Recent events have overtaken even this blog. As such, this week’s continuation of my series on circumnavigating New Zealand is now rescheduled to resume on Monday, 18 January 2021.
I cannot in good conscience continue as though nothing has happened, for indeed something profound, historic, and devastating to our nation and our international standing did in fact occur. Therefore, for the first week since I started this blog nine years ago, there will not be the usual three or more articles. Instead, the entire week will consist of just one featured letter.
That letter is one I wrote to my Senator, the disgraceful and disgraced Ted Cruz of Texas. Tomorrow you shall have an opportunity to read precisely what I told Senator Cruz as to his culpability in last week’s insurrection, and his complete and total abrogation of his responsibilities to himself, his family, to the oath he took, his position in the United States Senate, his country, and to the Constitution of the United States of America.
My apologies to those of you who were looking forward to the continuation of my New Zealand series, but it shall return in just eight days.
The oaths I took upon joining the U.S. military and, later, the Civil Service of the federal government were remarkably similar to the one taken by every senator and congressman. But do members of Congress take seriously those words that they recited? Do they truly accept the responsibilities they supposedly acquired when they swore or affirmed their oaths of office?
The actual requirement for members of Congress to take an oath is derived from this:
“The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.”
— U.S. Constitution, Article VI, clause 3
You will note that the constitutional requirement above is also required of state legislators, members of the executive branch (which is why I was required to take such an oath upon entering both military and civil service), and the judiciary. (As a side note: attorneys are considered ‘officers of the court’, and thus also take an oath to support the Constitution of the United States)
The oath that these congressional representatives take is:
“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.”
For a member of Congress to openly condone ongoing attempts to overthrow a legitimately elected president is in direct contradiction to that oath. That is an act of commission.
Members of Congress standing by in silence while witnessing such attempts constitutes ignoring that oath. That is an act of omission.
The former likely amounts to treason, or something remarkably close to it. The latter, in addition to being an abject example of pure political cowardice, might very well be considered by some an act of sedition, as it involves abrogating one’s oath to ‘support and defend’ in exchange for political expediency. At a minimum, remaining silent completely disregards the requirements outlined in the oath of office, which is itself disqualifying for the office held.
As things stood on 5 December 2020, an incredible 222 congressional Republicans, a full 89% of the GOP congressional contingent, either publicly supported President Donald J. Trump’s attempts to overthrow a free and fair election in contravention of the Constitution of the United States, or have remained silent while those attempts are ongoing. Many more at the state legislator level across the nation have likewise forsaken the duties which they swore or affirmed to uphold.
Example:
Two current members of Congress, both senators, are currently in runoff elections in Georgia. They are actively campaigning for votes while simultaneously endorsing President Trump’s attempt to invalidate completely the election conducted by their own state on 3 November 2020. In other words, these two senators are vying for votes in a state in which they are both on record as not respecting the will of the majority of the Georgia electorate. Advocating for an attempt to overturn the collective will of Georgia voters while at the same time seeking to garner the votes of those same citizens is just absolute, mind boggling hypocrisy on an almost unimaginable scale. It is also, as I have already noted, a complete abrogation of their oaths to support and defend the Constitution of the United States.
You will note that this essay is not about court challenges, frivolous as they may be. The judiciary are so far taking seriously their oaths, even if the Trump legal team may not. Judges — local, state, and federal — are roundly rejecting unsubstantiated claims unsupported by evidence, as they should. I have full faith that the U.S. Supreme Court will act similarly, and on a unanimous basis.
Rather, this essay references other attempts beyond courts of law. I refer here to conspiratorial attempts to legislatively throw out the election results in multiple states, and substitute for the will of the citizens of those states that of the current occupant of the White House. I contend that this is in direct contradiction to the oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States. These faithless elected officials must at some point be held accountable. If not by the electorate, then by the law. There is simply no room in a representative democracy for representatives who refuse to protect that democracy.
Sweden’s state epidemiologist Anders Tegnell of the Public Health Agency of Sweden
As we head into our darkest Covid-19 pandemic days to date, it becomes increasingly important to look beyond quacks possessing medical degrees offering up placebo solutions that wind up causing even more illness, misery, death, and, as a direct result, prolonging the resulting economic chaos. So much for that Hippocratic Oath stuff. And I’m referring specifically now to two quacks in particular — neuroradiologist Dr. Scott Atlas and ophthalmologist Senator Rand Paul, neither of whom possesses a single, solitary credential between them giving either even an ounce of credibility in responding to infectious diseases.
Do not allow demonstrable ignorance masquerading as experts possessing medical degrees to get you or a loved one killed. Listen instead to people who are qualified in the field of infectious diseases rather than self-proclaimed experts whose medical qualifications extend solely to neuroradiology and ophthalmology.
Case in point: Sweden and the Great Herd Immunity Experiment.
Sweden’s national policy since early spring was to develop herd immunity by allowing rapid, unchecked spread, even if that meant sacrificing the elderly and the vulnerable. If herd immunity would succeed anywhere, Sweden was the real-world laboratory offering up the proof-of-concept.
Alas, Sweden’s experiment failed. It failed miserably. It is, in fact, getting even more people infected during this second devastating infection wave, resulting in even more unnecessary illness, long-term disability, misery, death, and mourning.
Please read . . .and I mean read carefully . . . the article in the link below. Then take the appropriate actions necessary to protect yourself and your loved ones until a vaccine becomes universally available. Because neither of these two quacks — nor the people at the national, state, and local levels taking their “expert” advice — is going to do it for you.
Decisions — Murder in Paradise
The Globe — Murder in Luxury
R. Doug Wicker — Author 