With all the attention given to the Supreme Court hearing the case on the Pledge of Allegiance, I thought it'd be a good time to dig up the origins of the pledge.

As Professor Baer points out in that second link, a socialist named Francis Bellamy came up with the first version of the pledge in 1892 for a Boston family magazine to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus' disovering America. The magazine was selling flags to American schools and as a result of this new pitch, they sold flags to about 26 thousand schools by 1892.

You can read the article for further details, but as most people know, the clause "under God" was added later by Congress and President Eisenhower in 1954. The Supreme Court is going to decide the case involving the California school in the coming months.

Whatever the outcome of that case, I think it's safe to say the pledge has been excessively politicized over time, and is damaged goods as a result. Perhaps this wouldn't have happened if the words "under God" weren't added in the first place, or maybe the problem started with the creation of the pledge itself. I agree with Professor Baer on this point. I think it's time we stop merely pledging allegiance to a flag. Rather, let us pledge to uphold the United States Constitution and fight for the rights it guarantees within it.