Downfall Pt 8

Part 8

My next discussion will cover Article II of the Constitution, which outlines the executive branch of the government, the offices of the President and Vice President.

As in Article I, Section I outlines the requirements for who can become President and the process by which the President shall be elected. However, at the end of Section I there is a clause that is well worth paying attention to. It states,
"Before he enters the execution of his office, he shall take the following oath or affirmation :--"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"

I will refer back to this oath of office in the future, but just remember that every President who ever held office swore this oath. They swore to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States. That means that in the performance of their duties they shall not step outside the bounds of authority that this document outlines for their office. If they do they will be in violation of their oath of office and therefore should be removed from office. On a side note Senators and Congressmen also take a similar oath and therefore should be held just as accountable in the performance of their duties.

Before I continue there are some quotes I would like you to ponder when thinking about the kind of person you should want to elect to hold the office of President.

"He therefore is the truest friend to the liberty of this country who tries most to promote its virtue, and who, so far as his power and influence extend, will not suffer a man to be chosen into any office of power and trust who is not a wise and virtuous man"
Samuel Adams

"Good intentions will always be pleaded for every assumption of authority. It is hardly too strong to say that the Constitution was made to guard the people against the dangers of good intentions"
Daniel Webster

"It is a universal truth that the loss of liberty at home is to be charged to the provisions against danger, real or pretended, from abroad"
James Madison

If you look at the first quote by Samuel Adams you are a friend to the liberty of this country you should not vote for someone who isn't virtuous. What exactly is virtue? One of the definitions in Websters dictionary says that virtue is, 1.Moral excellence and righteousness: Goodness. A Presidents virtue is a reflection of the man and we should not elect men or allow them to stay in office if they prove themselves unfit to hold it by measure of their lack of virtue. Many of the candidates now complain about the media digging into their personal lives. We have the right as voters to know if the man we are voting for is lacking virtue. We do not want your kind holding the highest office in the land.

The second quote, this one by Daniel Webster says that every time the government wants to assume more power it will be on the grounds of good intentions. In other words they say that the end justifies the means, but the Constitution was written to guard the people against that very thing. So when we see the government expanding their control and power over our lives in the name of good intentions we should immediately be wary.

Finally, the last quote by James Madison is of particular importance today. The loss of liberty at home will be charged to threats, real and pretended from abroad. Is that not what is happening now with the Patriot Act, the NSA spying on our phone calls? We are losing our liberties all in the name of a war on terror. How many more of our liberties will be infringed upon? How long will they be infringed upon? Do you think that if we ever win the war on terror they will be restored to us? Some things to think about while you consider whether or not our President is upholding his oath of office as our founding fathers envisioned? If you don't think so then the next quote by Madison ought to alert us to do something about it.

"We are right to take alarm at the first experiment upon our liberties. "

This quote will apply quite often when I begin discussing the Bill of Rights.

Let us now continue with Article II and what it says about the office of President of the United States.

Section 2 states, "The President shall be commander in chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the militia...". There is that term militia again. Where is our militia? I would like to know who is a member of the militia in my neighborhood. I haven't seen any militia in my 48 years of living in this country, have you? As far as I know we don't have one at this stage in our history, yet the Constitution repeatedly mentions it. How can the President be in charge of something we don't even have? I would think that the militia would be a vital part of our national defense, but we don't seem to have one. So does that role fall to the military? If so, why are they not allowed to use force in the Presidents plan to control illegal immigration? I wonder what the publics outcry will be when an American soldier is killed by a drug runner crossing the border because he was not authorized to shoot back.

Section 2 goes on to say that, "He shall have power, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to make treaties..." This is very important also, and you will see why in much greater detail in a section later on. For now it is important to note that this clause states, "..by and with the advice and consent of the Senate...". That implies that any and all treaties signed by the President are approved by Senate. That means they agree with the treaty. Remember that point also in a later section of this paper when I discuss some of the treaties we are signing under the current administration.

The last point I would like to make in Section 2 is the final clause, "The President shall have power to fill up all vacancies that may happen during the recess of the Senate, by granting commissions which shall expire at the end of their next session."

Why would this clause be so important? It is in the last sentence that we get a glimpse of the answer. Remember back in Article I where it stated that the Senators shall be chosen by the state legislature? Well the President holds the power to fill vacancies that might occur, but only for the duration of the next session, after which they would expire. After that it would fall back upon the state legislators to fill the vacancy. Federalist Papers #67 goes into this issue in great detail. You can read the entire paper at,
federalist

This issue is of great importance because the writers of the Constitution wanted the states alone to have the power to select their Senators. It was one of the checks and balances built into the Constitution, but if need be the President could fill vacancies that might open up during recess until the states could fill them by the method prescribed in Article I.

Section 3 goes over the requirements of giving Congress a state of the union address every so often. The State of the Union always seems to be strong according to all the addresses I can recall seeing. Yet if you ask the American people, you might hear a different story. It has become more and more a platform for the President to convince the country to go along with his policy.

Section 4 covers the methods of removing a President or Vice President. It states, "The President, Vice President and all civil officers of the United States, shall be removed from office on impeachment for , and conviction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors."

I would like to give the definition of treason at this time. Websters dictionary defines treason as; 1 Violation of allegiance towards one's country or sovereign, esp. the betrayal of one's own country by waging war against it or by consciously and purposely acting to aid it's enemies. 2. Betrayal of confidence or trust.

That concludes my thoughts on Article II of the Constitution. It doesn't seem like I covered much when it covers an office of such importance, but believe me, I will refer back to it quite often in later sections of this paper. I have brought some important points to your attention for later reference. Believe me, they will all be of great importance later.