Red Skelton's
Commentary on the
United States Pledge of Allegiance
 
As a schoolboy in Vincennes, Indiana, one of Red Skelton's teachers explained the words and meaning of the Pledge of Allegiance to his class. Skelton later wrote down, and eventually recorded, his recollection of this lecture. It is followed by an observation of his own.
flag
I
Me; an individual; a committee of one.
Pledge
Dedicate all of my worldly goods to give without self-pity.
Allegiance
My love and my devotion.
To the Flag
of the
Our standard; Old Glory ; a symbol of courage; and wherever she waves there is respect, because your loyalty has given her a dignity that shouts, "Freedom is everybody's job."
United
That means that we have all come together.
States
of America.
Individual communities that have united into forty-eight great states. Forty-eight individual communities with pride and dignity and purpose. All divided by imaginary boundaries, yet united to a common cause, and that is love of country...of America.
And to the Republic
Republic--a sovereign state in which power is invested in representatives chosen by the people to govern. And government is the people; and it's from the people to the leaders, not from the leaders to the people.
For which it stands
One Nation
meaning, so blessed by God.
Under God
[not in the original pledge - added in 1954]
Indivisible
Incapable of being divided.
With Liberty
Which is Freedom; the right of power for one to live his own life, without fears, threats, or any sort of retaliation.
And Justice
The principle, and qualities, of dealing fairly with others.
For All
--that means, boys and girls, it's as much your country as it is mine. I
Me; an individual; a committee of one.