This story—this little, news-filler story—really heartens
me. Newly-appointed Ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein Suzi LeVine took
her oath of office with her hand not on a book, but on an electronic reading
device.
But for me, that’s not the great part.
The open document on which LeVine rested her hand was not
a Bible, but the U.S. Constitution, open to the Nineteenth Amendment. That’s
the one that granted women the right to vote.
You know, when you take Federal office or join the
military or become a naturalized citizen, your oath is some variant of the
notion that you’ll “support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United
States”. Your loyalty and obligation are not to any human or humans, not an
administration, a Congress, a political party, a religious sect or any of that
nonsense.
The Founding Fathers agreed, in writing that
Constitution, that we would be a nation of laws, regardless of which party
might be in power. And the deal is—if you want to live here, that’s your price
of admission. And if you don’t happen to like a particular law, you don’t toss
your toys out of the pram or stamp your feet. You work—through the elective
system—to get it changed.
(Yes, we are in the process of debasing that system with
our system of lobbyists and campaign financing. But so far, although
politicians have been bought, the Constitution hasn’t.)
And, in fact, Article VI, Section 3 flat out states, “no
religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or
public trust under the United States.” Swirl that around your cup, Tea Party.
Other office-takers have apparently also taken their
oaths on copies of the Constitution, although this is the first time an
electronic version was used. LeVine used some no-name e-reader, thus taking no
position on the Kindle-Nook controversy.
I like all of this.
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