Politics and the Oaths We Take

I dislike politics, yet in October 2020 started writing about it. Why is that?

Photo by Anthony Garand on Unsplash

That sounds like something about which the explanation must be very complicated, doesn’t it?

But it’s not.

I can walk you through it in a few simple steps. I can do it without even mentioning anyone’s name.

Here goes:

Photo by author

A lady asked me a couple years ago when I happened to be wearing that hat: “What does that really mean?”

I asked her what she thought it meant, and she got angry. Then she told me “Anyone can wear a hat … how do I know you’re really a veteran?”

Said I (among other things): You don’t; but fortunately, I do.

Well, in a very broad sense my hat means that although my active military service ended decades ago, an important part of the oath I took in connection with that service (twice) still lives and binds me.

Specifically, (I and every enlisted person for many, many years now), swore in pertinent part:

To support and defend the Constitution of the United…