Since 1864 men and women elected to the United States congress have taken the “oath of office” with their left hand on the Bible and their right hand raised saying,
- “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.”
The oath for President and Vice President, in regard to the Constitution adds the word “protect”. How different would our country be if each person who gave such a solemn oath actually meant it? It has become a formal, public lie.
Constitutional abuse is as common in Washington, D C as cocktail parties and tall tales. Once in office the overwhelming majority of our elected officials only give allegiance to themselves and their quest for keeping the power, fame, and fortune their offices affords. I seriously wonder how many Senators and Congressmen have even read the document? If they have read it they forgot what they read.
We must never forget that our great country is not a democracy but rather a constitutional republic. The United States Constitution is the bedrock foundation of what was once the greatest country in world history. We have been the freest people afforded with the most opportunity of any people on earth. Although now only a shadow of our greatness, still people from every country on earth desire to come to the United States. It is still head and shoulders above any other country in almost any way a country is measured.
I wonder how much thought President Obama is giving to defending, protecting, and defending the United States Constitution? It is apparent that he and others from both sides of the aisle only focus on various ways to subvert the Constitution. They have the same attitude toward the Constitution that most business men do toward the IRS code. They pay attorneys big bucks to find loop holes and ways to get around it.
I am astonished that no prominent Senator or Congressman is screaming foul at the Constitutional abuse of this administration. In my view they would be but for the fact that they are not “statesmen” but political whores. They want to be reelected and keep the power and prestige that accompanies the office.
One glaring example of Constitutional abuse is the Obama administration telling companies how much they can pay their employees. I am not arguing that there is no excess in the pay of many top executives of large corporations. What I am saying is the federal government has no jurisdiction, according to the U.S. Constitution, over private business practices in regard to pay.
When our country falls, and in my view it will, it will be precisely because those men and women we entrusted with defending and supporting the United States Constitution lied when they took the oath of office.
Where have the statesmen gone? There was a time when people went to Washington whose sole goal was to protect the republic and defend the Constitution and by so doing protect the states and their people. Many decades of legislators with the morals of dogs has eroded states rights so that most young people are not even aware the several states should have any rights.
Republicans are just a guilty as Democrats. It is sad that in a country founded by the blood of patriots and built upon perhaps the greatest document in human history other than the sacred Scriptures, that the wacky congressman from Texas, Ron Paul, is often the lone voice appealing to the U.S. Constitution.
I am sick of men and women whose greed and desire for approval far outweighs their personal ethics and innate morality. Unless the common tax paying, law-abiding citizens revolt and demand that our nation return to its roots we will continue to swirl around the drain of demise. Our days as a free people are numbered. Will we sit on our hands and do nothing? It appears that is our course of inaction.
May God have mercy on us all.
Royce Ogle
Grace Digest 
Royce, good post that’s obviously from the heart. I agree – but in some ways I disagree.
Take the limits on executive pay, for instance. It’s a very slippery slope (maybe already be slipped past) for the government to set their wages. On the other hand, the government already has a hand in what everyone in this country makes because they set the minimum wage a worker can make (An opposite pole that is quite different than setting a maximum wage, obviously – but it IS their hand in what we’re paid nonetheless).
In fact, the government has a say in every cent they give out (except maybe in the case of welfare) – how it is used, for what purposes, etc. (Or at least they are SUPPOSED to, but let’s not get into THAT 🙂 ).
My second job is as a draftsman for an architect and we’ve done several USDA public projects like town halls and fire stations, and I can tell you they can hardly ever get an architect or engineer to work with them because of how much red tape there is (fifty different documents verifying the same exact things, getting back to you in enough time to have built the project, how tightly they handle the purse-strings even after the project has been approved or even built, etc).
Also, take this analogy for instance: the company you work for takes on a partner that contributes enough money to keep what was a failing business afloat. Would you think it odd that he might come in and change some practices or even salaries that might be contributing to the downward spiral of the company? Again, the fact that the ‘partner’ we’re talking about in this case is the federal government, and that’s a big difference than a private citizen.
But if the government did not regulate the pay of these CEO’s and other executives, your blog would be about how stupid the government was to throw away our tax dollars without regulating their use in a correct way business-wise. I see both sides, and yet I still feel as hesitant as you. Do I sound completely crazy?
Brad,
The point of my post is that we have mainly forgotten the Constitution of the United States. Where does the Constitution convey the authority to the federal government to tell a company what it can do or not do in regard to finances. What ever happened to states rights?
Your point would be well taken except for the fact that the bail out to the tune of $7.9 billion we don’t have should never have happened. The answer to many of the problems and complexities of our country is government involvement. If the U.S. government worked as the founders intended things would be far better.
The automobile business, health care, and other sectors are in trouble because of government intrusion and government is not the solution. Labor unions, trial lawyers, and teachers unions have bought and paid for the best elected officials money can buy and together they have systematically raped the American people for many decades.
It is as old as man. The lust for power, prestige, and station in life are alive and well in the hot house of Washington politics. Those who arrive to D.C. somewhat pure are soon soiled in some back room by some jerk with a fake smile and an ignorant electorate.
Gloomy huh? Yep, the future isn’t too bright from where I’m looking.
Royce
Right on Royce. I read somewhere that there are 7 steps that all the worlds great civilizations follow. It makes sense if you think about the Israelites and any other civilization.
Bondage which leads to deep Spirituality
Great Spirituality leads to freedom
Freedom results in abundance & blessings
Abundance brings on apathy
Apathy results in Government dependance
Government dependance equals Bondage.
Where are we in the US at this time?
We are hurrying along at a frantic pace toward total government dependence. Our freedoms are being chipped away by one goofy piece of legislation after another.
President Obama is not the cause of our problems. He is rather a result of our problems. Those in the past who envisioned a great utopia where there would be no poor and the government would be the almighty benefactor get the credit for starting the ball rolling. For many years it was mainly Democrats who kept up the momentum toward socialism and for the last several years Republicans have largely fallen right into the parade of idiots and govern like liberals.
Thanks for your comment.
Royce
We agree on about 95% of everything you say, Royce. I have long felt that the downfall of our political system was the dying away of statesmen who have been replaced with politicians – a shift from servants willing to do what it took to ensure the future well-being of our country and its citizens to a group of self-servants willing to do only what it takes to get re-elected.
Your point about the constitution is well taken, but remember – there are alot of things the constitution doesn’t convey, because the constitution is the beginning point, not the end-all, be all – it’s the framework by which all the laws of our country are to be constructed. The constitution doesn’t convey, for instance, that murder or stealing or any number of things are illegal in this country per se, but the laws which are framed from it do. (That is, of course, in a secular sense. We as Christians don’t need a constitution or it’s legal framework to tell us such things are wrong. But I digress).
I agree the bailout was ill-advised and ill-conceived, but my response was in light of the fact that it IS, and there’s no use in crying over spilled milk now (although we all will anyway 🙂 ).
While many of the problems more than likely ARE a result of government intrusion, the breakdown of the financial sector was by and large – even by their own admission (Repub and Demo) and the admission of most of the so-called ‘experts’ – the result of large-scale government DEregulation.
Labor unions, trial lawyers, teachers unions – I’m with you on those. Unions once served a great purpose for the American worker, to ensure worker safety and fair wages among other things – things that have now been regulated by the government and its officers (minimum wages, child labor, maximum weekly hours, OSHA, etc), thus negating the need for these ballooning, borderline criminal outfits that (in the case of the auto industry) have been at least partially (I think at least 50%) repsonsible for their own downfall.
Keep stirrin’ the pot, Royce. The soup’s always good here at Grace Digest. I appreciate you, brother.
As for the 5% we disagree on……you said “While many of the problems more than likely ARE a result of government intrusion, the breakdown of the financial sector was by and large – even by their own admission (Repub and Demo) and the admission of most of the so-called ‘experts’ – the result of large-scale government DEregulation.”
That is Democrat spin pure and simple. The reason is as follows.
Liberals got the bright idea that home ownership in America is a “right” (Not true by the way). Senators Barney Frank, Chris Dodd and others led the charge to make homes available to minorities, you know “the disenfranchised”. The message was given to lenders, lower qualifications for mortgage money. They did so and the result was that thousands of people borrowed money they could not pay back. That is the short version, but the true version.
Oddly, the banks and mortgage companies got the blame and the bad paper and Barney Franks and Chris Dodd escaped criticism except for conservative talk show hosts and Fox News. I am in the real estate business and keep my ear to the ground on these matters. Again, the heart of the problem was government over reaching. It was not the greed of lenders as the major networks cried in unison but the greed of home buyers and foolish ideology of liberals.
Royce
It is indeed scary isn’t it? The only hope that I hold is in the fact that God is still in charge. If the Lord can hold all creation together, then He can solve the problems of this nation if we will but turn back to Him. Royce thanks for what you do.
Ah yes, a national turning to God would do the trick. It isn’t going to happen. A people’s devotion to God can be measured by their morals. In world opinion and mine, we aren’t dong well as nation in the morality department.
Thanks for reading and your comments,
Royce
I think this administration is doing a great job considering all the crap that was passed on from the Bush administration. I think it is time that we took care of ourselves as Americans. We need to be spending money on heathcare, education, jobs, roads and bridges, building our own country for a change. Do the Iraqi’s and Afganistan people appreciate what we have done for them? Is it our place to occupy countries and tell them the way they run their governments are wrong that everyone in the world has to do it our way. Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness is what this country was founded on and what we need to be providing for all Americans. Taking care of our own people.
I can’t think of one thing positive the Obama administration has accomplished. So far, President Obama has lived up to his history and experience, no significant accomplishments and no executive experience.
What we are seeing played out before us is liberalism unleashed. With solid majorities in both houses of congress and control of the white house the government has nothing done for the American people in the past year. I love you brother but the majority of the American people, including Democrats, disagree with the idea that this government is on the right track.
Royce