Closeup is WMUR‘s (Channel 9 here in NH – effectively, the only state-wide commercial channel) Sunday morning show – and the vast majority of the time, it is political in nature.
Sean Mahoney was the guest in the first segment (I am watching this on the DVR now) and he said to the host, Josh McElveen, in responding to a question about the sacking of Gen. McChrystal and installment (and demotion) of Gen. Petraeus as the Afghan theater Commander:
"We have a very important part of our Constitution that says that we have a civilian who is the Commander in Chief and that he has to have the loyalty of his commanders in the field. They can’t be going behind his back and acting in an insubordinate way. You know, as a Marine, that that’s one of the fundamental things that we have in our military that they swear an allegiance to their Commander-in-Chief."
Er, NO! That is wrong!
Now, I contend that that pretty much most people not associated with the military wouldn’t have even blinked. I am betting, however, that the eyebrows of most vets and the families with vets (like me, with the Eldest is a prior Marine and the Youngest is with the 101st Airborne in Afghanistan) went skyward and words associated with "What the" were audible.
Why? From Military.com, the actual Oaths taken at time of enlistment:
The Oath of Enlistment (for enlistees):
"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; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God."
The Oath of Office (for officers):
"I, _____ (SSAN), having been appointed an officer in the Army of the United States, as indicated above in the grade of _____ do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign or domestic, that I will bear true faith and allegiance tot he same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservations or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office upon which I am about to enter; So help me God."
Definitions:
Obey: to comply with or follow the commands, restrictions, wishes, or instructions of
Allegiance: the loyalty of a citizen to his or her government or of a subject to his or her sovereign (where loyalty is the state or quality of being loyal; faithfulness to commitments or obligations.
Thus, it is easy to see that there is a HUGE difference in terms and in proper usage. But Sean is a publisher of magazines – he knows that words count and that nuances mean things.
Sure, I’m nitpicking! But it IS also a serious nitpick AND an important point to be made and one that a Congressman or a Senator or any other elected official MUST be aware of:
Here in the United States, do we swear allegiance to a man, or the ideals expressed in the Constitution (which should be elevated far above any single man)?
For instance, in feudal times, it was expected to swear allegiance to a King and to the royalty immediately above them. We have seen what happens, to a small degree, where allegiance has been given to a man, Obama, instead of the time tested values of the Constitution. And NO, I am not implying that Sean is doing so nor advocating for doing such.
The Commander in Chief, the President, is merely the temporary steward of the execution of the laws passed by him and the Congress in supposedly faithfulness of the ideals of the Constitution (where the latter, the ideals borne by the Constitution, seems to have been ignored lately). No allegiance should ever be sworn to a President.
(Full disclosure: yes, Sean is a nice guy, but the ‘Grok has endorsed Frank Guinta in NH’s First Congressional District).