My son in 5th grade says the Pledge--complete with "under God"--in his California school. As far as I know, no one has made a fuss. In our middle school, the complete pledge is recited over the PA system every morning. As far as I know, no fuss. I don't know what they do in my daughter's high school, but it's probably the PA thing. I'll ask my kid.

I like the idea of my kids saying the Pledge. If someone tried to make it illegal to say the Pledge in our schools, I would be the first one at the Board meeting, growling like a pit bull.

However, a law making it mandatory at the state level makes my libertarian bones uncomfortable. Naturally, this goes right back to the erroneous concept and problems of state-run schools, but that's neither here nor there right now.

According to this columnist, 24 states now have mandatory Pledge laws, although their Constitutionality is in doubt (scroll down on the link to find article). My opinion is that this entire issue, like most issues, should be handled at the local level.

My view on flag-burning is similar. Free speech is free speech, which includes my right to express my own opinion of the speaker. So, anyone burning a flag in my eyeshot had better have his insurance paid up, but a Constitutional Amendment against it is a bad idea.