Patriot Act Treason

The question of the 14th. Amendments' requisite oath to: "... Protect and Defend The Constitution of The United States" is, as you say, "Legally Binding", but the object of any law is, logically, its intended effect.

        With that in mind, I would pose the following:

       Is it reasonable to expect every government office-holder to become an expert in Constitutional Jurisprudence, lest he inadvertently "Act" to the detriment of 'The Constitution' and possibly to his own foolhardy vilification, and is that specifically 'The Defect' the provision sought to correct, or is it rather the work of those members who would stifle, or refuse participation to certain new members coming from the newly reconstituted "South"?

     In any case, is the 14th. Amendment the best mechanism to address this or other threats to our nation today? I fear instead, a wholesale breakdown in the polity, where charges and counter-charges are leveled against those whose "Acts" might be construed as "Unconstitutional" or "Un-American".

     "Rebellion", "Insurrection", and "Treason" are alarming terms. We must investigate such activities. But, not unlike shouting "Fire" in a crowded theater, where there is no fire, I can imagine a rational limitation on some "free speech" too.

     Another problem I have with this is that it strikes at a "branch of evil" instead of at "the root"; the root being the usurpation of our republic by a budding Oligarchy. I'm willing to call That "Treason" ¹

BECAUSE:

      1. "Money-Interests" are hand-picking, running, and winning government representation in state-houses across America, and arriving in state capitals with pre-written laws to be passed.

       [ This is a direct despotic challenge to fundamental republican ideals. ]

      2. The Free Press; ( also referred to as "The 4th. Estate", because of its fundamental necessity to the successful operation of a republican state ) has been compromised; effectively silenced ( or in many instances, purchased outright ) by the very evil that it is charged to expose-

      [ This being the case, it is EVERY AMERICANS' SACRED DUTY to shout from the proverbial roof-tops that America's greatest enemy is now standing- even at the door! ]

      Given that 'Popular-Government' can never fully escape the effects of  'Imperfect Men', we must accede to the proposition that "Government",  as Jefferson said,  "... is a necessary evil", but he also reminds us of our civic responsibility by adding:

     "The cost of liberty is eternal vigilance".

      It is incumbent upon us then, to keep that vigil; to expose and thereby excise those evils from our 'body politic'; to safeguard our Liberty; that most treasured object of the human heart, all other values being subsumed in it.

    That, in my opinion, aught to be and is 'the first order of business' of any enlightened government; the labor from which it must never rest.

    If our government fails... or, more precisely; If republican governance fails to reflect clearly, The Peoples' best character and highest ideals, then it must fail in every other aspect too.

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Notes:

    1. Not an actual criticism, because of the date of the piece, but intended only as a vehicle to introduce and explicate what follows.