The Pledge of Allegiance Issue in the Presidential Campaign

George Bush is on the right track with his suggestion that we all pledge our allegiance at least twice a day, but I don’t think he goes far enough. That still leaves a lot of people a lot of time to harbor disloyal thoughts about the gang in Washington.

As one who has never been happy with the thought of bureaucrats with time on their hands, and feels threatened when Congress is in session, I think we would be better off if they amended the Pledge of Allegiance with a motion to adjourn.

But that is just the beginning. If we can’t trust an American who isn’t publicly shouting allegiance to the flag, how can we trust one who is insisting on a secret ballot. A real American should stand up and be counted. Only traitors would want to hide their vote.

The greatest advantage of doing away with secrecy in the voting place would be that for the first time our daily dose of public opinion polls would be right for a change. Any pollster will tell you that he would never trust a secret ballot. When they reach you on the phone they not only know your name and address, they know how much you make and your religion. If they could just find someone to police your vote, their problems would be solved.

Oh, there would be one small problem for the pollster. That unpatriotic person who would answer the phone with a firm “It’s none of your (under God) damn business.”

As for me, I think newspapers should stop publishing inaccurate polls until we do away with the secret ballot. Or run headlines: Poll Right--Election Off 4%.

And what kind of a person would answer a pollster’s questions? And tell the truth yet?

DICK TUCK

Los Angeles