In light of the madness that has occurred in the halls of power over the last several years—trillion dollar bailouts, nationalization of the auto and banking industries, a requirement that we buy health insurance whether we want it or not, etc.—I want to remind our officials of the solemn oaths they took upon taking their offices.
How many of our officials (on either side of the aisle) have actually worked to ‘support and defend’ the Constitution lately? You don’t support and defend something by shredding it, and the previous and current administrations seem to have had their Constitutional shredders working a lot of overtime.
The President of the United States, on taking office, promised this:
I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.
Members of the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives promised this:
I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.
Members of the federal judiciary, including Supreme Court justices, promised this:
I do solemnly swear (or affirm), that I will administer justice without respect to persons, and do equal right to the poor and to the rich, and that I will faithfully and impartially discharge and perform all the duties incumbent on me, according to the best of my abilities and understanding, agreeably to the Constitution, and laws of the United States. So help me God.
Hold your representatives accountable. Demand that they do what they swore to do. If they refuse, and many of them will, it is incumbent on you and me to vote them out of office as soon as they are up for reelection . . . before elections, too, become part of the Constitution that the government just ignores when it’s inconvenient.