Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search
44 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Why does Obama say his first, solemn duty is to protect American people? (Original Post) grasswire Jun 2014 OP
What Constitution? Gidney N Cloyd Jun 2014 #1
Because - oddly - he has no duties named as such in the Constitution intaglio Jun 2014 #2
Yup. What is so hard to understand here?... CTyankee Jun 2014 #41
why are you nit picking? NightWatcher Jun 2014 #3
he's not the only one who says it. grasswire Jun 2014 #5
yep. Phlem Jun 2014 #8
It's the new post-9/11 paradigm for the war that "will not end in our lifetimes" arcane1 Jun 2014 #29
I don't see defense of the Constitution.. grasswire Jun 2014 #17
Yea it is. Its ridiculous, absurd nitpicking. phleshdef Jun 2014 #25
Too bad you don't see the distinction. grasswire Jun 2014 #30
To accept your premise would be to validate Bush's use of the riqster Jun 2014 #31
no grasswire Jun 2014 #34
Pondered it. Still think you are being painfully ridiculous and desperate to complain. phleshdef Jun 2014 #39
Probably just to piss people off sharp_stick Jun 2014 #4
Yeah, I like that about the President.. pisses off just the right people. Cha Jun 2014 #40
The President has many responsibilities. MineralMan Jun 2014 #6
political BS and PR. sounds good tho does it not| the 1% are thankful nt msongs Jun 2014 #7
So that National Security is kept in the public's mind as ... GeorgeGist Jun 2014 #9
yep grasswire Jun 2014 #16
It irks me as much as when the Dim Son said it gratuitous Jun 2014 #10
well said nt grasswire Jun 2014 #14
Protecting the American people and protecting the Constitution are not really 2 different things. phleshdef Jun 2014 #11
Seriously, WTF? ProSense Jun 2014 #21
I mean, PBO might as well hang it up, he can't even make an innocuous statement like this... phleshdef Jun 2014 #24
Nah, Obama doesn't need to hang it up.. consider the source of said Cha Jun 2014 #42
Well now, I wouldn't accuse anyone of misrepresenting their agenda here on DU! phleshdef Jun 2014 #43
The rationale for military action in Iraq. rug Jun 2014 #12
should he oppose gun control because of the 2nd amendment ? JI7 Jun 2014 #13
the logic of some here would seem to suggest he should onenote Jun 2014 #28
He cannot say "gun", because that specific word isn't in the Second amendment. riqster Jun 2014 #32
Which is to provide for the common defense and promote the general welfare Boom Sound 416 Jun 2014 #15
I've always disliked it when presidents say that. BlueCheese Jun 2014 #18
yep grasswire Jun 2014 #19
Because our polity is the living embodiment of the Constitution. msanthrope Jun 2014 #20
You have it wrong ProSense Jun 2014 #22
Indeed!!! Screw Abraham Lincoln and the idea that we are the polity!!! Scalia's msanthrope Jun 2014 #23
HAHAH, it's like republicans with the flag burning opposition JI7 Jun 2014 #27
DUzy! riqster Jun 2014 #33
No his oath includes swearing to faithfully perform the duties of his office. Vattel Jun 2014 #26
I've noticed that also... kentuck Jun 2014 #35
K&R for a very important OP. It's a malignant miseducation of the public. woo me with science Jun 2014 #36
Because it's true Renew Deal Jun 2014 #37
He only takes one oath?? kentuck Jun 2014 #38
give me liberty or give me death yodermon Jun 2014 #44

intaglio

(8,170 posts)
2. Because - oddly - he has no duties named as such in the Constitution
Tue Jun 17, 2014, 02:02 PM
Jun 2014

The oath is "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,"

As the Constitution is there for the protection of all American people surely he can legitimately claim that their protection is a duty?

grasswire

(50,130 posts)
5. he's not the only one who says it.
Tue Jun 17, 2014, 02:09 PM
Jun 2014

IIRC, Bush said it too.

It seems they use this as deflection from their obligation to defend the freedoms provided to us under the Constitution; as a way to allow war making (MIC).

Phlem

(6,323 posts)
8. yep.
Tue Jun 17, 2014, 02:30 PM
Jun 2014

And it was an issue then, especially during the Iraq war. I remember people here having strong opinions with that.

grasswire

(50,130 posts)
17. I don't see defense of the Constitution..
Tue Jun 17, 2014, 05:00 PM
Jun 2014

...which guarantees our most precious liberties as nit picking.

You do?

 

phleshdef

(11,936 posts)
25. Yea it is. Its ridiculous, absurd nitpicking.
Tue Jun 17, 2014, 06:03 PM
Jun 2014

For one, its an innocuous statement to begin with. Taking offense to such a statement should be embarrassing for you.

For two, protecting the American people and protecting the Constitution are not 2 different missions, at all, whatsoever.

grasswire

(50,130 posts)
30. Too bad you don't see the distinction.
Tue Jun 17, 2014, 06:16 PM
Jun 2014

Ponder it. Think about what those words have brought us. "Protect the American people." Four trillion wasted dollars. Thousands of dead GIs, tens of thousands of wounded. All for naught. All because the MIC convinced Bush to say it was his first responsibility toprotect the American people. And now even some Dems follow suit.

For a politician to say that is carrying water for the war profiteers and ghouls.

riqster

(13,986 posts)
31. To accept your premise would be to validate Bush's use of the
Tue Jun 17, 2014, 06:29 PM
Jun 2014

Phrase. And I most vigorously do not think that we should do so.

Bush lied when he said that. It does not mean that every politico from now on means "rape, plunder, pillage, and profiteer" when they pledge to protect their constituency.

grasswire

(50,130 posts)
34. no
Tue Jun 17, 2014, 06:37 PM
Jun 2014

to accept my premise means that no president should say so.

Bush used the phrase for nefarious reasons. Obama should not use it.

And Obama isn't just pledging to protect his constituency. He's saying that's his first, and sworn duty. He can pledge to protect his constituency until the cows come home. He just shouldn't say that it is his most important duty.

MineralMan

(146,192 posts)
6. The President has many responsibilities.
Tue Jun 17, 2014, 02:25 PM
Jun 2014

In a nation where the people are ostensibly in charge of selecting their own government, "the American People" are among the responsibilities of the President. The Constitution is a document that is all about the people and their importance in our system of government. In protecting them, the President is also protecting and defending the Constitution.

I'm surprised that is not obvious to a student of America.

Beginning with the first sentence of the Preamble, the word "people" occurs 9 times in the document, all in very important places in that document.

You can read the whole thing at this link:

http://constitutioncenter.org/constitution/full-text

grasswire

(50,130 posts)
16. yep
Tue Jun 17, 2014, 04:58 PM
Jun 2014

although I WILL give Obama the benefit of the doubt and think it might be possible that he has simply adopted the rhetoric crafted by Bushco.

But he is wrong, and it is harmful to continue to say this.

gratuitous

(82,849 posts)
10. It irks me as much as when the Dim Son said it
Tue Jun 17, 2014, 04:21 PM
Jun 2014

You're 100% correct: The President's job is to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution. Without the Constitution, there is no United States of America, or at least there is no country described in the Constitution as the United States of America. When Presidents get confused on this point - either by chance or design - all kinds of mischief ensues, because the President thinks he's protecting the American people. And that's not his job, first or last, solemn or casual.

 

phleshdef

(11,936 posts)
11. Protecting the American people and protecting the Constitution are not really 2 different things.
Tue Jun 17, 2014, 04:22 PM
Jun 2014

You are trying way too hard.

ProSense

(116,464 posts)
21. Seriously, WTF?
Tue Jun 17, 2014, 05:53 PM
Jun 2014

Fuck the American people, it's the Constitution that matters.

You know, the one that protects the rights of the American people.

LOL!

 

phleshdef

(11,936 posts)
24. I mean, PBO might as well hang it up, he can't even make an innocuous statement like this...
Tue Jun 17, 2014, 06:01 PM
Jun 2014

...without gnashing of teeth and tearing of garments... and that's just coming from the left!

Cha

(295,916 posts)
42. Nah, Obama doesn't need to hang it up.. consider the source of said
Tue Jun 17, 2014, 07:50 PM
Jun 2014

gnashers. I love it! So freaking predictable it's comedic. "The left"?.. if that's what you want to call them.

 

phleshdef

(11,936 posts)
43. Well now, I wouldn't accuse anyone of misrepresenting their agenda here on DU!
Tue Jun 17, 2014, 07:57 PM
Jun 2014

That's preposterous!

onenote

(42,380 posts)
28. the logic of some here would seem to suggest he should
Tue Jun 17, 2014, 06:14 PM
Jun 2014

and I use logic in the loosest possible form.

riqster

(13,986 posts)
32. He cannot say "gun", because that specific word isn't in the Second amendment.
Tue Jun 17, 2014, 06:31 PM
Jun 2014

Be damned to meaning, we have words to worship!

BlueCheese

(2,522 posts)
18. I've always disliked it when presidents say that.
Tue Jun 17, 2014, 05:14 PM
Jun 2014

Because more often than not it's being used as an excuse to embark or some hare-brained adventure abroad or infringe on civil liberties at home.

 

msanthrope

(37,549 posts)
20. Because our polity is the living embodiment of the Constitution.
Tue Jun 17, 2014, 05:51 PM
Jun 2014

Yes...his first job is to protect the polity...what do you think "Government of the people" means? His job is to protect us...the people, by exercising his authority under the Constitution.

I am surprised this was not covered in your civics education.

ProSense

(116,464 posts)
22. You have it wrong
Tue Jun 17, 2014, 05:55 PM
Jun 2014

"Government of the people"

It's Government of the Contstitution, by the Constitution, for the Constitution!!!

 

msanthrope

(37,549 posts)
23. Indeed!!! Screw Abraham Lincoln and the idea that we are the polity!!! Scalia's
Tue Jun 17, 2014, 05:57 PM
Jun 2014

Originalism is much closer to the mark!!!!

 

Vattel

(9,289 posts)
26. No his oath includes swearing to faithfully perform the duties of his office.
Tue Jun 17, 2014, 06:06 PM
Jun 2014

He is the chief executive and CIC and so he has the duty to enforce the rights of Americans, execute the law, and command the military in war. That pretty much demands that he protect the American people although I wish more presidents realized that it does not mean that he should violate the rights of non-Americans to increase the security of Americans.

woo me with science

(32,139 posts)
36. K&R for a very important OP. It's a malignant miseducation of the public.
Tue Jun 17, 2014, 06:43 PM
Jun 2014

It started with the cries of "Terra!" under the Bush administration to justify the stripping of American Constitutional protections through the Patriot Act and mass surveillance. And it has only worsened under Obama.

All of the dismantling of our Constitution that is being undertaken by the oligarchs and their purchased politicians relies on the public's poor understanding of our own system of government, especially of the limitations placed on government for the protection of the people from the government.

None of it - the mass surveillance, the assaults on and intimidation of our free press, the secret laws and secret courts, the indefinite detention, the "Kill Lists," the ceding of public control to global corporations - can occur if the people are aware of and insist on the rights and representation guaranteed in the Constitution.

We are being told to accept the murder of our Constitution, with the excuse that it's for our own protection.

Over and over again, our protection is the excuse offered, so we know this wording is not accidental. The messaging is not accidental. This ugly claim about what presidents are supposed to do above all else is a deliberate lie begun under Bush and continued under the new corporate administration, to acclimatize the public to the transformation of this nation from a representative republic to something very different, something authoritarian and definitely not Constitutional.










Renew Deal

(81,802 posts)
37. Because it's true
Tue Jun 17, 2014, 06:55 PM
Jun 2014

Sworn and solemn are different, but beyond that it's the point of having a government.

Latest Discussions»General Discussion»Why does Obama say his fi...