This Proud Georgian Thinks Pledge of Allegiance To State Is A Great IdeaBy Dick Yarbrough
(2/28/07) I must confess that there have been days when I wasn't sure if Rep. Bobby Franklin's elevator stopped on every floor. The Cobb County Republican can think up some pretty goofy stuff — even for a member of the Georgia General Assembly — that makes you wonder if he needs a day job or if he is just pulling our leg. Last year Franklin's claim to fame was his valiant effort to have red clay declared Georgia's "official dirt." Sadly, the measure failed, and we are all dirt poorer for that.
However, I rise proudly to his defense today. Franklin is taking a lot of ribbing from his colleagues in the Legislature for pledging allegiance to Georgia every morning before getting down to the serious business of trying to decide whether the state's official pest should be the deer fly or Jimmy Carter. Franklin says, "I'm a proud Georgian, and it's just the right thing to do." He'll get no argument from me.
The Georgia pledge, which was adopted by the General Assembly in 1935, goes as follows: "I pledge allegiance to the Georgia flag and to the principles for which it stands: Wisdom, Justice, and Moderation." It was written by Eugenia Sexta Eavenson Strickland, born in Elbert County and buried in Hart County. According to her biography, she was a pretty important person in her day — hence, all the extra names. (Note to the New Georgia Encyclopedia folks at UGA: Ms. Strickland gets no mention in the encyclopedia. That doesn't seem right. After all, she did compose the Pledge of Allegiance to Georgia. In order to get any information about her, I had to Google the lady. I don't think a woman of her stature should be Googled. It's not very dignified.)
If I have any criticism of the Pledge of Allegiance to Georgia, it is too short. Granted, Ms. Strickland was well-intentioned, but she left out a lot of stuff that should have been included. After the part about Wisdom, Justice and Moderation, I would suggest this addition: "I pledge that I will honor the Sweet Vidalia Onion, eat only Georgia peaches, pecans and barbecue, and that I will never put sugar on my grits or let sushi touch my lips. I further pledge that I will always be in awe of living in a state with beautiful mountains in the north and pristine beaches in the south, and will forever wonder why God blessed us above all others. I pledge also that when I die, if I can't go to heaven, I will gladly accept an eternity of warm autumn Saturday afternoons in Sanford Stadium, on the campus of the University of Georgia, the oldest state-chartered university in the nation, located in Athens, the Classic City of the South. Amen and amen." That should just about cover it.
My other quibble with the Georgia Pledge of Allegiance is that anybody can say it and not mean it. What is to keep some Yankee from taking the pledge but snickering under his breath at us because of the way we talk? Once Rep. Franklin gets the red clay matter handled, I would urge him to make the pledge some kind of loyalty test for people moving here. First, there will be no Spanish version. If you can't say it in English, you ought not to be here. Assuming you are here legally — a big assumption — all new residents would be required to recite the following: "As a transplant from (State), I pledge not to talk loud and act like an expert on everything. I pledge not to butter my sandwich bread, talk about the War Between the States or eat rutabagas. If I do not honor this pledge, I agree to be sent back to (State), where it snows ten months a year and all of the factories are rusted."
Living in the Great State of Georgia is a high privilege and honor, and asking us to swear allegiance to the state doesn't seem too much to ask. So what if we don't have an official dirt?
That's just God's way of keeping us humble. Amen and amen.
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Monday, February 26, 2007
Quotes for February
"Every man is wise when attacked by a mad dog; fewer when pursued by a mad woman; only the wisest survive when attacked by a mad notion." Robertson Davies
"No tyranny is so irksome as petty tyranny: the officious demands of policemen, government clerks, and electromechanical gadgets." Edward Abbey
"Everyone rises to their level of incompetence." Laurence J. Peter, "The Peter Principle"
"The fact that a believer is happier than a skeptic is no more to the point than the fact that a drunken man is happier than a sober one." George Bernard Shaw
"Quit worrying about your health. It'll go away." Robert Orben
"Too much consistency is as bad for the mind as for the body." Aldous Huxley
"You're never too old to become younger." Mae West
"A cult is a religion with no political power." Tom Wolfe
"They say that God is everywhere, and yet we always think of Him as somewhat of a recluse." Emily Dickinson
"No good deed goes unpunished." Clare Booth Luce
"It is bad luck to be superstitious." Andrew W. Mathis
"Anger is the feeling that makes your mouth work faster than your mind." Evan Esar
"Honesty pays, but it doesn't seem to pay enough to suit some people." Kin Hubbard
"If the world should blow itself up, the last audible voice would be that of an expert saying it can't be done." Peter Ustinov
"Hollywood is a place where people from Iowa mistake each other for stars." Fred Allen
"Our national flower is the concrete cloverleaf." Lewis Mumford
"Basic research is what I am doing when I don't know what I am doing." Wernher von Braun
"Every morning I get up and look through the Forbes list of the richest people in America. If I'm not there, I go to work." Robert Orben
"The power of hiding ourselves from one another is mercifully given, for men are wild beasts, and would devour one another but for this protection. " Henry Ward Beecher, "Proverbs from Plymouth Pulpit", 1887
"Wine makes a man more pleased with himself; I do not say that it makes him more pleasing to others." Samuel Johnson
"No matter what side of the argument you are on, you always find people on your side that you wish were on the other." Jascha Heifetz
"Washington is a city of Southern efficiency and Northern charm." John F. Kennedy
"Ours is the age that is proud of machines that think and suspicious of men who try to." H. Mumford Jones
"Nothing is as simple as we hope it will be." Jim Horning
"A sense of duty is useful in work, but offensive in personal relations. People wish to be liked, not be endured with patient resignation." Bertrand Russell, Conquest of Happiness (1930) ch. 10
"Most people are bothered by those passages of Scripture they do not understand, but the passages that bother me are those I do understand." Mark Twain
"Marriage is a great institution, but I'm not ready for an institution yet." Mae West
"Realize that if you have time to whine and complain about something then you have the time to do something about it." Anthony J. D'Angelo
"Do not do unto others as you would that they should do unto you. Their tastes may not be the same." George Bernard Shaw
"Becoming number one is easier than remaining number one." Bill Bradley
"I detest life-insurance agents; they always argue that I shall some day die, which is not so." Stephen Leacock
"Though I am not naturally honest, I am so sometimes by chance." William Shakespeare
"The most incomprehensible thing about the world is that it is at all comprehensible." Albert Einstein
"Whenever I hear anyone arguing for slavery, I feel a strong impulse to see it tried on him personally." Abraham Lincoln
"In my many years I have come to a conclusion that one useless man is a shame, two is a law firm, and three or more is a congress." John Adams
"Insanity in individuals is something rare - but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule." Friedrich Nietzsche
"Thank God men cannot as yet fly and lay waste the sky as well as the earth!" Henry David Thoreau
"I take my wife everywhere, but she keeps finding her way back." Henny Youngman
"The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather in a lack of will." Vince Lombardi
"Skeptical scrutiny is the means, in both science and religion, by which deep insights can be winnowed from deep nonsense." Carl Sagan
"Any man whose errors take ten years to correct is quite a man." J. Robert Oppenheimer, speaking of Albert Einstein
"Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much." Oscar Wilde
"Idealism is what precedes experience; cynicism is what follows." David T. Wolf
"Thomas Jefferson once said, 'We should never judge a president by his age, only by his works.' And ever since he told me that, I stopped worrying." Ronald Reagan
"Your ability to communicate is an important tool in your pursuit of your goals, whether it is with your family, your co-workers or your clients and customers." Les Brown
"Television news is like a lightning flash. It makes a loud noise, lights up everything around it, leaves everything else in darkness and then is suddenly gone." Hodding Carter
"The nice thing about being a celebrity is that when you bore people, they think it's their fault." Henry Kissinger
"If you can't say anything good about someone, sit right here by me." Alice Roosevelt Longworth
"To pretend, I actually do the thing: I have therefore only pretended to pretend." Jacques Derrida
"Youth would be an ideal state if it came a little later in life." Herbert Henry Asquith
"The rung of a ladder was never meant to rest upon, but only to hold a man's foot long enough to enable him to put the other somewhat higher." Thomas Huxley
"Assuming either the Left Wing or the Right Wing gained control of the country, it would probably fly around in circles." Pat Paulsen
"The great thing about television is that if something important happens anywhere in the world, day or night, you can always change the channel." From "Taxi"
"Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius -- and a lot of courage -- to move in the opposite direction." E. F. Schumacher
"When a thing ceases to be a subject of controversy, it ceases to be a subject of interest." William Hazlitt
"Nothing is more admirable than the fortitude with which millionaires tolerate the disadvantages of their wealth." Rex Stout
"Cats are intended to teach us that not everything in nature has a function." Unknown
"The greatest of faults, I should say, is to be conscious of none." Thomas Carlyle
"Adventure is just bad planning." Roald Amundsen
"It's not living alone if you keep a rifle under the bed." Chuck Palahniuk, Invisible Monsters, 1999
"You can learn many things from children. How much patience you have, for instance." Franklin P. Jones
"Stuffed deer heads on walls are bad enough, but it's worse when they are wearing dark glasses and have streamers in their antlers because then you know they were enjoying themselves at a party when they were shot." Ellen DeGeneres
"No tyranny is so irksome as petty tyranny: the officious demands of policemen, government clerks, and electromechanical gadgets." Edward Abbey
"Everyone rises to their level of incompetence." Laurence J. Peter, "The Peter Principle"
"The fact that a believer is happier than a skeptic is no more to the point than the fact that a drunken man is happier than a sober one." George Bernard Shaw
"Quit worrying about your health. It'll go away." Robert Orben
"Too much consistency is as bad for the mind as for the body." Aldous Huxley
"You're never too old to become younger." Mae West
"A cult is a religion with no political power." Tom Wolfe
"They say that God is everywhere, and yet we always think of Him as somewhat of a recluse." Emily Dickinson
"No good deed goes unpunished." Clare Booth Luce
"It is bad luck to be superstitious." Andrew W. Mathis
"Anger is the feeling that makes your mouth work faster than your mind." Evan Esar
"Honesty pays, but it doesn't seem to pay enough to suit some people." Kin Hubbard
"If the world should blow itself up, the last audible voice would be that of an expert saying it can't be done." Peter Ustinov
"Hollywood is a place where people from Iowa mistake each other for stars." Fred Allen
"Our national flower is the concrete cloverleaf." Lewis Mumford
"Basic research is what I am doing when I don't know what I am doing." Wernher von Braun
"Every morning I get up and look through the Forbes list of the richest people in America. If I'm not there, I go to work." Robert Orben
"The power of hiding ourselves from one another is mercifully given, for men are wild beasts, and would devour one another but for this protection. " Henry Ward Beecher, "Proverbs from Plymouth Pulpit", 1887
"Wine makes a man more pleased with himself; I do not say that it makes him more pleasing to others." Samuel Johnson
"No matter what side of the argument you are on, you always find people on your side that you wish were on the other." Jascha Heifetz
"Washington is a city of Southern efficiency and Northern charm." John F. Kennedy
"Ours is the age that is proud of machines that think and suspicious of men who try to." H. Mumford Jones
"Nothing is as simple as we hope it will be." Jim Horning
"A sense of duty is useful in work, but offensive in personal relations. People wish to be liked, not be endured with patient resignation." Bertrand Russell, Conquest of Happiness (1930) ch. 10
"Most people are bothered by those passages of Scripture they do not understand, but the passages that bother me are those I do understand." Mark Twain
"Marriage is a great institution, but I'm not ready for an institution yet." Mae West
"Realize that if you have time to whine and complain about something then you have the time to do something about it." Anthony J. D'Angelo
"Do not do unto others as you would that they should do unto you. Their tastes may not be the same." George Bernard Shaw
"Becoming number one is easier than remaining number one." Bill Bradley
"I detest life-insurance agents; they always argue that I shall some day die, which is not so." Stephen Leacock
"Though I am not naturally honest, I am so sometimes by chance." William Shakespeare
"The most incomprehensible thing about the world is that it is at all comprehensible." Albert Einstein
"Whenever I hear anyone arguing for slavery, I feel a strong impulse to see it tried on him personally." Abraham Lincoln
"In my many years I have come to a conclusion that one useless man is a shame, two is a law firm, and three or more is a congress." John Adams
"Insanity in individuals is something rare - but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule." Friedrich Nietzsche
"Thank God men cannot as yet fly and lay waste the sky as well as the earth!" Henry David Thoreau
"I take my wife everywhere, but she keeps finding her way back." Henny Youngman
"The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather in a lack of will." Vince Lombardi
"Skeptical scrutiny is the means, in both science and religion, by which deep insights can be winnowed from deep nonsense." Carl Sagan
"Any man whose errors take ten years to correct is quite a man." J. Robert Oppenheimer, speaking of Albert Einstein
"Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much." Oscar Wilde
"Idealism is what precedes experience; cynicism is what follows." David T. Wolf
"Thomas Jefferson once said, 'We should never judge a president by his age, only by his works.' And ever since he told me that, I stopped worrying." Ronald Reagan
"Your ability to communicate is an important tool in your pursuit of your goals, whether it is with your family, your co-workers or your clients and customers." Les Brown
"Television news is like a lightning flash. It makes a loud noise, lights up everything around it, leaves everything else in darkness and then is suddenly gone." Hodding Carter
"The nice thing about being a celebrity is that when you bore people, they think it's their fault." Henry Kissinger
"If you can't say anything good about someone, sit right here by me." Alice Roosevelt Longworth
"To pretend, I actually do the thing: I have therefore only pretended to pretend." Jacques Derrida
"Youth would be an ideal state if it came a little later in life." Herbert Henry Asquith
"The rung of a ladder was never meant to rest upon, but only to hold a man's foot long enough to enable him to put the other somewhat higher." Thomas Huxley
"Assuming either the Left Wing or the Right Wing gained control of the country, it would probably fly around in circles." Pat Paulsen
"The great thing about television is that if something important happens anywhere in the world, day or night, you can always change the channel." From "Taxi"
"Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius -- and a lot of courage -- to move in the opposite direction." E. F. Schumacher
"When a thing ceases to be a subject of controversy, it ceases to be a subject of interest." William Hazlitt
"Nothing is more admirable than the fortitude with which millionaires tolerate the disadvantages of their wealth." Rex Stout
"Cats are intended to teach us that not everything in nature has a function." Unknown
"The greatest of faults, I should say, is to be conscious of none." Thomas Carlyle
"Adventure is just bad planning." Roald Amundsen
"It's not living alone if you keep a rifle under the bed." Chuck Palahniuk, Invisible Monsters, 1999
"You can learn many things from children. How much patience you have, for instance." Franklin P. Jones
"Stuffed deer heads on walls are bad enough, but it's worse when they are wearing dark glasses and have streamers in their antlers because then you know they were enjoying themselves at a party when they were shot." Ellen DeGeneres
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