Last night I attended “back to school night” at my daughter’s school. Overall, it was fun. I picked up a head of purple cabbage and some scallions grown in the school garden and met a few of her classmates’ parents. It was awkward when I managed to squeeze my bottom into a preschooler-sized chair and it felt even more awkward reciting the Pledge of Allegiance for the first time in years. My grownup brain had to shout down my kid brain, which was urging me to send a shout out to “Richard Stands.” (As in: “to the Republic for Richard Stands.”)

Here’s a riff on the Pledge of Allegiance by my colleague Karen Dolan. Her “GOP Pledge To America” is also on HuffingtonPost. If you haven’t already read Let’s Strengthen our Safety Net, her latest OtherWords op-ed, please do.

I Pledge Alliance to the Rich
And the United States of Wall Street
And to the Plutocracy for which it stands
One Nation, under Greed
Extremely Divisible
With Wealth Reserved for the Few