For the second time in less than a week a congressional debate began with a request for the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance, and for the second time in a week the League of Woman’s Voters moderator said no, and for the second time in a week the audience got up and said it anyway. One would think that with all of the bad publicity after last week’s incident, the League would have “gotten it.” But Tuesday night the League of Woman Voters proved that they aren’t too “quick on the uptake.”
The Pennsylvania 18th Congressional district debate between Republican incumbent Tim Murphy and his Democratic party challenger Dan Connolly was about to begin when Murphy asked the moderator for the pledge. As the moderator Susan Reuther began to make excuses, the crowd stood up and took action on their own.
After the Pledge of Allegiance was recited, moderator Susan Reuther dealt with her obvious consternation over the spontaneous show of patriotism by scolding Candidate Murphy who
asked for the pledge.
“Next time if you have a request like that, we would appreciate it if you would give it to us when the rules are discussed,” she said.
“It didn’t need to be requested. I assumed you would do it,” Mr. Murphy replied.
Former Peters High School principal Tom Hajzus was sitting in the front row with a 22-yearold Marine veteran wounded by a bomb in Afghanistan.
“The insensitivity, to me, was inexcusable and outrageous,” said the registered Democrat and Murphy supporter. The crowd’s reaction “was an American moment, that’s what that was,” he said.
Once again the League of Woman’s Voters
blamed it on politics.