A friend of mine posted a picture on Facebook on Thursday which resulted in a spirited conversation on the subject. Please bear with me as I would like to share it with you.
She posted: Loyalty - noun: the state or quality, or an instance of being loyal. Faithfulness to commitments or obligations.
She commented: This is what most of our politicians seem not to have toward the Constitution or to the American citizens.
I replied: Being loyal to the Constitution is not same as being loyal to the leader of a government. We don't require loyalty oaths, do we? We pledge allegiance to the flag which is the physical symbol of the United States. We take an oath to support and defend the Constitution. We don't do either to a man or woman. We are not Nazi Germany, Soviet Russia, the PRC, Cuba or any other totalitarian state.
She responded: Is the Oath of Office a commitment or obligation? Should they be held accountable for faithfulness to those? They are our Representatives supposedly; do they make commitments to us? Should they be faithful in those? That is what I'm referring to. By the way, the iCaucus vetting requires commitments on fiscal, limited government, and constitutional principles.
I stated: I believe the Oath of Office includes both a commitment AND an obligation. They are obliged to us, the people they work for and they
- English: Detail of Preamble to Constitution of the United States (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
must uphold the commitment to defend and protect the Constitution from all enemies, foreign and domestic. This current Congress, as well as those elected since 2006, have failed miserably as they put party and the man ahead of the people. As I recall that would be Nazi, Communist and other non-American forms of government. Certainly, it is not a representative democracy or republican federalist government.
She answered: Ahh! Now I see what you were referring to LOL. Thank you for clarifying for me :)
I stated: I knew you knew. But does the great unwashed? Sadly, most of us forgot our junior high and high school civics and social studies.
She replied: That is why it is incumbent on all of US to reach out beyond our comfort zones and quit speaking only to the choir. They will never know if they don't receive the education or if they have received the revised education.
I responded: I do and so do you. I agree generally with the principles of iCaucus. I think u know that about me.
She answered: Yes, I do know that about you, lol.
We went on to other topics at this point.
I share this with you so that you understand that there are many who feel as I do, and you do, too. It is really up to all of us to try to carry the message that seems to be lost in our schools and colleges.
Sadly, school boards and administrators are more concerned about state aid than about educating our children. I have talked to many teachers across this country (one of the many benefits of social media) and to a person they all indicated that their curriculum requires that in all classes, they must teach to the state test. Even in Civics, Social Studies and History.
The points that were raised in that conversation point to the lack of real knowledge how our government is SUPPOSED to work. Our kids require remedial learning of the American government. Instead, for so many years, students have learned their Civics from 30-second sound bites.
These are the leaders upcoming over the next 20 years. We need to get them up to speed on Jeffersonian Democracy, and fast! In addition, our current bevy of leaders needs to remember that their loyalties aren't to the Democrats or Republicans or to Bush or to Obama or anyone else, except "WE THE PEOPLE".
You know, the first three words to the American scripture we call "The Constitution of the United States of America."
No comments:
Post a Comment