1. Anonymous says:

    http://www.army.mil/cmh/faq/oaths.htm
    The wordings of the current oath of enlistment and oath for commissioned officers are as follows:

    â€I, _____, 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.†(Title 10, US Code; Act of 5 May 1960 replacing the wording first adopted in 1789, with amendment effective 5 October 1962).

    â€I, _____ (SSAN), having been appointed an officer in the Army of the United States, as indicated above in the grade of _____ do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign or domestic, that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservations or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office upon which I am about to enter; So help me God.†(DA Form 71, 1 August 1959, for officers.)

    â€defend the Constitution of the United States†comes meaningfully before â€obey the orders of the Presidentâ€.

    and, since Nuremberg, all officers are mandated to follow no illegal orders.

  2. Anonymous says:

    ew,
    my dad was stationed at mawell afb in 1954-56 and we lived in montgomery alabama.
    i was four, but i remember my father’s outrage in reaction to learning that my older sibs’ school had separate parent teacher organizations … the PTO was white and the PTA was black … naively attending his first meeting of the pto, dad was shocked to hear strategies to subvert court orders and to work to protect segregation …
    … major martindale stood to speak and pronounced the gathered â€enemies of the constitution, domestic†and that he was sworn to uphold his oath as an officer of the united states air force and would abide them no more … and he left …
    high drama in my young life …

    later that year mom would warn me to stay away from the bus stops …

    how are we to believe that we could return to that world?
    and not cry?

  3. Anonymous says:

    â€Thank you yellowdog. I think you made the point I was trying to make better than I.

    Posted by: emptywheel | January 13, 2006 at 13:42â€

    i am deeply flattered.
    i did not intend that and am pressed to be able to see it even now, but … thanks!
    please use my minor citation as ammo for your excellent writing to help make our point in the classic blogospheric collaboration!

  4. Anonymous says:

    Probably I am reaching, but couldn’t Fitz use this â€Get Murtha†as an example to illustrate the WHIG’s â€get Wilson.†I understand â€Get Murtha†is in no way illegal, but except for outing classified information, the pattern of hiding behind a mouthpiece is the same. IMO this is â€fair game,†since the WH started talking about: â€the criminilization of politics.â€
    OT: I am sure the Code of Military Conduct prohibits the military from â€endorsing†products and participating in â€advertising. while discharging military duties or while in uniform.†It may be that the language is broad enough to include orders to â€Get Murtha†in the press.
    OT: This new â€General’s†tactic suggests that Rover’s influence with the Corporate Media has diminished (at least in Rover’s opinion.) It also reinforces how frightened Rove is of Murtha. I think the WH has is telling us exactly where they know they are most vulnerable, Iraq. This is probably as good as recommendation as any that from a sound byte, public relations, media perspective everyone else should rally around, Murtha.

  5. Anonymous says:

    yellowdog

    That’s a great story about the PTO. I’m sure Major Martindale would tell the CinC where to stick his denunciation.

    John Casper

    I didn’t really get into it, but consider the fact that this denunciation tactic is appearing at the same time as Bush is–repeatedly–talking about dangerous opposition. They really believe, I think, that the public is souring on Iraq BECAUSE of Murtha and Dean and Reid. It’s that damn polisci guy from Duke again–the public needs to believe it’s winnable.

    I’ve got impeccable postmodern credentials but at some point, the physical world does outweigh appearances. And we’ve reached that point in Iraq, no matter what Rove does.

  6. Anonymous says:

    Yellowdog, is your dad the Major Martindale who stood up to those diehard â€segsâ€? Whoever it was … great story.

    And, ew, stop selling short your suggested comment for the generals. What the gray eminences behind George Bush are suggesting is, in fact, Stalinist, and if they really had their way, instead of firing generals who speak out, they’d repeat 1937 and put generals like Shinseki on trial (though probably not execute them the way Uncle Joe did to half the Red Army officer corps).

    We’ve got some folks in high places who believe insubordination is anything they say it is, just as liberty or torture or due process is anything they say it is.

  7. Anonymous says:

    MB

    Don’t forget the General they chased out of the service a week before retirement–on charges of adultery with a civilian. We’re not that far off show trials. And at the rate we’re going, we will get there.

  8. Anonymous says:

    I assume everyone here reads firedoglake assiduously, but in case you all haven’t seen it, they (the WH) apparently have found an 80 year old vet willing to dis Murtha. I say ’apparently’ because…well, the ’news’ comes from ’CNSNews’, which seems to be a front for Bozell, so who knows what the deal actually is…

  9. Anonymous says:

    I generally subscribe to the policy of not using the net to harrass people. But I’d like to find and talk to that 80-year old Vet (who, btw, is himself spreading hearsay from someone who is dead) or his family. Ask a few questions. They’ve probably got some kind of Grima Wormtongue whispering into the old guy’s ear. And a whole lot of cash funneling into his (more likely, his probably heirs’) pocket.

  10. Anonymous says:

    Downing Street Memo addressed anew over at TomPaine. He presents Ray McGovern thoughts on some of the additional revelations found in James Risen’s State of War…
    that indeed, Tenet was the source of information relayed to Blair that the decision to go to war had been made and was irreversible.
    http://www.tompaine.com/articl…..merica.php

  11. Anonymous says:

    Yellowdog beat me to it. My first reaction to the post above was a gut-felt revolt at the idea that I, as an officer (though not a general), took an oath to protect the country. No. I took an oath, first and foremost, â€to protect and defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign or domestic.†Anything and everything after that is subservient to the first statement.

    Though it would not be right to say that I don’t give a flying fuck for â€the countryâ€, it is close to the practical truth. This country is not worth defending without the Constitution and Bill of Rights, first and foremost. The environmentalist and biologist in me makes me want to protect the natural world aspects of ANY country but my duty as a military officer is to the Constitution. Anyone, and I mean anyone in a position of power, be it CC of the Joint Chiefs or the Prez himself/herself violates the Constitution and all bets are off. They automatically become one of the enemy, as per the oath, that needs to be defeated.

  12. Anonymous says:

    PA –
    thank you for your active duty validation of what this air force brat and lifetime civilian wished to convey.

    EW –
    we also note that in the oaths, â€god†only gets mentioned at the end.

    it is as if they meant to have their priorities in order:
    1) The Constitution, first and foremost;
    2) the president and chain of command; secondly, after the Constitution has been defended;
    … and should those two fail, then …

    3) god …
    … may she help us all