Oaths and the Constitution
In a column titled "The danger of a government with unlimited power", George Will wrote this past summer that Woodrow Wilson "was the first president critical of the nation's founding." Wilson, "avatar of progressivism," rejected the notion that the purpose of the federal government was limited to protecting "the exercise of natural rights that pre-exist government, rights that human reason can ascertain in unchanging principles of conduct and that are essential to the pursuit of happiness." Will wrote that "the name ‘progressivism' implies criticism of the Founding," meaning, quite literally, progressing away from the U.S. Constitution and the Declaration of Independence.
This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding.
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.
I pledge allegianceto the flagof the United States of Americaand to the Republicfor which it stands,one nation,under God,indivisible,with libertyand justice for all.
To me, the words of the oath and Pledge resonate like never before amid the progressives' relentless assault on our founding principles, our values, our beliefs, and our liberty. It is apparent that too many members of Congress simply utter these oaths aloud in rote fashion and give them short shrift -- or worse -- without any consequence.
We should expect and demand our elected representatives to uphold their solemn oaths. We should remind them of their sworn statements, their promises of loyalty, their pledge of fidelity to our founding doctrines and principles. Those who endeavor to dismantle or subvert our Constitution and undermine our liberty should be deemed what they are in the oaths: "enemies", be they "foreign or domestic."