We need to defend the Constitution — and now
To the Times:
One of the conversations that I am not hearing across the internet following the horrific events of Jan. 6, 2021, and in the anticipation of further violence, is: Why are we allowing the use of our internet and other forms of public communications for the purposes of tearing down America and spreading lies or propaganda?
I am all for free speech, and just as we cannot yell fire in a theater, there are certain questions that don’t get to be asked with regard to life in America. I am all for asking questions about how our government should run, and the decisions and decision processes that we follow to achieve our national goals and strategies. But we do not get to question the existence of America or our Constitution. And we do not get to violate that Constitution or our laws by our own choosing or without repercussion. All of our leaders have sworn oaths to protect and defend the Constitution, and in that Constitution is the definition and establishment of the United States of America. Even before basic ethical questions, we must first vow our support for our existence.
When you begin to ask questions or make assertions that the U.S. should not exist, or that our Constitution or the rule of law should not guide us, or you begin to gather people together with the intent of violating that Constitution, our laws, and/or of harming or overthrowing our government or its leaders, you have now crossed the line on what is considered acceptable commentary. At that point, you forfeit the right to utilize the systems we have in place for communications.
These systems were built to establish America with strength and efficiency in conducting operations ostensibly all within these existential guidelines. In challenging the existence of America, one forfeits the right to use these systems. There are many systems in place in America that are designed to facilitate our economic efficiency and further our economic strength. All of them come with a tacit acknowledgement that America should exist and that our Constitution and laws are a guide to proper civil behavior.
Every organization and every individual must be held accountable under our Constitution and under our laws or we do not have a nation or a constitution. Beginning soon, I hope that our true government leaders take a critical view of the existential questions being asked by those who appear to be doing us harm, or try to, and use those statements as a way to confirm that everyone who takes advantage of all that America has provided is also abiding by our laws.
Every citizen needs to swear that they will preserve and defend the Constitution of the United States and the laws upon which we operate. Those who choose not to should be excluded from access to all that this great nation has to offer.