Yesterday, on Father’s day 2011, NBC utilized their impeccable taste and creative skills to put together what they perceived as an electrifying, patriotic opening for the United States Open Golf Championship.

The opening featured a reading of the Pledge of Allegiance by a group of children in a classroom.

That would have been enough to stir the patriotic soul of even the most callous observer, right?

Wrong!

It stirred up Americans’ sense of Patriotism, alright. The idiots at NBC edited out the phrase UNDER GOD!

This is what viewers of the golf tournament heard:

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, with liberty and justice for all.

And once was not enough for NBC. They did it twice!

The kids actually recited the pledge two times.  NBC edited the second version to not only leave out UNDER GOD, but ONE NATION, as well.

To say that Americans got stirred up is probably an understatement. Immediately, viewers took to Twitter and internet comment boards, calling NBC “scumbugs” and pledging to boycott the network.

Of course, once they realized that the overwhelming majority of America’s did not appreciate their selective editing,  NBC tried to feebly apologize.

From washingtonpost.com:

NBC apologized for cutting the words “under God” from the Pledge of Allegiance in its leadup to coverage to the U.S. Open at Congressional Country Club.

The move quickly drew criticism Dan Hicks said, during the broadcast of Open action:

We began our coverage of this final round just about three hours ago and when we did it was our intent to begin the coverage of this U.S. Open Championship with a feature that captured the patriotism of our national championship being held in our nation’s capital for the third time. Regrettably, a portion of the Pledge of Allegiance that was in that feature was edited out. It was not done to upset anyone and we’d like to apologize to those of you who were offended by it.

Once is an accident.  Twice is deliberate.

So,  how did the phrase UNDER GOD come to be in the Pledge of Allegiance?

According to associatedcontent.com:

In 1953, Representative Louis Rabaut, a Democrat from Michigan, introduced the first bill in the U.S. Congress that would officially add “under God” to the Pledge. Rabaut’s effort was not immediately successful. It was, however, passed by Congress the following year, 1954. The Presbyterian Reverend George M. Docherty, who counted then-President Eisenhower among his congregation, was seen as influential in pushing the change.

In 1954, there were actually two bills introduced into Congress seeking to modify the Pledge of Allegiance by adding “under God.” The Senate passed one such bill. Congressman Rabaut, however, blocked efforts to pass that bill in the Congress, insisting that his bill be passed instead. On June 7, 1954, Congress did pass the Rabaut version, and the Senate passed the same bill on June 8, 1954.

The decision of Congress to add “under God” to the Pledge was, at least in part, a reaction to the Cold War with Soviet Russia. One of the differentiating factors between Soviet Communism and American

Democracy was that the Soviets officially advocated atheism. The phrase “under God” was seen, therefore, to reaffirm an important distinction between the two competing worldviews.

On June 14, 1954, President Eisenhower signed the bill officially adding “under God” to the Pledge of Allegiance. The President remarked that, “millions of our schoolchildren will daily proclaim in every city and town … the dedication of our nation and our people to the Almighty.”

NBC isn’t alone in the zeal to remove God from the Pledge of Allegiance.  Harry Reid did it on April 12th, 2011, while citing the Pledge on the floor of the Senate:

Liberals have been pursuing their quest for years. In 2002, Minnesota Congresswoman Betty McCollum left the phrase UNDER GOD out of the Pledge, while leading it on the House Floor:

What is it about the phrase UNDER GOD, being in the Pledge of Allegiance, that causes Liberals to react like vampires in the shadow of the Cross?

On December 1st, 2008, in an article titled “It’s Time to Update the Pledge”, posted on newsweek.washingtonpost.com, Sally Quinn wrote:

Today, pluralistic America is engaged in mortal combat against anti-modern, fundamentalist, religionized humanity.

It isn’t our belief in God that makes us different. It’s our belief in the liberties (religious and other) enshrined in the Constitution. The American creed is faith in liberty for all, not the religion of most.

Evidently, Ms. Quinn, Rep. McCollum, Sen. Reid, and their fellow Liberals at NBC have failed to heed the words of United States President John Adams who penned:

Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.

Isn’t it funny how those who claim to be the most tolerant Americans, are actually the least tolerant of all?

NBC and their Liberal brethren would be well-served to watch and learn from this explanation of our nation’s Pledge of Allegiance, given by America’s Clown Prince of Comedy, Mr. Richard “Red” Skelton, who, coincidentally, ended his long and storied career in network television with a half-hour series on NBC in 1971.

Ladies and Gentlemen, the incomparable Mr. Red Skelton: