Suburban-Pledge-Fight-Goes-Viral-Bob Davis Podcast 846

Suburban-Pledge-Fight-Goes-Viral-Bob Davis Podcast 846

Media Hurricane

These days you never know when you’re going to be in a media storm. That’s what happened when a suburban city council decided to stop saying the Pledge of Allegiance at some of their meetings. We’re going inside a meeting Saint Louis Park held to discuss the decision. Learn more in Suburban-Pledge-Fight-Goes-Viral-Bob Davis Podcast 846.

City Council Votes To Stop Saying Pledge At Some Meetings

Saint Louis Park is a first ring western suburb of Minneapolis. The City Council voted 5-0 on June 17th, 2019 to stop saying the pledge at some meetings. The city’s mayor wasn’t in attendance at the June 17th meeting.

Public Outcry

Even more, after news accounts of the ‘ban’ on the Pledge, the story went viral. Public outcry overwhelmed city staff and the council offices.

Study Group Meeting Disrupted

As a result Saint Louis Park held another meeting to discuss the vote. This was a ‘study group’ meeting. It’s most noteworthy that it wasn’t supposed to include public comments or conclude with a vote.

Many Non Residents

It’s especially relevant for Suburban-Pledge-Fight-Goes-Viral-Bob Davis Podcast 846 that mostly non residents showed up at the July 8th meeting to loudly express their dismay and anger.

Experience The Meeting

This podcast takes you through the meeting without very much comment from me.

Story Told By The People There

First of all I think the story is best told by the voices of the council and the people who were there.

You’re In The Seats In This Podcast

In addition if you wear headphones or turn it up you’ll be in the seats and you’ll hear the meeting as it went down. That includes hard to hear public officials and screaming protesters.

Shouting And Screaming

Finally I conclude the podcast with some historical facts and one short observation. In conclusion I wonder whether this protest flatters Tea Party and other ‘activists’ that showed up. You will hear them shout and scream, forcing council members to plead for a chance to finish statements often in support of restoring the pledge.

Pledge Written By Socialist and Anti Capitalist

Many of the protesters will celebrate President Trump’s vow to ‘restore the pledge in Saint Louis Park’. Emotional and understandable attachments to a pledge rewritten and made famous by an avowed socialist and anti capitalist notwithstanding, they may have done more damage to their movement in this suburb and in the fifth congressional district, than they know.

(Editor’s Note: It has been asserted that a requirement to say the pledge of allegiance is in the Saint Louis Park City Charter. Upon reading it I can find no such requirement. Click here and read for yourself. Maybe I missed it. In addition, it has been asserted again and again that naturalized citizens have to say the Pledge of Allegiance at their citizenship ceremony. On the contrary, they swear an oath to uphold and defend the US Constitution, and to disavow loyalty to any other sovereign. Read for yourself here. That is not the pledge of allegiance!)

Sponsored by Ryan Plumbing and Heating Of Saint Paul

Suburban-Pledge-Fight-Goes-Viral-Bob Davis Podcast 846

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Farewell Boy Scouts America-Podcast 724

Farewell Boy Scouts America-Podcast 724

The Boy Scouts of America recently changed its name. The reason? Scouts USA will admit girls. These days a decision like that can kick off a firestorm of criticism. There’s even a new Christian alternative to the Boy Scouts. For my best friends and I, BSA was all about camping. We’ll talk about it in Farewell Boy Scouts America-Podcast 724.

Best Friends Like None Other

I had two best friends growing up. Both of them invited me into the Boy Scouts. The other day one of them texted me, concerned that the Boy Scouts would not admit girls. “Are you gonna do a podcast about that?”, he wondered. I said I didn’t think so. The idea of a podcast about changes in our social institutions though, stuck with me.

Summer Memories

Especially relevant is how summer brings back memories. It’s warm already in Minnesota and that makes me think about my best friends, camp outs, summer camp and fun. For us, that’s what the Boy Scouts were. So I’ll share some stories about our campouts in Farewell Boy Scouts America-Podcast 724.

Nonconformist Scoutmaster

What’s more, as I researched and thought about this podcast I realized how important our scoutmaster was to all of us. It’s not what you’d expect. Our scoutmaster and the men who watched over us were anything but conformists.

No Patience For Rules and Regulations in 1970’s America

As world war two vets, our scoutmasters weren’t about to take crap from anyone. Moreover, they didn’t have much patience for bureaucracy, rules and regulations. What they did was make sure we were safe, had a good time, and took care of each other. They also stood up for us, celebrated us and had our back. In Farewell Boy Scouts America-Podcast 724.

Changing Institutions

Most noteworthy to this podcast is the idea that institutions like the Boy Scouts are changing. Crumbling even. There’s no shortage of criticism for ‘Scouts USA’ from commentators who make sure to tell the reader they were Eagle Scouts and went on to Explorers. We didn’t. In fact we thought ‘Super Scouts’ were kind of weird.

Friends For Life

For us it was all about camping and the kind of friendship none of us will have again. I think it was that way with our scoutmasters and the fathers of the kids who came to the campouts too. For me, I don’t mind leaving it all behind and keeping those times as memories. As Stephen King once wrote, “I never had friends later on like the ones I had when I was 12. Jesus. Does anyone?”

My sentiments exactly.

Was it the Boy Scouts? Or was it us?

Sponsored by Ryan Plumbing and Heating Of Saint Paul

Farewell Boy Scouts America-Podcast 724

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Podcast 400

Scoutmaster Tribute. Live from North Central Wisconsin, best friends who grew up together pay tribute to a father to one, and a scoutmaster to the other. Both friends are eccentric enough, as was the father and scoutmaster. Their conversation takes place at a rural hideaway built with anything that could be scrounged, or used. The setting sparks a conversation about what they learned in scouts. In ‘Stand By Me’ Stephen King’s narrator says that the friendship’s he forged around twelve or thirteen were the strongest of his life, that he never had friends like that again, and wondered if anybody does. Through thick and thin, on and off through the years two friendships have been the most important to me, largely because of our experiences camping with the Boy Scouts, and for me, especially because of our scoutmaster, who also happened to be my best friend’s dad. Sure he was eccentric, but he taught us all so many great lessons. Later he built a complex of crazy quilt cabins — where this podcast was recorded — which are packed with every kind of thing you can imagine, from every kind of era, and who knows where he got most of them. He never said no to anyone who offered something they didn’t want anymore — and most of that stuff is up in Wisconsin. Given the current situation, all commentary on politics these days sounds like an echo chamber. It’s nice to sit outside on a classic hot summer day in the middle of nowhere in North Central Wisconsin, and talk about things that are, or were real. Friendships that last a lifetime, friends who are as much family as they are friends, experiences we’ll never forget, and people we met over the years who were real characters. After all, aren’t friendship and family the most important things anyway. Sponsored by X Government Cars. 

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