Health & Fitness
A View From the Deck: An Oath to Uphold
In this installment of 'A View From the Deck', local author J. Wiley Dumas suggests that We, the People, take a more active role in defending the Constitution of the United States
NOTE: The following is OPINION. As such, it is the author's Point of View and his alone.
"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of __________of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."
Take a look at those words and consider for a brief moment their meaning.
Done? Good. Now consider this:
Early this morning, our state’s lawmakers passed a law that will allow illegal immigrants to obtain driver’s licenses.
“This bill is first and foremost about public safety,” said Gov. Dannel P. Malloy. “It’s about knowing who is driving on our roads, and doing everything we can to make sure those drivers are safe and that they’re operating registered, insured vehicles. “
Uh huh.
Maybe you should go back and read the first paragraph one more time, and then re-read Gov. Malloy’s explanation.
It’s becoming blatantly obvious of late that many of our elected ‘representatives’ have forgotten the various Oaths of Office that they took when first taking Office. Gov. Mallory has previously chosen to ignore the Constitution of the State of Connecticut by passing his highly-ambiguous, hard-to-figure-out-what-it-means ‘Gun Safety Bill’ which is in direct contrast to Article 1, Section 15 of our State Constitution, which states: Every citizen has a right to bear arms in defense of himself and the state.
Now our esteemed governor has signed into law an action that is in direct conflict to Federal Immigration Law, by allowing persons here in our country illegally to have a valid form of picture identification.
These are people that are being rewarded for being here in our state with no prior documentation, and are receiving benefits that are reserved for legal residents.
But Connecticut is not the only place where ‘Monkey Business’ is the status quo. Our entire nation is feeling the effects of a disturbing lack of Ethics on the part of several key players in the current administration.
There are still plenty of unanswered questions regarding the September 11, 2012 attack on the American diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, that resulted in the death of Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans. You remember that one, right? You know, the one that Ambassador Susan Rice claimed was the result of an ‘Anti-Islamic Video?’
Uh huh.
“preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."
Ambassador Stevens took a similar Oath of Office and was just doing his job before the Consulate was attacked.
Ambassador Rice took the same Oath as Ambassador Stevens before she went out on the Sunday Morning Talk show circuit and lied.
Which one upheld their Oath?
Then there’s everyone’s favorite Untied States Attorney General Eric Holder, who is coming under fire for his part in the seizure of journalists’ phone records, and charging several members of the Fourth Estate under the Espionage Act of 1917. AG Holder still denies any culpability whatsoever, just as he did regarding the 2009-2011 ‘Fast and Furious’ ‘gunwalking’ program conducted by the ATF which resulted in Holder being found in Contempt of Congress, and the death of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry.
“preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."
Again, both AG Holder and Agent Terry took an Oath of Office. Which one upheld that Oath?
It’s sad that our leaders have sacrificed Ethics for Influence. They have forgotten the Oaths they swore when taking office.
Years ago, not long after my seventeenth birthday, I stood before our nation’s flag and took an Oath:
“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; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God.”
To me, that Oath is still as important today as it was then, and I still believe it carries weight. Nobody ever told me otherwise.
In light of all that is going on in not only our State, but our Nation as well, perhaps it’s time for We, the People, to swear an Oath. An Oath of upholding Justice. An Oath that Preserves and Defends the Rights of every Citizen. An Oath of carrying out our duties as Citizens of our Country. An Oath that Upholds and Defends the Constitution of our great Nation:
I, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all detractors and enemies, foreign, domestic, elected, and appointed; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will conduct myself in an Ethical and Responsible manner, keeping the Rights of my Fellow Citizens in mind at all times. So help me God.
Hey, it’s a First Draft. I’ll work on it.
Before I allow you to get back to your coffee, let me leave you with this quote:
“The time is now near at hand which must probably determine, whether Americans are to be, Freemen, or Slaves; whether they are to have any property they can call their own; whether their Houses, and Farms, are to be pillaged and destroyed, and they consigned to a State of Wretchedness from which no human efforts will probably deliver them. The fate of unborn Millions will now depend, under God, on the Courage and Conduct of this army”
– Gen. George Washington, to his troops before the battle of Long Island.
Si vis Pacem, Para Bellum