status quo.
There is plenty of democratic energy behind these movements. But because populists like President Trump value only the support of a narrow segment of citizens and claim an exclusive right to speak on behalf of “the people,” they are a real danger to the norms and institutions that are necessary to sustain democracy.
Like Mr. Trump, democratically elected dictators have often believed that they don’t owe political consideration to the minorities they vilify. And like Mr. Trump, they have often claimed that all those who challenge their rule — independent judges, critical journalists — are enemies of the people. For anybody who has studied how democracies die, the president’s dark rhetoric sounds familiar.
One of the things I most admire about the United States is its fierce attachment to the Constitution. Americans have as deep a commitment to democratic institutions, and as active a civil society, as the citizens of any other country in the world. If the defenders of democracy don’t make it here, it is doubtful that they will make it anywhere.
But one of the things I most fear about the United States is that the veneration of the Constitution is always in danger of turning into complacency. While the country’s system of checks and balances gives Americans the tools to safeguard their freedoms, the Constitution cannot defend itself. The defenses it puts in place will work only if citizens are prepared to use them.
As this realization dawned on many Americans in the past months, and a valiant fight for the soul of the country got underway, I felt increasingly self-conscious about my status as a “resident alien.” While I had plenty of opportunity to speak to Americans, I could not speak as an American. And that is why the election of a dangerous demagogue to the presidency of the United States made me more, not less, determined to take on citizenship. Now more than ever I want to be a fully paid-up member of this society — and fight for the survival of liberal democracy alongside my new compatriots.
The oath of citizenship moved me more than I had expected. For a moment, I choked up and found it difficult to get the words out. But then my voice took on a new resolve: proud and determined, I swore to “defend the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic.”
After the ceremony, I did not go to a park with friends. I did not have any champagne. I did not try to get a cop to give me a ticket in celebration of my newfound freedom. Instead, I did something that millions of others cannot do without fear: I joined a protest in Boston against the revised executive order on immigration.
The couple of dozen people who had assembled on a clear, cold afternoon, holding signs like “No More Families Torn Apart” and “Immigrants Are America,” did not make for a very impressive crowd. The police barely paid us any attention. Nor did anybody else.
The moment felt no less meaningful to me. For the very first time, I was standing up to the unjust actions of my government. And for the very first time, I could say, as an American, that the executive order — and the larger worldview it represents — violates our values.
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