An ACLU-infused palate cleanser via Breitbart. As goofy as this sounds, the logic of the Miranda decision does lend itself to the schoolroom — sort of. The reason the Warren Court forced cops to tell suspects that they had a right not to talk is because, supposedly, the coercion inherent in being incommunicado in police custody is so overwhelming that most people simply wouldn’t have the stones to assert their rights if they weren’t reminded of them. Kids face a coercive environment too, albeit in different ways, but coercive enough to warrant a formal warning that they don’t have to say the pledge?

“The Pledge of Allegiance creates a constitutional problem. You have to tell students they can opt out,” the Rev. Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, told FOX News.

New Mexico dealt with this question last month when its education secretary upheld that students are permitted to opt out of the Pledge, but rejected an ACLU-backed amendment that would require schools to inform parents and students that they have the option.

In Florida, schools have tried to resolve uncertainty by announcing a new policy — students don’t have to participate, as long as they have a letter from Mom and Dad.

Talking to a cop might lead to lethal injection. Talking to the flag might lead to — what? Patriotism? Laryngitis? Exit question: Does a guy who runs a group devoted to separation of church and state really want to argue that coercion in public schoolrooms can be cured by a reading of one’s rights? I can think of something else students typically recite in the mornings which social cons would be only too happy to adapt that reasoning to.