A few days ago, I saw a liberal poster on Facebook ranting about Conservatives. What, she said, do Conservatives conserve? They eat meat, so they are destroyers of living things; they are evil industrialists so they don't conserve clean air; and on and on.
Not once did the post mention preservation of the Constitution. If you are a Republican and if you are a Conservative, you should share in a small way the obligation placed on the President--to uphold and preserve the Constitution.
The oath of office is very specific, and it doesn't say that the President should serve the People, although that is a worthy goal and often cited by Presidents. No, the oath says:
"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."
It is the only oath of office specified in the Constitution. It was deemed to be important.
So, what do we have today? I'm going to let others determine the way the Constitution has been treated by our current President, and others can predict the way the other Democratic candidates might uphold that oath. Let's, instead, talk about the leading Republican candidate.
Sorry, I might vote for him, but Donald Trump is not someone that I would like to see "preserving, protecting and defending" the Constitution. I agree with William Kristol (and owe any clarity in this post, if there is any, to him) in his recent essay. The rest of the Republican candidates are, in my mind, completely worthy and able to take that oath and act responsibly on it.
I am just not a progressive, I guess. The Constitution is important to me and I think it is important to future generations. I deplore the lack of respect it has been given recently.
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