I remember the "sorry, eh?" episode too, Bee!

Americans are, in general and certainly in the gubmint, kinda nuts about their flag. I was speaking for myself and my family, Little Hawk; my dad, having been brought up Quaker, wouldn't let me pledge allegiance to the flag the 2 school years I was in the US system, so the fact that they wouldn't have let me say Under God didn't even come up. I have not gone so far as to forbid my kids from saying the pledge but they skip the Under God part.

One new thing about atheism seems to be that people are actually noticing the writers like Harris and Dawkins - if EJ Dionne is writing an *answer* to the atheists, then he's heard the question at least, and that is great news.