Issue Position: Constitutional Governance

Issue Position

By:  Danny Bedwell
Date: Jan. 1, 2012
Location: Unknown

James Madison was a wise man. I am retired from military service. When I enlisted, I took an Oath to "protect and defend the Constitution of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic." When I took that oath in 1977, I did not put an expiration date on it. That oath is still very much a part of me. As a matter of fact, it is my oath that compels me to run for office. While in uniform, foreign enemies of the Constitution seemed easily detectable, but it took me a while to come to grasp what the founders meant by "domestic enemies of the Constitution". Can a Congressman be a domestic enemy of the Constitution? How about a President? How about Supreme Court Justices? Can the Secretary of Labor or Director of Homeland Security? Who, exactly, is a domestic enemy of the Constitution, and how do we combat them? The answer is that all of those people can be domestic enemies of the Constitution. I am truly saddened that I must protect and defend the Constitution from my own government, but I am bound by my oath to do so.

One way to protect and defend the Constitution against these domestic enemies is to replace them with strict constitutionalists. A few weeks ago, I was asked by a supporter, if elected, would I promise to vote the way that my constituency wants me to vote? I think my answer took him by surprise, until I explained it. I replied to his question with a resounding No!

I explained that my allegiance was with the U.S. Constitution and not with my constituency. I did not take an oath to enforce whatever law some legislative body may come up with, or to enforce Supreme Court decisions. Nor did I take an oath to do whatever my constituency demands. No sir, my oath is to the Constitution. I am unwavering in my stance on this. I will vote in accordance with the Constitution, in every situation, in every case, without exception.