2/11/07: A Mesa,
Arizona city councilman has been refusing to
stand up and recite the Pledge or Allegiance at City Council meetings in
protest of the Iraq
war. Councilman Tom Rawles said he will
continue this act of protest until the troops come home from Iraq.
Mesa, Arizona is a
conservative suburb of Phoenix,
and Rawles has received numerous threats for refusing to say or stand for the
Pledge. In response to the threats,
Rawles told the Associated Press:
That’s
what political speech is supposed to do.
It’s supposed to infuriate and irritate and challenge and make people think.
They apparently would prefer me just to
walk lockstep and mouth ritualistic words to a mandatory ceremony.
Rawles” stand should be
commended, and more government officials should be refusing to “get in line”
with a government that is waging an unjust war on the people of Iraq, and not
being afraid to challenge or offend people in doing so.