Oaths of Office

The Preamble Of the Constitution of the United States

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, ensure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

https://constitution.congress.gov/constitution/

The Preamble of the Constitution of the State of Michigan

We, the people of the State of Michigan, grateful to Almighty God for the blessings of freedom, and earnestly desiring to secure these blessings undiminished to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this constitution.

https://legislature.mi.gov

Both have significant Articles and Amendments detailing the responsibilities and obligations of those who are elected to office as it pertains to orderly progress of government. What is the most significant in both documents is the beginning phrase, “We The People” who determine who governs us. We, the residents of any state and citizens of the United States, have the final say over who governs and how they govern, however; most of us do not bother to know what role we play in how government works, but we are quick to complain when elected officials don’t do what we want them to do. The remedy for this chaotic mess is really remarkably simple—know who it is we vote into office—know where they stand, what they believe what their values are and how those things align with what we believe and how all should be treated.

Now, how many of us actually get to know the candidates before we vote for them? How many of us vote for someone simply because we recognize their name? How many of us actually pay attention to what people do once they get in office? How many of us contact our elected officials and let them know what we think of their performance? We are paying them with tax dollars, so we have a right to know and demand they pay attention to us—their constituents. If they do not or will not, they should never be re-elected, no matter how much money they spend campaigning.

Okay, that is the first thing of note, about why people should keep their oath of office, they were not elected to represent themselves, but the people who elected them.

So, what does an “oath” really mean? According to Merriam-Webster, “a solemn usually formal calling upon God or a god to witness to the truth of what one says or to witness that one sincerely intends to do what one says.” It is a pledge or promise to do something.

An “oath of office” is therefore a pledge or promise to uphold the solemnity of the position and to do the best one can to fulfill the requirements of that office. This oath of office is different for the various “offices” one can hold.

The President of the United States takes an oath of office, all Senators and Representatives take an oath of office, all state and local elected officials, and appointed ones, take an oath of office, but how many really understand what it means, and will do what it is intended to do—abide by the pledges they take?

It is difficult, if not impossible to uphold a pledge or keep a promise if a person has no clue as to what they were saying or the ramifications of making that attestation when sworn into office. Considering the mess, we have in Washington with Senators and Representatives condoning seditious acts—we know they had no clue, and their constituents should hold them accountable and make sure they are never elected again. Unfortunately, most voters will not pay attention, or they will believe the lies they’re told and keep putting traitors into offices of trust—to the United States—not a person.

Promising or pledging to fulfill a performance “to the best of one’s ability,” should require a commitment to know what is expected and then do it. That means, a person should know about the position to which they were elected, know where and how to find information that needs discussion before they vote on it, and keep in mind, their vote should represent what is best for those who voted for them, not their own personal agenda.

Therein lies the real problem, gullible voters who put people into office who have no intention whatsoever of serving the needs of the people, but in serving their own—for their own glorification. The perfect examples are found looking at what elected Senators and Representatives are doing in Washington, who fooled the people (unless the people who voted for them are actually missing brain cells) who voted for them and now, by their actions, their votes and collective loyalty to a TwiceImpeached megalomaniac, they totally ignore the needs of the people to appease the megalomaniac. They are not upholding their oaths of office and unfortunately, most of their constituents appear not to care.

We see the same disregard to upholding oaths of office at state and local levels when people don’t know what they’re doing, and they’ve managed to gaslight constituents into believing they care or everyone else is against them (playing the victim or race card). We see people vote on issues that do nothing to protect or uplift the constituents, but do everything to keep people oppressed and now, in certain states, elected officials are actually voting to “suppress the vote of their electorate.” What are, “we the people” doing to allow such a thing to happen? Apparently, nothing, which is why those in office are doing what they do because they know, they can get away with it when their electorate is complacent and will not pay attention.

“We The People” (all the people) must do better. We must know and understand the oath elected officials take and hold their feet to the proverbial fire—challenging them every step of the way, when they choose to take a path that is not going to benefit the people more than it benefits them. It is time folks, for all those who are eligible to vote to vote and vote in every election, knowing who it is we are voting for and that they will uphold their oath of office for the people, and not themselves. It is in our hands and if we refuse to take control of the situation, whatever happens to this nation, our states, and local municipalities, is on us—not them. We have the power and it is time we exercised it, at every level of government.

We, The People, need to pledge our own oaths as the electorate.

“I pledge, as an eligible voter of my state and city, to exercise my right to vote in every election, for demonstrably qualified candidates who hold any office that impacts my life and living conditions. I also pledge to hold all elected officials accountable for what they do in office, whether I voted for them or not. I will not be silently complicit with any wrongdoing committed by any elected official and will therefore take every legal measure possible to ensure, that official, is never elected again.”

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The Courageous vs. The Cowardly

As much as many of us had hoped for an indictment of twiceimpeached, we didn’t see it happen because most of the Republican senators either had their balls in a vise or couldn’t find their spines. We knew that would happen. We’ve watched it for the last five years. Before I get too far gone into the cowardly acts, let’s focus on the those who rose to courageous status.

First of all, there were ten Republicans in the House who chose to impeach the person leaving the White House, who shall ever after be named (by me) twiceimpeached. They were the courageous in the House and they have also withstood the rancid behavior of those who disagreed with them, from within their party, the idiotic, upset over those who choose to operate with a sense of morality and patriotism (something others could have learned from). So we can applaud: Rep. Liz Cheney of WY, Rep. Anthony Gonzalez of OH, Rep. Jamie Herrera-Beutler of WA, Rep. John Katko of NY, Rep. Adam Kinzinger of IL, Rep. Peter Meijer of MI, Rep. Dan Newhouse of WA, Rep. Tom Rice of SC, Rep. Fred Upton of MI, and Rep. David Valadao of CA. These are the courageous in The House and we owe a debt of gratitude for their stance in upholding a standard of decency, justice and their oath of office. 

From the Senate, these seven voted to convict twiceimpeached because it was the right thing to do under the circumstances: Senator Richard Burr from NC, Senator Bill Cassidy from LA, Senator Susan Collins from ME, Senator Lisa Murkowski from AK, Senator Mitt Romney from UT, Senator Ben Sasse from NE, and Senator Pat Toomey from PA. These are the Senators who deserve our thanks for standing up to a party that apparently condones insurrections and seditious traitors. 

One would think, since all have taken an oath to “preserve and defend the Constitution of the United States,” that finding someone guilty of trying to overthrow the government wouldn’t have been that difficult. But apparently, for the 43 who voted to acquit twiceimpeached, their political futures were far more important than upholding their oath of office. As a result of their cowardice, they have not just condoned the seditious act of a government overthrow, but have left the path forward open to a more ardent and dangerous attempt again, not just on the Capitol, but all government institutions. Attacks by domestic terrorists on the physical buildings are one thing, when our democracy is attacked and is now on the stage of mockery and derision for the entire world to see, an attack by foreign terrorists is inevitable. 

I have often encouraged others to only do the right thing and thereby avoiding doing the wrong thing. It would seem that someone should have reminded the cowards of such words. But then again, cowards are only capable of cowardly behavior. They have no spines or moral compasses by which to govern their lives. They are driven by a need to gain and retain power and individual wealth, forgetting they are elected by people who expected them to look out for their best interests. Condoning an insurrectionist and domestic terrorism puts the entire country at risk and when those from outside this country invade us, because we have shown them how, no one will be safe. 

Though I am not a Republican and would under normal circumstances, stand fiercely opposed to most Republicans and their political posturing to ignore the needs of the poor and vulnerable, I choose to stand with these who have determined to stand up, for right, even with all the backlash thrown their way. Cowards are always prone to using bullying tactics and I see the bulk of the Republican party in leadership, both on state and national levels as nothing more than a bunch of bigoted cowards. History will not be kind to them or their descendants and I hope they live a long time to see what their actions produce in this country and the reluctance on the part of other world leaders to pay attention to America as a leading force. 

Hopefully, we will all remember the courage of those who stood for America and our democracy in doing the right thing. Unfortunately, we cannot forget the cowards since we must do all we can to make sure they never succeed in the political arena. Every American must remember 1/6/21 as the most infamous day in the history of the 21st Century, when an American president incited an insurrection against elected leaders of the Executive Branch of government, placing the vice president and speaker of the house in imminent danger. One could assume from what has been revealed, the intent was to remove any possible means that would keep him from declaring martial law and retaining power for himself (and Putin). Call him, not by name, but twiceimpeached, so he will never forget his place in history.