Column Writing

2008 TPA Better Newspaper Contest

First Place D9

The Clarendon Enterprise

Legislature should leave Pledge alone

By Roger Estlack

The boys and girls in Austin have gone too far this time. They've crossed the line and transgressed into an area that should be sacred. They have sold out and sunk to a new low. Not that it should surprise anyone.

There is an old saying attributed to a New Yorker named Gideon Tucker: "No man's life, liberty, or property is safe when the Legislature is in session."

In Texas, we've found Tucker's observation to be largely true; but last week the Texas House of Representatives went a step further and decided to mess with the heritage of all Texans and make a little change to the Texas Pledge of Allegiance.

Rep. Debbie Riddle (R-Tomball) decided the words "under God" needed to be added to the Pledge.

The immediate thoughtful response to this news was to wonder where such a revision might be placed.

"Honor the Texas Flag; I pledge allegiance to thee, Texas, one and indivisible."

You don't just stick "under God" in there in any way that it makes sense. But Riddle thought of everything apparently. In her omnipotent wisdom, she determined that the Texas Pledge should go this way: "Honor the Texas Flag; I pledge allegiance to thee, Texas, one state under God and indivisible."

The Houston Chronicle reported that Riddle said she was trying to mirror the national pledge.

"The national pledge is an indicator of what and who we are as a nation," Riddle said.

Well, so it is. But shouldn't the Texas Pledge be an indicator of who we are as Texans, not just some "mirror" of another pledge?

The simple inclusion of "under God" is offensive because it is not so simple. It requires that the nature of the pledge itself be changed by adding the word "state."

A true Texan knows that Texas is a state in the American union, but that same true Texan does not think of his homeland as just one of the 50 states. A true Texan thinks of Texas as its own nation with its own culture, its own beliefs, and its own brand of Lone Star independence.

A real Texan knows that the Capitol in Austin is taller than the Capitol in Washington, DC; the San Jacinto Monument is taller than the Washington Monument, and the Texas Flag can be flown at the same height as the American Flag. And a true Texan believes — at least occasionally — that Texas would be better off if it were still its own Republic.

To reduce Texas to being just a "one state" reflection of the nation is unthinkable, and it calls into question the patriotism of Rep. Riddle as a Texan for trying to subjugate our culture under the American yolk.

The Texas Pledge was written into law in 1933 and originally went: "Honor the Texas Flag of 1836 ...." It referred to the wrong flag — the present Texas Flag was adopted in 1839 — and was corrected in 1965. But the essence of the Pledge itself was not changed — honoring the national flag of Texas.

One might think that the Texas Legislature would have better things to do. Texas has lots of problems — a lack of adequate funding for community colleges, for example. Or maybe we should get busy trying to mirror the nation in terms of teacher pay or Medicaid funding for nursing homes.

But rather than focus on issues that could actually better the lives and the economic conditions of all Texans, the right-wingers in the Capitol choose to focus on other priorities. For Riddle, that's the Pledge of Allegiance, which to her was apparently flawed. Or maybe she just hoped to score some political points by padding her religious résumé.

Of course things don't get passed with just one vote. Riddle's bill passed the House 124-12 and picked up 98 co-sponsors, including our own Rep. Warren Chisum (R-Pampa). The bill's fate now lies in the Senate where it is unlikely that the Republican dominated chamber will stand up for our tried and true Pledge.

Riddle's bill is just a sad commentary on our times. It's another example of getting a bunch of politicians so caught up in the idea of looking good superficially that they forget to actually think about what they're doing.

It's how Texas has gotten into the TAKS test mess that gives ulcers to fourth graders and dumbs down our educational system to have the highest percentage of students meet the "minimum" standards. It's how Congress curtailed liberty throughout the Union by being afraid to vote against something with the red, white, and blue name of the Patriot Act.

This bill — like many others this session — should have never been introduced. It should have never gotten out of committee, and it certainly never should have passed the House by a landslide. It overturns tradition and tarnishes the image of the Lone Star.

Riddle and her compadres should remember two things. First, Texas is like a whole other country; and secondly, don't mess with it. The same goes for our Pledge. It doesn't need to mirror anything, and it doesn't need fixing. It belongs only to Texas — one and indivisible.