I've taken the oath.
Chances are, many people you know have taken the oath.
All members of the Senate have taken the oath just as all Representatives have taken the oath.
Everyone in the Executive Branch, including the President and Vice President, have taken the oath.
The oath is a loyalty oath. It is the only oath citizens of the US are required to take. Ever.
It is not based on religion, though faith is certainly behind it. There is faith that those taking the oath will live up to the words they solemnly utter. And, there is faith that the taking of the oath will spark a continuing acknowledgment and fulfillment of duty based on the fact that words matter.
The oath is a sworn statement that lays out your duties for the future. Within that oath, the duties are clear, and do not have a "sell by" date. Sadly, the behaviour of many in government indicates they are selling right left and center even as they utter those words of duty.
Members of the government, and citizens, have taken this loyalty oath for literally hundreds of years.
The President has taken this loyalty oath, as has the Vice President.
It has no expiry date, and should never be treated as 'yesterday's obligation' or 'yesterday's behavioural imperative. It lasts so long as the person is working for the government, err, working for the People who ARE the government. In the best of all possible worlds, the oath applies to all persons, working in, for, or who are citizens. In the reality of citizenship, once taken, it ought never expire.
While the duties imposed can be complex, the oath itself is simple.
The 'money quote' is 'to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States of America from all enemies, foreign and domestic..." There is no mention of political party. There is no duty to a person. There is no duty to an office. There is no duty to a coalition. There is no pledge to a symbol, such as the flag. There is no duty to self. There is no duty except to the Constitution of the United States of America.
The Constitution is above loyalty to person or party. The oath to the Constitution is not an oath to protect a symbol. We don't swear loyalty, nor do we exercise fealty to a symbol. We swear to preserve, protect and defend the living Constitution of the United States of America, for the Constitution is the heart of America. The Constitution is as close as we Americans get to Holy Writ. It, and it alone, is the foundation of the supreme law of the land.
The Bill of Rights, despite having been rescinded for all practical purposes due to signing statements, Executive Orders and legislation that has trampled on the very fabric of and lifeblood of the nation, remains on the books.
And all that signed that legislation, that entered those orders, that have submitted resolutions that have done the trampling, took that oath to protect the Constitution. Apparently, they "cannot recall" their oath, at least if behaviour is the measurement of memory. They've scuppered their duties, ignored their obligations, and done everything they can to rip the Constitution to shreds, but there you have it. All nicely done and legal because when "the government does it, then it is not illegal", and if it were, we won't let you even see the evidence. Ever. Thank you Richard Nixon.
When the FISA Revision Act that finally destroyed the Fourth Amendment was voted on, all those voting had pledged NOT to destroy the Fourth Amendment. Then they went ahead and did it anyway. There are so many examples, it would take a month just to compile the list.
Not one of those oath breakers and oath makers will step up and place the Constitution above their immediate personal goals of higher office, retention of office or the "appearance of being tough on terror". Power first, fulfillment of duty under the oath they took, second. Party before the People.
The people, governed by that Constitution, do not agree. The People are angry that the Constitution we cherish is more suited to lining Tweetie's cage. It is now just a piece of paper. Among those angry people are former members of the armed services, former postal workers, former government workers. Oath breakers all, believe it or not at your peril, citizens who realized long ago that the Constitution is there to protect and preserve their rights against monarchical behavior, are simply fed up.
Speaker Pelosi needs a new table. Candidates for President need a new platform. The Executive needs to loose the monarchical toys it has acquired in these past six plus years. The Congress needs to recognize that they can chew gum and walk at the same time. Impeachment is in the Constitution SIX TIMES for a reason, and not to soak up printers ink. It is there to correct and bring us away from any one branch assuming monarchical power.
When did America decide that we could go anywhere in the world, arrest a person deemed to be an 'enemy', and hold that person for the rest of their natural life? when did America become the ruler of the world? When did we become an empire? When, in law enacted by Congress, was the President given authority to declare Martial Law on his own terms, based upon not one legislatively defined circumstance, so as to override all of the Constitution I took an oath to uphold?
Answer: Never.
So, why Speaker Pelosi do you put the Constitution last and your power first? Or the power of your party? And then cave on warrantless searches? And then fail to overturn the Executive Orders giving this President power to rule dictatorially?
Why?
Did your oath to the Constitution expire because this is coming up on an election year?
And candidates for President, why have you ignored the power grab in this Administration? Is it that you want all those shiny new powers? If you don't intend to fix this mess we are in right now, and I mean NOW, please withdraw your candidacy. I'll not be voting for any of you.
Those freshmen Representatives and Senators that caved on the "No Checks--No Balances" FISA Revision, repeal the Fourth Amendment" Act of 2007, please don't run for office as an incumbent. We didn't send you to Washington to ignore the Constitution or to fail to protect our rights. We don't want you representing us because you have shown you cannot represent us and protect our Constitution. That makes you either ineffective or craven. Pick your poison.
Well, truth to tell, I don't want anyone to have them. What I fear is any person, President or ordinary citizen, having the kind of power over me that currently is vested in the President. And it is time to change.
If, after impeachment proceedings are instituted and the Administration says, "We were wrong, we see the light, we breached the boundaries established in the Constitution", then impeachment can come off the table.
Until then, note this. I have and will continue to fulfill my oath which I took seriously and which has never, to my knowledge expired. Please, members of Congress, fulfill your oath. And do it soon, before there is no Constitution to protect any longer.
Sure the terrorists are out to get us. Not one of them made any in government shred the Constitution though. That is a self-inflicted wound that must be healed. The healing requires that those who have taken their oath, realize the importance of those words.
Preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.
If you ask me, yesterday would not be too soon.
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