The Pledge of Allegiance: Fifteen Seconds Too Much for City Hall

City That Launched George Washington's Career Excludes Pledge of Allegiance As 'Unnecessary Pageantry'

Winchester, Virginia excludes Pledge of Allegiance from meeting agendas, sparking local controversy.

The Pledge of Allegiance: Fifteen Seconds Too Much for City Hall

In Winchester, Virginia, the local Planning Commission has decided that the Pledge of Allegiance is a little too theatrical for its taste. Adding it to the meeting agenda was dismissed as unnecessary pageantry, as though fifteen seconds of standing for the country might somehow derail the urgent business of site plans and setbacks. But he concern, it seems, is optics. Allegiance looks performative. It should be noted that the Commission did not…