Why is this not in the Presidential Oath of Office ?

Me

[Alabama_Wild_Man]

I posed that very question to G. Gordon Liddy, on the air on his radio program. But, his answer failed to make any sense....

[dbbeebs]

"I, name, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and I will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States." ---

----

I (insert name), having been appointed a (insert rank) in the U.S. Navy under the conditions indicated in this document, do accept such appointment and 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.

[DSH]

My question is - why is that phrase, or something similar, not included in the Oaths of Office for the President and the Vice President?

The short answer to your question is that the specific wording of the Presidential oath of office is dictated by Article II, Section I of the U.S. Constitution.

[Amelia]

that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic

So how does this square with the military not being used here in the U.S.A., say, to guard the borders or to keep order?

[Bommer]

"...oppose any enemy of the Constitution, foreign or domestic..."

If the President takes the oath to "Preserve, Protect and Defend the Constitution of the United States" And the Constitution states that we should fight all of our enemies foreign and domestic, then I would think his bases are covered

[jerod]

Who do you think all those guys dressed in green at the airports work for?

[William Terrell]

My take is that the executive branch is most likely to be that "domestic enemy", so no need to put the phrasing in the oath of the head thereof.

The place to put it is in the oath taken by the actual people that carry the weapons.

[verity]

You are worthy of your screen name.

[dhuffman@awod.com]

Try 18 USC 1385 The Posse Comitatus Act

Truly, the conspiracy of ignorance masquerades as common sense!

[jerod]

The President defends the constitution as a document, the Military defends the constitution from all enemies. Occasionally (as in was the case with Bill Clinton) the enemy of the constitution is the President.

That's why the Senate never convicted Clinton. The military would have to choose between supporting the constitution, or their Commander if Chief, the President. And we all know that they would've had to drag his sorry *ss out of the White House. It would have been very messy.

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

The Constituition only prescribes the oath of office for one office, the President. The Constituition has worked pretty well for 200 years, if we'd only pay attention to it.

[l0newolf]

The Constituition has worked pretty well for 200 years, if we'd only pay attention to it.

You mean to say IF we had paid attention to it the Constitution would have worked pretty well. Let's face it, we haven't paid attention.

One other note - during the election debates Bush was fond of saying that he would uphold law & order when elected president...but never, ever said he would uphold the Constitution.

Must have been rough on him when he actually had to swear in.

[Amelia]

What came first, the oath to defend all enemies foreign and domestic, or the Posse Comitatus act?

I threw out the question as much for discussion as anything else, but isn't protecting our homeland much more important than actions in Grenada, Panama, the Middle East, or the Balkans?

[dhuffman@awod.com]

So Ben Franklin was wrong? Which civil right do you think will buy security?

Now is not the time for throwing out stuff, or for throwing out civil rights for fear of the unintended consequences, but it is a time to retreat to principles.

What, you may ask, is a 'principle'? I don't know but I do know that they must not be compromised! That's how I know a principle when I see it.

[barf]

Clinton violated his oath early on when proposing the health care reform plan headed by his wife and Ira Magaziner which was to include mandated private insurance purchase. This would violate the involuntary servitude provision of Amendment 13.

[max61]

That's why the Senate never convicted Clinton. The military would have to choose between supporting the constitution, or their Commander if Chief, the President.

HaHaHaHaHaHa. Now back to our regularly scheduled programming.

---max

[Amelia]

I'm not saying we should give up civil rights, I'm saying that haing the military defend OUR soil and OUR borders to me is more important than most of the foreign ventures we've been involved with over the last 40 years. Do you agree or disagree?

[dbbeebs]

So how does this square with the military not being used here in the U.S.A., say, to guard the borders or to keep order?

Good question. The military really isn't suited for police details in country. I read after the LA riots when a police officer said to a army EM "Cover me" the enlisted man unloaded his M-16 through the doorway. But I understand we have Marines helping the Border patrol quite a bit.

[RightRules]

You folks have it all wrong. I have just received a copy of a new world history textbook for high school students recommended by the NEA. On page 42, it is said that such language was forsaken by our forefathers to compromise with Delegate William C. Blythe of Mass.(the Great Great Great Grandfather of Hillary Rodham) who wanted the wording to read:

"... to oppose any enemy of nationalized health care, real or perceived..."

Ironically, the book points out that Mr. Blythe missed the Constitution signing session because he was in an important meeting with a staff intern.

I have only skimmed Chapter 2, The Clinton Years (it's 230 pages) but the book points out that in his great war on terrorism, President Clinton missed bin Laden by thismuch.