Posted on 12/30/2001 7:59:35 AM PST by fivetoes
Constitutional Questinaire for Elected Officials
Before an immigrant can become a citizen of this country he must pass a test on the basics of our country and its form of government. When public officials take off they swear an oath to support and defend the constitution of the United States.
Oath of Office (President)
"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of the President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the constitution of the United States."
Oath of Office (Senate)
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.
Most public officials throughout the land take a similar oath when taking office.
Now I am not so concerned if an immigrant comes here to find political, religious or any other form of freedom. I think it is nice we make them take a test, but the Constitution does not really have much to fear from the average immigrant. We do, however, trust the preservation of our very form of government to people who say they will preserve, protect and defend it from all enemies foreign and domestic. The sad reality is that these very individuals sometimes cross over and become domestic enemies of the very constitution they are suppose to be defending.
What I am concerned about is how do we know that these people even know what they are taking an oath to defend.. We don't even give them a test! I think we should make Constitutional Study mandatory for all public officials. Included should be an extremely difficult test. After all we are entrusting these people with our very way of life.
With that in mind, I would like to put together a list of questions pertaining to the constitution that would identify those individuals seeking public office that have actually read and understand the constitution. It would also weed out those that would take such a important oath with no knowledge of what they swearing to defend.
There are many resourceful people here who have a better grasp of the constitution than myself. I wrote a piece called It's All My Fault in which I admitted my lack of participation in the political process over the past few decades and resolved to be more active in the future. One way I intend to do this is to take politicians to task on their constitutional knowledge. A prepared list of questions would definitely help me in this effort.
Please post your questions here and I will compile them so that they may be used by anyone to test there elected officials.
This is so true I am afraid. Everyone who decides to run for office should be able to pass a test on the consititution to show that they know more than the basics. This would be a great idea. Something we should push as citizens!
CANDIDATE NAME, if elected you will be taking an oath to defend the Constitution of the United States from all enemies foreign and domestic. With that in mind I would like to test your knowledge of contents of that document to ensure that you actually know what you will be defending.
Would you please answer the following question(s)...
I can foresee much public squirming from a panels of folks running for positions as city council members, mayors, county commisionors, sheriffs, governors, state and national representative and senators and presidents.
We, the people have the power to have the government we choose. This would take but a small effort, but it would be effective in weeding out those whose only intentions are to control the masses. I say hammer them hard on these issues before they get into office!
Oh, what the heck, let's work on public humiliation of them now!
I think the first thing we need to do is assume responsibility for OUR government and then get involved in the process. If we can assure ourselves that the races for public office will be between candidates that at least know what they are taking an oath on we can change the dialog and make references to the constitution that we can all agree on.
Once we have public servants that understand this then we can work on the elimination of such unconstitutional laws. It will be an uphill battle indeed. If we do not have any hope of reversing the trend then we are all wasting time and should be preparing for the future in other ways.
You probably care a whole lot more than any of them. By the way... Why should they care? Really! I want you to provide the answer to that. Really!
Anyone care to help fivetoes? Splain it ta me!!!
How do you really think you'd do in a "Candidate's Night" forum? What if you won all the arguments, but lost the election? Do people elect the clever, or the wise, or what? Do you really trust the people to know the difference?
Of course the answer is - it is a list of restrictions and prohibitions against the government and NOT a list of rights. If they get this answer wrong, then likely they believe that Government gives rights to the people instead of the rights being unalienable.
I would say this is the most important question and will really separate the defenders of the Constitution from the enemies of the Constitution.
Dobbyman
That is the reason I host an annual Bill of Rights Day Celebration here in Loveland, Colorado.
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