Oath of office. How presidents (and other elected officials) break their oaths, often with their first act of office, and never look back by James Goodfellow
(libertarian)
Thursday, October 30, 2008
I expect only one thing; the same thing I expect from every elected official: uphold your Oath of Office.
For the President, that oath reads: "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.". What does that mean?
"Faithfully execute the office ...". Gotta understand the office before you can faithfully execute it. Where is the official job description for the POTUS - maybe that'll clear things up? Why, in the Constitution of course, which is why elected officials are made to swear to "preserve, protect and defend" it. The founders knew the greatest threat to the document would come from within the government.
Pretty simple document really: the Constitution explains what government will do, and the Bill Of Rights what it will not. An understanding of the context of what the founders were trying to accomplish when they wrote and approved the Constitution is also necessary: the bloated bureaucracy we currently have was certainly not the intent - small and light is the general drift.
Is there a punishment outlined for breaking the oath? Not an explicit one - major oversight IMHO. A vigilant public should boot the bums out by not re-electing them, but fat-lot-o-good that does when the public is educated by curriculums controlled by the very government we would police. Also, there is an impeachment process, but it is not tied directly to breaking one's oath, as far as I can tell.
So, When the President commands the armed forces to forceable occupy a sovereign nation without an official declaration of war from Congress, he has lied.
When the President does not veto Congressional legislation that contradicts the Constitution, he has lied.
When the President signs an executive order that is at odds with congressional intent, he has lied.
And where are the consequences?
Every President swears this oath in accordance with the Constitution before entering office. To most, it is an empty promise, one they have no intention of fulfilling. Had they integrity, they would not begin their terms with a premeditated lie.
Had they audacity, they would declare themselves dictator, free to do as they please. Not an easy sell, and one surely to get them fired, and very likely to get them committed, or shot at.
Had they intelligence, they would propose a new set of rules, an alternate Constitution. This however, is not an easy thing to do, if contradictions and illogic are disqualified. The original document is very, very good.
So, lacking the smarts to formally redefine the position, or the courage to openly commandeer the whole country, or the self control to live within the existing limits, our Presidents lie. They begin their terms with a lie, and never look back - and that is unacceptable.
It begins and ends with the Oath of Office. If they can't get that right, the rest is simply a matter of time. So I expect them to uphold that oath; I don't think that is asking too much. The rest will take care of itself.
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"Is there a punishment outlined for breaking the oath? Not an explicit one - major oversight IMHO."
I have to agree with you on that. That's one area where the founders missed the boat. In my opinion it should have said " Violation of the oath of office is cause for immediate expulsion."
If there's no penalty for breaking one's oath of office, maybe we should amend the constitution to rectify this oversight in what I agree is otherwise a "very, very good" document. That may be a good one for our friends at www.grassfire.org. If enough of us make the pitch, maybe we can get some interest in holding our elected representatives to their word under a constitutional amendment. I don't think the death penalty by firing squad on the front lawn of the White House would be too severe, anyone wanna play 'shoot the crooked politician'?
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