Because I'm a dick like that....

[digitaldiscipline]

... I booed part of the oath of service for the U.S. armed forces (they make a spectacle of it at hockey games here, which I think is pretty tacky to begin with).

Any service folks, active or former, care to shed some light on whether or not any part of this oath is more important than the others, as far as interpretation? Because I know where my feelings as a citizen and patriot lie, and that informs my actions and reactions.

"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."

[from http://train.missouri.org/~emgeer/oathservice.html]

To me, the President is not above the Constitution; that office is defined, created, and goverened by it.

Comments

[timly.livejournal.com]

To me, the President is not above the Constitution; that office is defined, created, and goverened by it.

so, if *he* is following his oath of office, there shouldn't be any orders given that you'd not be permitted to follow by the constitution. the same for appointed officers, right?

[etcet.livejournal.com]

"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."

If, and this is the big if, the President were actually doing his fucking job, there's no conflict between these two. However, GWB has pretty clearly shown that he has no interest in (or the intellectual grasp to) defend the Consititution, and on these grounds, should be impeached, if not tried as a traitor to the nation.