Wow, it sure seems like the oaths of our public officials are on the block lately and going cheap.
The Japanese say that death is light as a feather, but duty is as heavy as a mountain.
In america, it appears that duty and its associated oaths are pretty much weightless, while death remains the thorniest of problems.
I can remember as a kid when somebody would get caught with both paddies in a jar of tasty sweetmeats he was sworn to protect--he'd be run out of town on a rail if he was single, or, if he was married with kids, the family would be forced to apply rather quickly for church relief after the overearly and complete loss of his livelihood. and then, while being so sadly sheep dipped and branded, if he avoided prosecution, the family would be scrambling for a new place to relocate--out of town and quickly.
In Massachusetts of yore, where for sale signs dotted lawns, the office doors in public buildings and the reverse side of judges' business cards, it was often said that a pol could be made amenable to a constituent's unique plea for an indulgence with the price of a dinner at Dini's, a once famous seafood joint within an easy walk of the statehouse, which featured a darkened atmosphere and an easy pay back plan featuring installments.
Luncheon menus and reduced rates were available, as well, for the smaller difficulties--those particular problems whose cost in kind ranked just above the proverbial song, where even the most eager doormats drew the line.
Today, breaking similar oaths has become de rigeur across the land.
I mean, picture Bill Clinton, mulling over his mountainous oath of office, where he served as the highest law enforcement officer in our land, weighing the great burden the Constitution placed on him, before he pointed his finger at us and declared that he barely knew, let alone had "ree-lations" with that woman, Ms. Lewinsky, before, or was it after he perjured himself as President in a sworn deposition? I forget. But, anyway, he smashed the oath to protect and defend our Constitution into a thousand glittering shards.
and he amplified a far reaching trend already on the upswing.
and now it's all the rage, from the CIa, the US Senate, to the California state senate, and on down to the tykes like Mary McCarthy, late of the CIa, and Mike Nifong, with his travesty of a show trial being cobbled together in the newspapers before the real production begins--replete with the New old Black Panthers.
In the middle ages, the knights were sworn to their liege lords, often the king, and woe betide them if they broke their oath and then lost the bargain. They would be branded outlaws and have their lands and personal items forfeited to the king. If caught, they faced death by drawing and quartering, with their remains being carried to the far corners of the kingdom.
But those oaths had a real palpable value--for keeping them and in the penalties for their breakage.
When our solemn bonds and declarations were writ in the blood of patriots, early in our country's life, their value remained high and those that broke their vows suffered the gravest damages.
Today, in our feculently benevolent and poetically bourgeoisie society, the same pledge is becoming as worthless as a pengo or a rupee.
But as the value of the affirmation drops, it seems to purchase ever more in its breach--airplanes, trips, easy virtue, puff pieces in the New York Times, thanks from our enemies, the pain of our broken soldiers, and high praise from the myriad of pusillanimous appeasers on the left.
Unfortunately, there is no commodities market in our sacred oaths and their value. Thus we will never know when an oath can finally be purchased for a penny.
Without a net present value assigned to oaths of office, we have no way of knowing how their value is faring, or how often they are relied upon or actually used.
Think about the oaths of office for moment. If you value them, there's still hope.
But if you, like so many others, see them only as a pretense, an outworn piece of arcane frivolity, an archaic hold-over from medieval times which must be endured until the first chance appears to ignore its old fashioned strictures--easy come, easy go--you'll be an excellent politician for the new Democratic age.
Once broken, an oath is meaningless, just like the value of one's word.
and today, words come very cheap.
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