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I swear... So help me God
Sierra Times ^ | Darrel Mulloy

Posted on 05/20/2002 9:07:20 AM PDT by Sir Gawain

I swear... So help me God
By: Darrel Mulloy

Published 05. 17. 02 at 21:42 Sierra Time


What would you expect to happen to you if, as a witness, in court, on the witness stand, having taken an oath "to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help you God", you deliberately lied in order to protect yourself or someone else being accused of a crime. If caught in that lie, while under oath to tell the truth, you would be charged with perjury and subject to arrest.

We the people, that is the great unwashed masses, are subject to punishment for such crimes, and that is as it should be. However there are members of the elite who are immune from such punishment.

All across this great nation in small towns in rural areas to major cities, from small county governments to state houses and governorships, to the federal congress and the president and his staff, all of those elected must swear an oath, not unlike the one you have to swear when asked to be a witness in court. Most un-elected officials of government are also required to swear that oath. The oath they are required to swear declares that they will uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States, against all enemies, foreign and domestic. Uphold and defend! The Constitution is not a huge volume that is hard to read or to understand, and if there is clarification needed, the Federalist Papers are available to clarify most points. There is no excuse for any elected official, regardless at which level, to not know and understand the Constitution. After all, they were the best and brightest we could have found, aren't they? Surely the best and brightest understand the Constitution.

If the above is true, and our elected leaders do understand the Constitution, what can be their excuse for violating the oath they took to uphold it?

Last week in our Colorado State House, a congresswoman by the name of Kay Alexander, who I happen to have known for years, proposed legislation to "question" the National Forest Service's decision to collect fees in the Arapaho National Recreation Area (ANRA), an experiment they have been conducting around the country in chosen locations. Many applaud Kay's legislation, as for years we have been told that the lands in question belong to all of us, and we have all felt that we should be freely allowed to enter those areas to recreate. While I too applaud such legislation, I think it misses the mark completely. It is, rather, the place of the state legislature to make a statement to the federal government that they have violated their oath to uphold the Constitution.

What, you ask, are you talking about Darrel, How does such fee collection violate the Constitution? Aren't they just preserving these federal lands for our and future generations use? Well, I would answer that it is not the place of federal government to take such action, and I would point out that there has never been an amendment to the Constitution to allow them to do such. Article 1, Section 8, 17th clause of that Constitution places definite limits on the land that may fall under the control of congress, and hence the federal government, and then only with the permission of the state legislatures. No amendment has ever been offered to change that wording, which only allows for the use of state lands for forts, arsenals, dockyards, magazines and other needful buildings by the federal government. Sure, congress has passed laws to allow the taking of other lands, such as the 1906 Antiquities Act or the 1964 Wilderness Act and several pre 1900 forest service acts, but again referring back to the Federalist for clarification, in Federalist #78, Alexander Hamilton is quoted as follows:
"There is no position which depends on clearer principles, that every act of delegated authority, contrary to the tenor of the commission under which it is exercised, is void. No legislative act, therefore, contrary to the Constitution, can be valid. To deny this, would be to affirm, that the deputy is greater than his principal; that the servant is above his master; that the representatives of the people are superior to the people themselves; that men acting by the virtues of powers, may do not only what their powers so not authorize, but what they forbid"

"No legislative act, therefore contrary to the Constitution, can be valid!!!!!!!!!!!" "And to deny this, would be to affirm……… that men acting by the virtues of powers, may do not only what their powers do not authorize, but what they forbid!!!!!!!!!!!"

We didn't take that oath, the one taken by those elected officials, except those of us who served in the military, but we have an unspoken duty to see to it that those that did swear that oath are made to honor it. It should be the duty of those in law enforcement to, as they would to the witness who perjures himself, arrest and charge those in trusted public office who dishonor the oath they took when entering their offices. An oath is solemn, and to violate that oath is a violation of law. Why should we expect different treatment for ourselves, when lying under oath, than we do for those we elect to speak for us?



TOPICS: Editorial; Government
KEYWORDS:

1 posted on 05/20/2002 9:07:20 AM PDT by Sir Gawain
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To: Victoria Delsoul; tpaine; OWK; nunya bidness; AAABEST; Mercuria; MadameAxe; redrock; infowars...
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2 posted on 05/20/2002 9:08:08 AM PDT by Sir Gawain
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To: Sir Gawain
More information. More substantiation. More fuel and ammunition. Thanks, SG.
3 posted on 05/20/2002 9:14:29 AM PDT by foolish-one
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To: Sir Gawain
Thanks for the post, but I think we can file this idea in the "non-starter" folder. If you expect people to keep their oaths and defend the constitution you are concidered to be a nut in this society.
4 posted on 05/20/2002 9:17:56 AM PDT by Protagoras
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To: Sir Gawain
Guess what?
Very few courtrooms, if any, require a witness or anyone testifying, to say "So help me God."
God has been banned from courtrooms, and just about everywhere else, for years.


5 posted on 05/20/2002 9:21:08 AM PDT by ppaul
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To: Sir Gawain
Hold our elected officials - and our government as a whole - accountable to oaths and principles?

Sounds good.

Now... does anyone propose a way to actually do such a thing?

I've an idea, but as it involves shocking those in elected office into abject fear, I will refrain from posting.

6 posted on 05/20/2002 9:22:11 AM PDT by Darth Sidious
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To: Sir Gawain
Bump
7 posted on 05/20/2002 10:57:24 AM PDT by weikel
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To: Sir Gawain
And while she (Kay) is at it can she find out why I need a fishing licence in a catch and release area?
8 posted on 05/20/2002 11:22:41 AM PDT by CJ Wolf
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To: Darth Sidious
"I've an idea, but as it involves shocking those in elected office into abject fear, I will refrain from posting."

Have you read Unintended Consequences?

Carolyn

9 posted on 05/20/2002 1:06:27 PM PDT by CDHart
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To: ThomasJefferson
"If you expect people to keep their oaths and defend the constitution you are concidered to be a nut in this society."

You know, there are a lot of us who do keep their oaths.

10 posted on 05/20/2002 1:16:39 PM PDT by TheBlueMax
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To: Sir Gawain
It's good to see Darryl is still kicking. I used to run across him on the AOL gun discussion boards all the time.
11 posted on 05/20/2002 1:20:45 PM PDT by sneakypete
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To: Darth Sidious
"but as it involves shocking those in elected office into abject fear"

I like it, tell me more!

12 posted on 05/20/2002 1:24:07 PM PDT by Pietro
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To: Pietro; all
These are people who have fallen for the illusion - are comfortable in the illusion, even - that they are "better" than us. The government as presently exists is not something "of the people and by the people" as the Founding Fathers envisioned. It is now its own self-supporting, self-existing system. No one can find an elected office in this land without becoming part of that system... for the price of their identity. But hey, you tell me: isn't that worth it, if you get the privilege of not getting hassled like the common rabble?

I went through an airport a few weeks ago, an saw an 80+ year old man forced to take his shoes off - despite obvious pain - by those federalized thugs, at the security check. With an armed guard a few feet away. I couldn't help but think about how this country has become a jail... about how the terrorists behind 9-11 have won. There really isn't an America anymore. In its place is a propped-up puppet show of pageantry and theatrics intended to satiate a sheepish citizenry.

I have no faith in the United States government. I have a great faith in the Constitution of the United States... but that's a far thing from this state in its current form. There is no redeeming value in this state, at all. It is a bloated whore, enticing us with fleeting comforts and shallow promises. I certainly have no faith or trust in either major party: Democrats and Republicans alike haven't the slightest whit of interest in service. They want power, and only power.

And especially to those who might read these words, who rally so violently for Republican control of the White House, or the Congress: shut up. Just shut the hell up. You're part of the problem as much as your Democratic counterparts are. You haven't produced a single new idea for improving this country... not one! It all comes back to propping up your half of the dual-party kleptocracy that you want us to think is our leadership. With all due respect, you of blind partisanship: go to hell.

The people who we've entrusted to turn this around - who shouldn't have even let it get this out of hand to begin with - those people we're expected to look to, aren't doing a damned thing.

The only thing that motivates them is to "get the goods while the getting's good". They'll drain from the system - and from everyone and everything that's part of it - for as long as possible. They'll never face the inevitable: the collapse of the system. No, they can't do that. They can only effect feeble efforts to delay the collapse. But in the end all their riches and power will be for naught. It's almost there now.

Our country is stagnant. There's no new blood within the system, within "the way things are". And within the system, if we continue fighting to control the system, we will be caught up in its death throes... there's no escaping that.

There's only one thing to do, from where I'm sitting today: leave the system.

In various and sundry ways, we must remind our elected officials that they are not above us: they serve us, they do not command us. All authority of government, be it from police officer to the President of the United States, was given to them by us... and our authority for this self-governance comes from God. It does not come from God, to the President, to lord over us.

You want more? I'll give you more: stop yielding your produce to the system. End the supply-lines feeding those who have shown they can only squander, not produce.

Get your kids out of public school. If someone tells you you can't do that, tell them to go to hell. If someone attempts to remove your children from you... let me put it this way, I wouldn't be afraid to end the life of a slave of the system, if it means my child would live free.

Refuse to vote for the party. Even so far as to refuse to vote for a presidential candidate. Neither major party deserves our vote as a whole: they lust for control, not desire to serve. Nor can anyone be wholely trusted who's reliance upon political affluence is so inherently entrenched with the party system.

We're living in fear. Fear is the only real vessel of power that those who would be over us have. Take the fear away, and you reassert authority over your own soul. It used to be that our public servants feared us, rather than look for ways to make us fear them.

Well, let me tell you a secret that history teaches all willing students: the inability to fear killing a corrupted instrument of government, is the only true safeguard against that government becoming too powerful.

I will let the remainder be an exercise for the reader. My proposal isn't so much an "action" so much as it is a "paradigm". This much has to be said at least: we are seeing the end of the United States of America happen within our generation. It's up to us - and now - to make the choice: continue living as slaves, until we are crushed by what is coming down atop us... or seize this moment now, and reclaim the authority God has given we the people. And say "enough is enough."

13 posted on 05/20/2002 2:19:33 PM PDT by Darth Sidious
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To: TheBlueMax
You know, there are a lot of us who do keep their oaths.

And therefore you are concidered to be a nut by many people. So many in fact, that it is frightening.

Certainly if you told all your friends and neighbors that you expected the politicions to keep their oaths they would whisper behind your back that you had taken leave of your senses.

Imagine the reaction after telling them that almost every President in this century should have been impeached for violating their oath to uphold and defend the Constitution.

14 posted on 05/20/2002 4:44:55 PM PDT by Protagoras
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To: Darth Sidious
I'm sorry, I thought you had a plan as opposed to a rant. Several hundred parents pulling our children out of the public schools isn't likely to strike fear into the souless bureaucracy.

Please don't take this as an insult, I really was hoping you had an idea that could shake their (the politicos) belief that they can act w/ impunity.

15 posted on 05/21/2002 7:23:06 PM PDT by Pietro
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To: Pietro
Please don't take this as an insult, I really was hoping you had an idea that could shake their (the politicos) belief that they can act w/ impunity.

I could come out and say that open refusal/revolution against "the way things are" is the only viable option at this point. But to do so might jeopardize my posting privileges.

Read between the lines and you'll get exactly what I'm advocating.

16 posted on 05/22/2002 9:55:01 AM PDT by Darth Sidious
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To: Darth Sidious
"Now... does anyone propose a way to actually do such a thing?"

Those that seek to undermine the Constitution of the United States of America should be shot! That is my proposal.

There that wasn't so painful was it?

17 posted on 05/22/2002 10:10:14 AM PDT by sinclair
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To: Sir Gawain
What would you expect to happen to you if, as a witness, in court, on the witness stand, having taken an oath "to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help you God", you deliberately lied in order to protect yourself or someone else being accused of a crime. If caught in that lie, while under oath to tell the truth, you would be charged with perjury and subject to arrest.
We the people, that is the great unwashed masses, are subject to punishment for such crimes, and that is as it should be. However there are members of the elite who are immune from such punishment.

cough*clinton*cough

18 posted on 05/22/2002 10:12:02 AM PDT by steve-b
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To: sinclair
You forgot one little detail:

"...and without apology."

19 posted on 05/22/2002 10:13:42 AM PDT by Darth Sidious
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To: Sir Gawain
You make way too much sense. It'll never fly.
20 posted on 05/22/2002 10:20:20 AM PDT by Saundra Duffy
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