For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little. (Isaiah 28: 10, KJV)
THE OATH is the most important part of the Constitution. Process may be camouflage. The three branches, separation of powers, checks and balances are worthless when the oath is window dressing. If so, then the system will fail.
I
Constitutional power is to be used for constitutional ends. Otherwise, it is invalid. And prerogative is not an exception! “...(F)or prerogative is nothing but the power of doing public good without a rule.” (Second Treatise of Civil Government by John Locke, Chapter 14, 166) Thus, even in an emergency, the Executive is bound by “the supreme law of the land” and must act “in pursuance thereof.” (Article VI, Clause 2)
Alexander Hamilton takes us from the hypothetical to the practical.
The republican principle demands that the deliberate sense of the community should govern
the conduct of those to whom they intrust the management of their affairs; but it does notrequire an unqualified complaisance to every sudden breeze of passion, or to every transient
impulse which the people may receive from the arts of men, who flatter their prejudices to
betray their interests. It is a just observation, that the people commonly INTEND the
PUBLIC GOOD. This often applies to their very errors. But their good sense would despise
the adulator who should pretend that they always REASON RIGHT about the MEANS of
promoting it. They know from experience that they sometimes err; and the wonder is that
they so seldom err as they do, beset, as they continually are, by the wiles of parasites and
sycophants, by the snares of the ambitious, the avaricious, the desperate, by the artifices of
men who possess their confidence more than they deserve it, and of those who seek to
possess rather than to deserve it. When occasions present themselves, in which the interests
of the people are at variance with their inclinations, it is the duty of the persons whom they
have appointed to be the guardians of those interests, to withstand the temporary delusion, in
order to give them time and opportunity for more cool and sedate reflection. Instances might
be cited in which a conduct of this kind has saved the people from very fatal consequences of
their own mistakes, and has procured lasting monuments of their gratitude to the men who had
courage and magnanimity enough to serve them at the peril of their displeasure. (The
Federalist Papers, No. 71)
II
REPUBLICS ARE RARE. Intangibles are their sustenance—virtue, courage, and character. “...(F)or the Revolutionary generation, virtue was the essential element of public life.... It meant putting the common good before one's own interests.” (First Principles by Thomas E. Ricks, 5) But virtue cannot exist without courage. And neither stands a chance without character—the union of thought, word, and deed directed toward a noble end. Without those qualities, republics die.
Truth is not a commodity. Its value does not fluctuate nor is derived from the voice that speaks. Although some would like to make it so.
The arrogant believe they have the inherent right of imposition. As Rick Wilson, the former Republican strategist said, “They think consequences are unconstitutional.” Well, those who parrot Marie Antoinette shall not escape. For what the enemies of our Constitution have started, we will finish.
III
Before entering office, one must take the oath. (Article II, Section 1, Clause 8) Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment makes explicit what was implicit and provides a method of enforcement. That provision prohibits anyone who has taken an oath to support the Constitution and then “engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same” from holding Federal or State office. (Emphasis added) One cannot serve unless “Congress...by a two-thirds vote of each House, remove such disability.” For if qualifications are not met, one is, by definition, ineligible. But to speak of resignation, the Twenty-fifth Amendment, and impeachment bestows a veneer of legitimacy.
The gentleman from New York, who resides at Mar-a-Lago, and occasionally occupies the White House, has opposed the supreme law of the land from the beginning. To topple him—and all the honorable men who feast on the fruit of the poisonous tree—it is necessary to reduce to dust the premise on which he stands. The Battle of Capitol Hill, on January 6, 2021, was a blatant act of insurrection in plain sight. To invoke the constitutional remedy to take down the culprits, a discharge petition must be circulated in the House of Representatives in order to bring up a resolution* to “remove such disability” pursuant to Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment; and the failure of the gentleman from New York to get a two-thirds majority shall be a declaration of illegitimacy.
IV
The trilithon, the Three Stones on which sits the Temple of Jupiter in Baalbek Lebanon, do not begin to compare with those below the Constitution of the United States. They are the oath, character, truth, and the spark. Unfortunately, some see the oath as a formality instead of the final layer of the foundation that supports the superstructure—the three branches, separation of powers, checks and balances. Yet character makes the oath meaningful because only one aligned with truth pays tribute to the spirit. Thus, those who say “So help me God” must remember the spark, which gives us life, was not meant to smolder but to become an eternal flame.
THE ODDS HAVE ALWAYS BEEN LONG. And so, what President Kennedy said in his first State of the Union Address resonates to this day.
“There will be further setbacks before the tide is turned. But turn it we must.”
(c)2025 Marvin D. Jones. All rights reserved.
[The Return of King George III]
[The Order Stands]
[The Tide Is Turning]
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