Los Gatos Weekly-Times

Editorials

It's the ideals, not the fabric

Anyone who had the idea that the election of Jan Hutchins to the Los Gatos Town Council would result in politics as usual now knows better. Hutchins hasn't even been sworn in yet, and already his name is a household word all over the Bay Area. He's been on the front page of daily newspapers, and his ideas have been fodder for talk shows.

Everyone, it seems, has an opinion about Hutchins' personal version of the Pledge of Allegiance.

"It's not an issue I would have chosen," Hutchins told the Los Gatos Weekly-Times. But in characteristic Hutchins fashion, he doesn't intend to run away from it.

Most politicians invited to a Rotary Club meeting for a candidates forum, as Hutchins was, would simply have placed hand over heart and mumbled the words that, for many people, have little meaning.

Hutchins didn't participate, he says, because he sees the songs, prayers, fines and the pledge that go on at service-club meetings as part of the club's rituals.

He didn't intend to make it a cause celebre, but when a Rotarian made an issue of it at the meeting, a reporter got wind of it. That resulted in a story that Hutchins planned not to salute the flag at council meetings.

Then Hutchins gave the matter some thought and came up with a few minor changes in the pledge that would allow him to say it with passion and conviction--emotions we suspect are lacking when many Americans recite the pledge.

"I thought about the disciplines that are required to be an American, things like the importance of respect for free speech, active citizenship, hard work, military service and following the rule of law," Hutchins says.

That led to the Hutchins' version of the pledge which does not salute the flag but the ideals of the country and the disciplines on which they stand.

The American flag is a symbol, admittedly one capable of evoking strong emotion. But a symbol is not the thing itself.

Critics argue that the pledge shouldn't be tampered with because of the many Americans who died for our flag.

It seems to us it trivializes the sacrifice of those who gave their lives to say they died for the flag. What they died for are the ideals of our country and the disciplines on which they stand.

Hutchins knows he's made enemies over the pledge flap, but he says he'd rather take the heat than ignore the issue.

Rather than condemning the new councilmember for stepping outside the prescribed boundaries, Los Gatans should rejoice that they've elected someone who's unwilling to take the path of least resistance.

Holiday Shopping

The holiday season is a special time in Los Gatos. A community tree-lighting, a children's parade of epic proportions, carriage rides and friendly merchants are part of the reason.

On a practical note, this is also a time for shopping. Those who live in this community because they love it's small-town feel should remember that keeping their dollars in Los Gatos is the best way to ensure that small merchants stay in business.

Without the locally owned shops that cater to individual tastes, Los Gatos might just as well be another boring mall.