He didn't.
As a cherubic boy scout recited the pledge, Tom Rawles sat grumpily looking away. The boy had a sad look on his face as he looked to the far right of the dais.
Interestingly, all the other Councilmembers made personal statements disagreeing with Rawles' sit-in, calling it disrespectful, counter-productive, misguided, and worse. Scott Somers got rather verklempt discussing his military experience and love of the flag. Rex Griswold actually suggested Rawles choose a hunger strike instead (zing!).
Rawles said nothing. What was there to say?
UPDATE (8:10 p.m.): AzCentral hs a story on Rawles vs. the Flag
I am genuinely disturbed by the actions of Councilman Rawles and the City turning a blind eye to him using a council meeting as a springboard for his own personal agenda. What he does as a private citizen is just that .. Private. But when he takes his place as a councilman in that chair as a represenative of a body of people, drawing a salary, clearly voted into his place to serve the people. He is NO LONGER Just a private citizen. He has an obligation his district - that meeting is NOT a place for his protest. He is looking for noteriety and to see just how far he can push the envelope. Well the city is looking solely on his right to NOT say the pledge and not at his abusing his position with his personal view of the war. He doesnt have the right to sit on that stand and use the city's televised time, be paid for being a thorn in the side of his fellow councilmen and waste the citys time with his personal agenda. None of which has ANYTHING to do with the bettering of the City of Mesa. Granted this is only my personal opinion on the issue but he has offended many and more should be offended at his abuse of city priviliges to display his dislike of the President of the United States actions. The city council meeting is not the time or the place. Shame on you Mr. Rawles.
Reply to this
I live in Northwest Arkansas. I read an article off the AP news wire yesterday morning with regards to Councilman Tom Rawles. As a rule, I seldom ever respond to these type of articles simply because I don’t feel that I’m going to make much of an impact one way or another with a person who is so full of pride that they could care less about who they have offended.
I made an exception in this case to send a personal (non hostile) e-mail letter to Councilman Rawels asking him to reconsider his actions and perhaps, as a good will gesture, offer a public apology.
I also wrote to the Mayor, Vice Mayor, and the other Councilmen a letter containing a copy of my letter to Mr. Rawels. I did this because I wanted all involved to know that this type of behavior in an open meeting has far reaching effects. It has to be disheartening for those U.S. servicemen and women throughout the world who may have also read the article.
I revealed in my letter that I too protested in a way that has haunted me off and on since the day I did it. That happened 37 years ago. No doubt some of you will be eaten a bit by curiosity concerning what I had done. Mr. Rawels is the first person that I have ever shared that incident with. Nobody in my family ever learned of it. Here is an excerpt of my letter to Mr. Rawles:
“I maybe wrong, but I don't think that the attention that you received would have sparked near the controversy had you just stood respectfully during the Pledge of Allegiance. I think you could have done that without uttering a word, but you are the architect of your own decisions, much as I was when I disgraced myself, the high school student body, my brothers serving in Viet Nam, my mother and father, and of course, my country.
Yes, I must admit that what I did was extreme in comparison to your protest. Please don't let the point of my letter escape you. You may be right about your feelings concerning our involvement in Iraq, but you still have the opportunity to show your community and the rest of the country that you are man enough to apologize for your behavior. You will reap not only forgiveness (although you probably don't think you need it), but you will gain the respect that is worth having”.
I doubt seriously that I will get a response from Mr. Rawles. I did receive a kind response from Councilman Rex Griswold. Whether or not I get a response from Mr. Rawles or not doesn’t really matter. I only hope and pray that he can find it in his heart to do the right thing and apologize. My concern is that he may find that suggestion beneath his dignity and pride, but I will hold out in hope.
God Bless the good people of Mesa!
Dean Connell
P.S. My twin brother and I were born on a military base in Chandler Arizona. Long, long time ago.
Reply to this
Here's the content of my letter to Councilman Rawles:
Dear Councilman Rawles:
You, Sir, are an embarrassment to yourself, your family, your church, the City of Mesa, the State of Arizona, and the United States of America.
You should resign your position immediately and walk out in shame.
To not pledge your allegiance to the Flag is to not support everything that
the Flag stands for, past, present, and future. The list is far too long,
but includes our fine young men and women who serve in the Armed Forces and who follow in the footsteps of the several generations of fine Americans who have served and sacrificed for our freedoms under the American Flag. It
includes Lori Piestewa, Pat Tillman, and so many other Arizonans whose names are not so well known.
Your crap is a slap in the face of each and every other person who stood
with respect for and to pledge allegiance to the Flag, both in that meeting room and world-wide.
Come to think of it, your very freedom to express yourself in this obtuse
manner is allowed you only because of the very freedoms guaranteed by all
that the Flag represents.
To express yourself in this manner amounts to sympathy with an enemy which wishes to destroy you, your family, and mine at home and anywhere in the world.
Terrorism can be confronted anywhere in the world. Personally, I'm much
more comfortable dealing with its leaders in a foreign country than in the streets of America, where it will be soon enough with our open borders.
I did not agree with the Viet Nam war for more reasons than you can imagine,
but I voluntarily enlisted in 1965 for what became the worst three years of
that war. I served proudly when it was a far more unpopular war than this.
Never did my loyalty and allegance waver as I stepped up to wear the United States Army uniform and defend my wonderful country so morons like you can be free to express yourself.
I have just about had it with the likes of you. Obviously, you are a
Liberal. You and your kind should gain some insight as to what and why we are doing what we are.
You are probably one of those who likes to say that there were no WMD's. If my guess is right, then I wish for you to consider who Chemical Ali was. He was called that because he gassed many thousands of Kurds. That is WMD's.
We also found more than 500 various weapons with traces of mustard gas,
radiation, and other mass-destruction chemistry.
I could write the book on the reasons that we are doing exactly the right
thing, however unpopular at the information provided to the masses by the Liberal media.
You are entitled to your opinion but, in any event, you are using your job
as a Councilman to make a personal political statement. This is simply
wrong and not acceptable.
Please do the right thing and resign immediately.
Shame on you!!!!
Dennis Smith
Mesa, Arizona
Sergeant
United States Army 1965-1968
Reply to this