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Frederick's avatar

"Liberty and justice for all” can be a frame to unite progressives. Our language and writing and speech would augment this frame with specifics, such as economic and racial justice, and justice for the earth, as we speak of universal health care, education and sustainability.

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Tom Rainey's avatar

Sounds good. I would address the issues other readers have raised by adding one word: "liberty, equality, and justice for all." (This has been one of the suggested but not adopted edits to the pledge of allegiance,)

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Frederick's avatar

I could go with that Tom. Of course, the power of "liberty and justice for all” is the fact that its the conclusion of the Pledge of Allegiance.

Perhaps the Sedition Caucus and others have violated their pledge of allegiance to this country?

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Tom Rainey's avatar

There is a story, possibly apocryphal, that Bellamy as a good Christian Socialist had one draft of the pledge with "equality" in it. But in his later comments he never mentioned this, so maybe just a wish. Equality was as dangerous a notion to some in 1892 (they wanted to sell flags after all) as it is (to some) today.

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