I Took An Oath!

[Manan]

As I read the news about the way congress and the President flagrantly ignore the Constitution of the United Sates I wonder.... Who enforces the Oath?

I have served in the Army and the Air National Guard, been a Deputy Sheriff and a State Trooper. In everyone of my positions I raised my right hand and swore an Oath. I swore....

To support and defend The Constitution of the United States of America against ALL enemies, foreign and domestic, so help me God.

I always replied that I would. Every congressman, senator, president and supreme court justice has taken that same oath. How is it they get away with not following the constitution?

I never swore to protect the government. I never swore to protect the democratic or republican party. I never swore to protect the president or even the supreme court.

Who would bring a charge against a public official who willfully violates his oath of office?

It's sad. It makes them ALL liars.

 

[serpicostraight]

As I read the news about the way congress and the President flagrantly ignore the Constitution of the United Sates I wonder.... Who enforces the Oath?

I have served in the Army and the Air National Guard, been a Deputy Sheriff and a State Trooper. In everyone of my positions I raised my right hand and swore an Oath. I swore....

To support and defend The Constitution of the United States of America against ALL enemies, foreign and domestic, so help me God.

I always replied that I would. Every congressman, senator, president and supreme court justice has taken that same oath. How is it they get away with not following the constitution?

I never swore to protect the government. I never swore to protect the democratic or republican party. I never swore to protect the president or even the supreme court.

Who would bring a charge against a public official who willfully violates his oath of office?

It's sad. It makes them ALL liars.

no matter what they say or what law they pass who is it enforcing it? its not obama or pelosi or any of the rest knocking at your door or kicking it in. and that excuse of "i was just doing my job" or i was "just following orders" is nothing but an excuse for weak minded people to do what they know is wrong.

 

[RockofStrength]

As I read the news about the way congress and the President flagrantly ignore the Constitution of the United Sates I wonder.... Who enforces the Oath?

I have served in the Army and the Air National Guard, been a Deputy Sheriff and a State Trooper. In everyone of my positions I raised my right hand and swore an Oath. I swore....

To support and defend The Constitution of the United States of America against ALL enemies, foreign and domestic, so help me God.

I always replied that I would. Every congressman, senator, president and supreme court justice has taken that same oath. How is it they get away with not following the constitution?

I never swore to protect the government. I never swore to protect the democratic or republican party. I never swore to protect the president or even the supreme court.

Who would bring a charge against a public official who willfully violates his oath of office?

It's sad. It makes them ALL liars.

The government we have is indicative of the people who live under its rule. And I'm not talking about just the welfare folks or the corporate cronies: Joe Blow Sixpack aint doing much for this nation either.

 

[3gunshooter]

I to have taken the Oath and wanted to enforce it. But I am not sure if I could use it as a defense in court.

 

[mike8170]

It confuses the h**l out of me.

 

[dross]

As I read the news about the way congress and the President flagrantly ignore the Constitution of the United Sates I wonder.... Who enforces the Oath?

I have served in the Army and the Air National Guard, been a Deputy Sheriff and a State Trooper. In everyone of my positions I raised my right hand and swore an Oath. I swore....

To support and defend The Constitution of the United States of America against ALL enemies, foreign and domestic, so help me God.

I always replied that I would. Every congressman, senator, president and supreme court justice has taken that same oath. How is it they get away with not following the constitution?

I never swore to protect the government. I never swore to protect the democratic or republican party. I never swore to protect the president or even the supreme court.

Who would bring a charge against a public official who willfully violates his oath of office?

It's sad. It makes them ALL liars.

Who would decide that the oath was violated?

 

[mike8170]

Who would decide that the oath was violated?

My first thought is violations of the Bill of Rights. That is what they are in there for. In fact, I just finished a paper on Alexander Hamilton and Robert Yates, and their arguments on this very subjuect.

 

[dross]

My first thought is violations of the Bill of Rights. That is what they are in there for. In fact, I just finished a paper on Alexander Hamilton and Robert Yates, and their arguments on this very subjuect.

Who would decide when someone violated the Bill of Rights?

 

[RockofStrength]

Who would decide that the oath was violated?

Well see Congress is supposed to balance the President and the courts, the President balances Congress and the courts, and the courts are supposed to balance Congress and the President.

Except that the large majority in each branch fail at the same time . I suppose this is what happens when we turn what should be a service (Congressman, Executive, or Judge) into a career with all the power plays and under-the-table dealings that naturally spring up from that competitiveness.

 

[dross]

Well see Congress is supposed to balance the President and the courts, the President balances Congress and the courts, and the courts are supposed to balance Congress and the President.

Except that the large majority in each branch fail at the same time . I suppose this is what happens when we turn what should be a service (Congressman, Executive, or Judge) into a career with all the power plays and under-the-table dealings that naturally spring up from that competitiveness.

What's your alternate system? Who would decide when the Constitution has been violated?

 

[Pocketman]

Who would decide when someone violated the Bill of Rights?

I ask the same question?

 

[RockofStrength]

What's your alternate system? Who would decide when the Constitution has been violated?

I think our present system (Congress against Executive and Judicial branch etc) can work, but it requires a people who have a greater will and a greater desire for freedom and responsibility than we have now. The system was designed to have the people as the master, setting the government on any foreign agent that would destroy their freedoms like one would a rabid dog. Without that intelligent, applied pressure from the general citizenry the offices intended to safeguard their freedoms were permitted to expand and expand their influence (and form connections between them that destroyed the balance previously made) until the dog was walking the master around on his own chain. The failing is not in the system, but in the ones who were supposed to maintain it.

 

[U.S. Patriot]

I swore the same oath, but will not follow unlawful orders, civilian or otherwise.

 

[dross]

I think our present system (Congress against Executive and Judicial branch etc) can work, but it requires a people who have a greater will and a greater desire for freedom and responsibility than we have now. The system was designed to have the people as the master, setting the government on any foreign agent that would destroy their freedoms like one would a rabid dog. Without that intelligent, applied pressure from the general citizenry the offices intended to safeguard their freedoms were permitted to expand and expand their influence (and form connections between them that destroyed the balance previously made) until the dog was walking the master around on his own chain. The failing is not in the system, but in the ones who were supposed to maintain it.

I've never had much faith in any system that starts with:

First, let's get better people.

Only two ways that ends up: Failure, and people lined up against the wall with blindfolds on.

You can't make a system that completely eliminates bad human behavior. That means that every system, no matter how well designed, will operate at some level of corruption.

One of the most important questions you can ask when evaluating anything, is: Compared to what?

If you think something is completely f'd up, but you can't find something that works better, you need to take a hard look at your standards. If you look at your standards and there are unicorns dancing around in them, it's the standards that are unrealistic.

Our system began to be corrupted and the Constitution violated by the very men who signed it. As soon as they began running a country instead of just designing one, they began to make compromises.

I'm sorry the World is the way it is, I really truly am.

 

[jamstutz]

Those of us who took this oath swore, "so help me God."

Ultimately, He will deal with the liars.

 

[Manan]

In our government, nobody even calls anybody on it. And when they "sort of" do, usually it is just posturing for a later compromise.

The Constitution is a fairly simple document or contract between a people (us) and an elected governing body. There are so many ways built into the constitution to hold individual representatives accountable, with the checks and balances on the three legs of our federal government.

Ultimately we the people must take our government back.

Which is what the founders intended. They counted on us to not allow the government to take advantage and get out of control. We have let them pass laws that violate the constitution (violate the contract) and we just vote them back in.

I'm sick of it.

 

[cbseniour]

As I read the news about the way congress and the President flagrantly ignore the Constitution of the United Sates I wonder.... Who enforces the Oath?

I have served in the Army and the Air National Guard, been a Deputy Sheriff and a State Trooper. In everyone of my positions I raised my right hand and swore an Oath. I swore....

To support and defend The Constitution of the United States of America against ALL enemies, foreign and domestic, so help me God.

I always replied that I would. Every congressman, senator, president and supreme court justice has taken that same oath. How is it they get away with not following the constitution?

I never swore to protect the government. I never swore to protect the democratic or republican party. I never swore to protect the president or even the supreme court.

Who would bring a charge against a public official who willfully violates his oath of office?

It's sad. It makes them ALL liars.

I'd love to be there with you when you arrest the first one.

 

[RockofStrength]

I've never had much faith in any system that starts with:

First, let's get better people.

Only two ways that ends up: Failure, and people lined up against the wall with blindfolds on.

You can't make a system that completely eliminates bad human behavior. That means that every system, no matter how well designed, will operate at some level of corruption.

One of the most important questions you can ask when evaluating anything, is: Compared to what?

If you think something is completely f'd up, but you can't find something that works better, you need to take a hard look at your standards. If you look at your standards and there are unicorns dancing around in them, it's the standards that are unrealistic.

Our system began to be corrupted and the Constitution violated by the very men who signed it. As soon as they began running a country instead of just designing one, they began to make compromises.

I'm sorry the World is the way it is, I really truly am.

The issue is that ideally we want a system that can contain humans (who as you noted corrupted even our well designed system within one same generation) on a lengthy basis so as to make a stable society. I cannot think of one that could be designed that can handle humans and their generally destructive ways for an extended period, and am willing instead to use ones that, like our own Constitution, survive for a time and then must be replaced like the brake pads on my car.

The Constitution is the best design I have read of that isn't dependent on a theocracy or some other system whereby only people who will follow one belief system are permitted to be full citizens. It took greed into account and tried to use the greed of several offices and branches working against each other to gain power, thereby creating reasonable levels of stability. Unfortunately even with that awareness it was designed for the people of the day in which it was created, and our people are no longer of that caliber for whatever reason.

Unfortunately I can't design a better system which still has humans running the show because the ones running the country will inevitably take advantage over the people they rule over without some higher authority that is incorrigible ruling over them. Humans are incapable of providing freedom, peace, security etc on anything resembling a lengthy time scale and even the short term is fraught with all manner of inconsistencies and problems. That's why I try to maintain the one we have as long as possible: the odds of making one better than ours is very low.

 

[Kedric]

Right there with ya, Manan.

Took the same oath, feel the same disgust.

Fortunately people are starting to wake up a bit I think. Hope so, because things need to change drastically, and soon.

 

[dross]

In our government, nobody even calls anybody on it. And when they "sort of" do, usually it is just posturing for a later compromise.

The Constitution is a fairly simple document or contract between a people (us) and an elected governing body. There are so many ways built into the constitution to hold individual representatives accountable, with the checks and balances on the three legs of our federal government.

Ultimately we the people must take our government back.

Which is what the founders intended. They counted on us to not allow the government to take advantage and get out of control. We have let them pass laws that violate the constitution (violate the contract) and we just vote them back in.

I'm sick of it.

Yep. They started walking on the Constitution during the Adams and then the Jefferson Presidencies, and they've been at it ever since. Too bad nobody arrested Adams and Jefferson back in the day. That would have learned 'em.

I can understand the desire to want a different world. Ours is so messy.