If BO is to swear an Oath on the Lincln bible, then would not it be wise for him to also follow these words?

With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation’s wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan – to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace, among ourselves, and with all nations.

.

The choice is his.

A small story. A business I know of had a successful marketing campaign a few years ago. It was one of those “viral” marketing campaigns that really took off and became so “in” that t-shirts were made and thousands sold.

But the business owner decided that all monies, except for the actual cost of the shirt + the shipping charge, would go to the Seattle Veterans’ Center. They delivered a check totaling, I’m trying to recall — i think it was around $18,000.

The owner and his staff were invited to a ceremony at the Vet Center. And they were introduced to all the homeless men (I think they were all men) who came that day to pick up the packages of blankets, toothbrushes, toothpaste, soap, and many other amenities that the gift had made possible. The monies were used in other ways too.

MANY (!) of those homeless men came from the Iraq War and the Gulf War. People just don’t know how many Iraq vets are having a terrible time when they return home, for a large number of valid reasons.

Of note: The business owner has a long history of being an anti-war activist, but he realizes that far too many young men and women are left with few choices when they leave high school. The military offers opportunities they would never otherwise have. But it exacts a high price, particularly for those who see combat.

But it also appears that some of our veterans have begun to react to political administrations using them up and tossing them aside. Colonel Gregory S. Hollister has filed a suit to clarify the identity of the man about to be installed as his commander in chief. As he says, all military are required to take an oath of allegiance

I, Gregory S. Hollister, 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.”

and he feels that all veterans, even those who end up abandoned and dying on the streets, deserve to know who is giving them their orders and

without a determination by competent authority as to whether Soetoro is or isn’t constitutionally eligible to be President, Hollister fears he will be left on his own to determine his duties should he receive what is purported to be his reactivation orders from Soetoro, or conflicting orders from superiors in the chain of command, or orders which may conflict with his duty to support and defend the Constitution.

And if we really want to help those young men called to service by politicians, we must make sure that those men who refused to fight in their generation’s war can no longer abandon their duty to veterans who return. And that their commander in chief is someone of truth and integrity and who does not owe allegiance to a foreign nation. They deserve to know that before they must decide if an order is a lawful order.

http://www.sonorannews.com/archives/2008/081231/FrntPgEnlistment.html

Again, thank you for this post.

It’s hard to watch this scene without being touched by the contrasts. In other words, I just cried my eyes out.

It is amazing that in a land of abundance so many have so little.

Yes, indeed. And in America, no less. We talk a good game, but we do not walk the walk. For shame.