What's the problem?

How big a national story has the Pledge of Allegiance kerfuffle in St. Louis Park become? So much so that the President of the United States weighed in.

Outrage is growing in the Great State of Minnesota where our Patriots are now having to fight for the right to say the Pledge of Allegiance. I will be fighting with you! @foxandfriends

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 9, 2019

As I see it, the SLP City Council vote to eliminate the Pledge prior to meetings seemed to be a mass over-correction to a vague problem. The council's rationale for eliminating it was "due to concern that some residents in their 'increasingly diverse community' might find it unwelcoming." My question is how exactly is it unwelcoming? Are there a slew of atheists populating the city who might object to the phrase "One Nation under God...?" Is it due to new immigrants residing there who would prefer to pledge loyalty to their country of origin?

I, for one, don't believe in "forced patriotism." If there are folks who object to the Pledge, then I have zero issue with them remaining silent, staying seated or, dare I say, kneeling. But this idea that a municipal government forbids reciting it altogether smacks of a First Amendment violation.

This isn't over by a long shot.

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