not the "American People." Besides, despite all that talk of defending us against "terrorists," you're doing a lousy job of that.
This is the oath of office that every President swears upon taking office:
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.
Our current President makes much of "defending America," "defending the American people," "defending us against terrorists" and such..... but this is NOT his job and NOT what he has sworn to do AS President.
more on where this is going below
Our President seems to have forgotten his oath of office. He seems to have forgotten that -
first and foremost - our President swears to
preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.
He is NOT charged with defending us, the people. THAT Is not his job.
THAT is the role of the military and other law enforcement authorities. It is NOT the President's job to do whatever HE feels necessary to keep us safe (And ironically, having a chance to do so directly, this President sought to avoid direct service in combat when the opportunity arose). And let's be blunt, despite all the rhetoric about "protecting and defending Americans", this President has made ALL Americans and indeed the whole world far LESS "safe."
More than enough legal authorities have made it clear that they do NOT support the President's "legal" arguments in support of his clearly ILLEGAL actions. Many have pointedly stated that our President is BREAKING THE LAW and IGNORING THE CONSTITUTION.
The fact that so many people within this President's Administration have refused to "sign off" on his actions and that so many have reaised concerns about their legality shows that he is aware that there is SUBSTANTIAL reason to believe he is acing illegally. The fact that he has had to "shop around" to find people willing to - with convoluted arguments - support his position makes it clear that he knows his position is on shaky ground at best. Even Republicans and conservatives acknowledge that they have serious reservations about our President's claims and legal arguments.
So.... why can't this be "framed" in the simplest possible terms:
A President swears to PRESERVE, DEFEND and PROTECT the Constitution.
George W. Bush is NOT doing so.
This President seeks to CHANGE (not PRESERVE) the Constitution to expand Executive powers. Of note, our Founding Fathers and those that wrote our Constitution were CLEAR in making sure that the Executive Branch would have LIMITED powers. There was NEVER any intent for the President to have the power to declare war and initiate war. This was a power SPECIFICALLY granted to the Legislative Branch. The poweres accorded to the Legislative Branch have not been PRESERVED by this President but undermined - and any pretense to "Balance of Power" undermined as well. It seems clear that the Executive Branch has every intent of undermining the Judicial Branch as well by choosing Supreme Court Justices who support increased Executive Power - in spite of Constitutionally imposed limitations.
This President had not DEFENDED the Constitution, but has pointedly acted to undermine it. Individual rights have been restricted and undermined under this President who seeks to make these restrictions permanent. THe violations of individual rights relating to free speech, arreest, detention and treatment of individuals are too numerous to be listed here.
Instead of PROTECTING our Coustitution, this President has consciously ignored and violated its provisions. He claims to be "protecting" American citizens in doing so - BUT THAT IS NOT HIS CHARGE.
It is time for Congress to hold our President acountable to his oath of office.
Mr. Bush is clearly NOT PRESERVING, PROTECTING or DEFENDING the Constitution of the United States. Far more people are convinced of this than support the specious arguments used to justify his actions.
President Bush has CLEARLY violated his oath of office. The remedy is IMPEACHMENT
THAT is the ONLY ISSUE that should be under "discussion" or "debate"....... THAT is "the forest"....... domestic spying, FISA Courts, fighting terrorism, wahtever.... ALL ELSE are subordinate issues.
