I’ve been thinking a lot lately about vows.
I’ve been thinking about the oath of office renewed by President Bush even as his administration minions were undertaking the destruction of Consititutional principles:
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.
Yet, George Bush,Dick Cheney, and the likes of Alberto Gonzales and John Yoo, have completely subverted this-torturing the Constitution to protect Presidential privilege. They use its mangled remains to wage stateless war on the Muslim world, ignore inconvenient legislation, and cover up high crimes and misdeameanors, then finally insist that speaking with knowledge of their transgressions is itself a crime.
So does a Constitutional Republic mutate into an Imperium.
On this holiday mourning those who gave their lives in defense of this Republic and its citizens I’m also thinking of another oath-the one taken by our soldiers, sailors, and marines.
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.
This is what many chickenhawks are referring to when they say to lefties deploring the duplicitous war in Iraq "They chose to serve. They made a commitment." While that is true, it ignores an implicit vow made on our behalf.
In return for their vow, we vow that if we ask, as a veteran calling in to Laura Flanders Radio Nation put it, our soldiers to put skin in the game, it will be for a nation worthy of the sacrifice. The caller believed that we the people were derelict in that as regards to the Bush administration. To the extent that we are silent (and that includes every single media outlet, see Eric Boehlert’s Lapdogs for numerous examples.) we are complicit in every death-civilian or soldier-in Iraq.
This veteran saw his sacrifice, and that of his brothers and sisters in arms, as wasted. Who among us can really blame him?
I also watched Control Room recently (which you should rent if you have not seen it. The chills will run down your spine as you see the beginning of the long downward spiral the Bushistas set us on) and was struck by a comment from one of Al Jazeera’s reporters in it. During an off-air and fairly heated debate with his fellow correspondents about the invasion of Iraq, Hassan Ibrahim expressed great confidence in America and Americans despite his criticisms of them. When asked what would stop Bush, Ibrahim said (this might not be the exact quote as I’m going from memory) "The American people will stop it. I have great faith in the American Constitution. I have great faith in the American people."
I wonder if he still has that faith? In the face of Congressional corruption and media complicity, that prop up this warmongering regime, I suspect not.
While Congress has suddenly fallen in love with separation of powers post-William Jefferson, they’ve bent over backwards for so long that it is unclear they have the will or ability to reverse position.
The traditional media have been so infiltrated by corporatists protecting their own interests they have forgotten that the extraordinary protection the First Amendment affords them comes with a responsibility to act as an adversary to governmental corruption rather than a collaborator.
So, who is to defend this Constitution and its people?
That brings me to the third oath I’ve been thinking of lately. Most Americans are born to that privilege and think very seldom of the responsibilities it entails. But those of our fellow citizens who have been naturalizedafter studying the foundations of this nation have taken it.
I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state or sovereignty, of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen; that I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I will bear arms on behalf of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform noncombatant service in the armed forces of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform work of national importance under civilian direction when required by the law; and that I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; so help me God.
Emphasis added. But these are just words without any action to back them up. Just as the Constititution is just a decaying piece of paper where some quaint political notions were penned unless we, the people, enforce its protections with our strength of purpose and fairness.
As we enjoy the beginning of summer, most of us in greater peace and prosperity than probably 2/3s of the world enjoys, I’d like to urge to you to take a few moments out of the festivities to make a great vow.
Do so in honor of the founders of this nation, who against seemingly impossible odds and a hostile international environment constructed a system of remarkable flexibility on the fragile foundation of a piece of paper to which they signed their names on behalf of us, their posterity.
Promise in memory of the blood spilled and shed by the warriors sent out in our name-whether genuinely protecting humanity from the monsters within or in a more questionable purpose, they fulfilled their vow to us. Let us fulfill ours to them now.
Swear on behalf of the children you see around you-enjoying the parades and the barbecues or taking the pilgrimage with mom or dad to place a small flag or bouquet at a loved ones resting place. They don’t know what’s at stake, but we do.
This will be my vow this Memorial Day.
I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any American Emperor, corporate potentate, rogue state or false sovereignty, of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen. I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic. I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same. I will sadly bear arms on behalf of the United States if necessary to defend it. I will seek out opportunities for work of local and national importance in defense of freedom and justice, and finally, that I will remember always that one of the defenses of freedom is its exercise.
I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion. By everything I hold holy, I so swear.
Time to put some skin in the game.
Crossposted at Texas Kos and Before You Win.
