Said friend and former White House communications director Nicolle Wallace: "I just feel like it's incredibly unfair ...
Oh, the poor saga of Sara Taylor, put-upon young beautiful woman, so unfairly being expected to testify honestly about her activities when the American public paid her salary when all she wants to do is conduct "a search for normalcy."
The Washington Post, rather than focusing on Taylor's statement "I took an oath to the President", lets its readers know that she drank a lot of water and, in a front page (Style) article, her friends feel that she is being unfairly treated.
My presence here, at Daily Kos, has moved into a far different phase -- you do not see many posts from me nor many diaries.
And, well, I doubt that I've ever done a RANT, but time to let you know that I am OUTRAGED over Sara Taylor's words (along with many others in the Bush Administration). If The Washington Post knew (and cared about) its readership, different reporting would have 10,000s (100,000s) in this area as outraged as I.
Why?
A brief background.
I -- like Sara Taylor -- have taken the Oath to the Constitution, multiple times over the years, as a Federal employee.
In fact, the first time I took the oath (background) was as a teenager, with a part-time job working on the Hill. Many (too many) years later, I can remember this event. I was gleefully heading into a cool little, life enhancing opportunity that would also give me a few bucks. Great. And, well, in front of me goes this 'form' and I'm asked to swear. I asked for a moment to look at it (really didn't have a clue). I read the oath ... and reread it. To this day, I can remember almost a physical shudder going through me. This meant something, something very profond. It had (and still has) tremendous meaning to me. I was swearing that I would uphold the Constitution of the United States of America. This 'cool little opportunity' became something far larger to me, as I considered that I was becoming something much larger than myself, and that I was undertaking responsibilities to my fellow citizens (and those who preceded me and those that would follow).
That moment, in some ways, changed me. That oath ... that meant (and means) something to me.
I have, through the years, taken that oath.
I have volunteered to risk my life in service to that Oath, to something greater than myself. (NOTE: PLEASE DO NOT EXAGGERATE THIS IN THINKING -- words below are factual but I am no great hero, there are 100,000s who have done more difficult things than I and faced more risks than I.)
I have been lived in lousy conditions, spent significant time away from loved ones, been exposed to scary diseases, and been shot at while serving America overseas, in service to that oath.
I am proud of myself for doing so. I feel priviledged to have done so. I am honored to have taken that oath, that oath to something so much greater than anyone of us.
I swore an Oath to uphold the Consitution of the United States of America.
There are 100,000s of Washington Post readers who can say similar tales, who have taken that oath, who live their lives under that oath. So many, like I, take that oath very seriously -- dedicate their lives to that oath.
What is the Oath?
I, [name], 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.
What is the core of that oath, according to the US Office of Personnel Management?
As Federal civil servants, we take an oath of office by which we swear to support and defend the Constitution of the United States of America. The Constitution not only establishes our system of government, it actually defines the work role for Federal employees - "to establish Justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty."
Sara Taylor swore that same Oath to uphold the Consitution of the United States of America.
Sara Taylor spat on that Oath yesterday.
She spat on that oath throughout her years working in the White House, in her close working relationship with great Americans like Karl Rove.
Sara Taylor spat on that Oath while claiming to work for all of us (US), receiving her salary from America's taxpayers.
Before she could start receiving that paycheck, Sara Taylor raised her right hand and took the following oath:
I, Sara Taylor, do solemnly swear 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.
Before God, Country, and Congress, Sara Taylor spat on that oath yesterday.
And, well, The Washington Post wants us to know how nice a person Sara Taylor is.
I will take a note from Sara Taylor: I spit on The Washington Post!