Although well written, I found Halliday's article on the pledge of allegiance was comepletely innappropriate and way to condemning. I'm sorry you feel you can't say the pledge due to isolated incidents of the past, but the pledge is about more than your allegiance. It is a sign of respect for hundreds of thousands of men and women who lost their lives for this country- which is way better off then many third world countries or dictatorships out there. We are lucky to be here, sure we are home to bigots, but what country is not? We do NOT legally allow the Ku Klux Klan to harass people, our tolerance of slavery ended over a hundred years ago and we have admitted our mistakes in numerous other incidents. It is not fair to let a couple of bad things ruin the dignity and struggle America has been through to become the free nation it is today. Appreciate it and say the pledge.