Thanks to a public school principal in Utah, a video released in January supporting Barack Obama is resurfacing again as opponents claim more proof of our President's anti-American agenda.
Produced by Oprah Winfrey's Harpo Productions, the video shows celebrities from film and television, sports, the arts, and other areas pledging to do their part to change the world. Many of the suggestions are decent ones. "I pledge to smile more...to laugh more...to love more." "I pledge to be a great mother...to be a great father." "I pledge to always represent my country with pride, dignity, and honesty." Particularly noteworthy is Jason Bateman's promise to help the environment; his method will be "to flush only after a deuce and never after a single" (a little TMI there, Jase...and I won't be using the facilities immediately after you do). There are promises to volunteer, to fight for worthy causes, and to support our children and seniors. The vignettes are meant to be heartwarming and inspirational, and most of the ideas proposed are not bad in and of themselves.
It appears there are two issues with the video. The first is that some of the causes these celebrities pledge to support, like stem cell research, are "hot button" issues that already cause concern among a significant portion of the American population. The second is two statements made towards the end of the video. The first is issued by Anthony Kiedis of the band Red Hot Chili Peppers. As he kisses his tattooed biceps, he says, "I pledge to be of service [kiss] to Barack Obama [kiss]." Later as Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher stand side by side, they say, "I pledge to be a servant to our president and all mankind." It's the idea promoted in this video that the people of the United States should pledge to be a servant to the President, rather than the President being the servant of the people, that has opponents so upset.
The video was brought back into the spotlight after the principal of Eagle Bay Elementary School in Farmington, Utah, showed it during a student assembly without first obtaining parental consent. Gayle Ruzicka, president of the conservative Utah Eagle Forum, states the video is left-wing propaganda and political in nature. "If parents want their children to learn about those things and do them in the home, wonderful, fine, but it's not the place of the school to show a one-sided propaganda piece to children without parents knowing about it." The principal has apologized for the incident, and has ditched plans to show the video to parents at the school's "Back to School" night, feeling it might be too controversial.
The video, which can still be seen on YouTube, has generated a wide range of responses from viewers. One poster writes, "I pledge to not stop here, but to continue to engage the community in making my community, this state, this nation and this world a better, more beautiful place." Another comments, "I pledge to keep treating the President of the United States of America as the public servant that he is supposed to be. I pledge to attempt to correct anyone who thinks that we owe some allegiance to Barack Obama the man, rather than the country he is supposed to represent." Another posted, "JFK didn't say, 'Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for John F. Kennedy.' "
If we as American citizens are going to promise to make our country, and through it the world, a better place, maybe we should stop focusing on the individual and concentrate on the well-being of our own citizens first. Or, as somebody so eloquently worded it: "I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic, for which it stands: one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."
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