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ONE NATION UNDER GOD
WITH LIBERTY &
JUSTICE FOR ALL?
BY TIM GIAGO
In these days of extremism it is often difficult to distinguish between patriotism and
disloyalty or between religious believers and non-believers.
When one is critical of patriotism or religion, even though we have the right to be critical
under the United States Constitution, our criticisms often turn us into demagogues or worse in the
eyes of those whose beliefs we criticize.
Watching the esteemed members of Congress standing on the Capitol steps with their
hands over their little hearts reciting the Pledge of Allegiance in an apparent act of defiance, was
one of the more humorous scenes I have witnessed thus far into the 21st century.
Ninth Circuit Judge Alfred Goodwin ruled in favor of plaintiff Michael Newdow who
objected to the use of the words “under God" that had been inserted into the “Pledge" in 1954.
The Court ruled that it defied the Constitutional provision of separation of church and state.
Amen!
In South Dakota the motto is; “Under God the People Rule.” This is poppycock pure and
simple. Our local daily, the Rapid City Journal, editorialized; “Which half of the motto would the
federal judges for life object to more strenuously, we wonder?” Let me count the ways.
The dual systems of justice in South Dakota have been under scrutiny by the federal
government for more than 30 years and yet they exist. When statistics are compiled for
unemploy-ment, education, the juvenile courts, and disparity in sentencing, the “Under God the
People Rule" means absolutely nothing. The People of the Great Sioux Nation are seldom if ever
included in these statistics because if they were, it would skew the state averages. The “people
who rule" this state are mostly White, Anglo Saxon Protestant.
The “people who rule" are more than likely WASP Republicans.
When objecting to the ruling by the 9th Circuit Court, President George W. Bush said,
"Ridiculous.” Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle said “Nuts,” and the editor of the Rapid City
Journal added, “Amen.”
“One Nation, under God, ‘with liberty and justice for all'" is the other part of that equation.
Let me take you back to 1954 when “under God” was added to the Pledge. Black Americans
did not have equal voting rights, equal educational rights, housing rights or the right to stay in
most hotels or to eat in most Southern restaurants. American Indians were in the midst of an era
known as “Termination” and "Relocation."
The federal government began the process of “closing down” Indian reservations by
confiscating the land, distributing some of it to tribal members and then opening the “surplus”
to the new white settlers. They accomplished much of this by removing Indian people from their
reservations and “relocating" them to cities such as Chicago, Dallas, Cleveland and Los Angeles.
It serves the conscience of many Americans well to believe the ruling by the 9th Circuit
Judge undermines their religious beliefs. They believe it interferes with their right of “Freedom of
Religion.”
Did that stop the settlers seeking religious freedom from imposing their beliefs upon
Native Americans and attempting to stomp out the indigenous religions by hook or crook often
with the collusion of the federal and state governments? Not on your life!
There was a saying among Black Americans that the most segregated day of the week
was Sunday Blacks went to their churches and whites went to theirs. Were they worshipping the
same God but in separate, but equal churches?
How many white Americans were dragged from their homes as tiny children, often
over the mournful protests of their parents, and placed into religious institutions known as Indian
missions? How many of those who object to having "under God" "removed from the Pledge of
Allegiance stood up and said that it is wrong to take a race of people and force them to discard
their own religious beliefs and to take up the teachings of the Christian churches?
The editorial in the local daily had (he audacity to say that the “9th Circuit Court itself
is an adventure in religious tolerance.” They suggested, “correct us if we’re wrong.” Well, this is
an attempt at correction that will never make it to their editorial pages.
FRANK CIECIORKA
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I take exception to a pledge that expounds upon the virtues of “One Nation under God
with liberty and justice for all” that refuses to admit that we are not one Nation under God and that
there is not uniform Liberty and Justice for all.
Many years ago, long before this controversy arose, J.P.W. James of the Lummi Indian
Nation wrote, “I pledge allegiance to my tribe, to the democratic principles of the republic; and to
the individual freedoms borrowed from the Iroquois and Choctaw Confederacies as incorporated
into the United States Constitution, so that my forefathers shall not have died in vain.”
An old friend of mine from Georgia used to say when he thought someone was making
Much Ado About Nothing, “What’s the hubba, bubba?” And that is the way I feel about the ruckus
over removing the words "under God" from the Pledge of Allegiance. And I do not consider myself
to be unpatriotic or without religion.
Tim Giago, an Oglala Lakota, is editor and publisher of The Lakota Journal.
He can be e-mailed at editor@Lakotajournal.com.
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WHAT? ANOTHER SHADOW GOVERNMENT
The nation doesn’t need to keep Vice President
Dick Cheney and a bunch of bureaucrat gnomes holed up in
expensive caves to run things if a terrorist attack destroys
Washington. When G.W.Jr. moved into the White House, a
shadow government moved in with him.
The National Rifle Association became the shadow
Justice Department, Enron took over the Energy Department,
Exxon and Shell pull the strings of the Department of Interior,
International Paper became the director of the Forest Service,
Lockheed/Northrup took control of Defense Department procure
ment, and Microsoft became head of Anti-Trust.
If a terrorist sneaks a bomb into Washington it won’t
make much difference. Our government is pretty much
controlled by corporate executives scattered around the country.
This was made clear with the recent resignation of one of the
Environmental Protection Agency's top pollution enforcement
officials. A Republican first appointed by the senior Bush,
Eric Schaeffer quit in disgust, saying that the second Bush’s
administration is “undermining” the Clean Air Act. Turning his
first (and I predict his only) term in office into a love feast for
corporate contributors, Bush has:
-Cut the Environmental Protection Agency by $550
million.
-Taken corporate polluters off the hook for cleaning up
the toxic messes they leave behind, making John Q. Taxpayer
foot the bill.
-Suspended rules denying government contracts to
companies that violate government regulations, including
environmental and workplace safety rules.
-Suspended rules that require hard-rock mines to clean
up their pollution on public lands.
-Rescinded a proposal to give the public information
about public health and safety consequences of chemical plant
accidents.
Specifically for his oil/gas industry and Enron buddies,
Bush has:
-Cut funding for research into cleaner, more efficient
cars and trucks by 28%.
-Canceled the 2004 deadline for automakers to develop
high-mileage prototypes.
-Abandoned his campaign promise to regulate carbon
dioxide levels.
-Rescinded rules mandating energy efficiency regulat
ions for air conditioners and heat pumps.
-Cut funding of renewable energy source research by
50%.
-Put pressure on state officials to open up national
monuments for oil and gas drilling, coal mining and clearcut
timber harvests.
To pay off anti-government, free market conservatives,
Bush has:
-Proposed elimination of marine protections for the
Cannel Islands of California and the coral reefs of Hawaii.
-Eliminated funding for the Wetlands Reserve Program,
which encourages farmers to maintain wetlands habitat.
-Abandoned his campaign pledge to invest $100 million
in rainforest conservation.
To demonstrate interest in non-CEO Americans, G W.
Jr. has:
-Reduced the Community Access Program (for people
without health insurance) by 86%.
-Cut $60 million from a Boys & Girls Club of America
program for public housing.
-Cut childcare for low-income families moving from
welfare to work.
-Cut $700 million from the repair and maintenance
budget for public housing
-Cut $15.7 million earmarked for child abuse and
neglect investigations.
But the budget he sent to Congress spends more on
defense than all other countries of the world combined.
Big shots of American industry love G.W. Bush. They
bought and paid for him But can the rest of the United States
afford him?
-JOHN DAVID ROSE