Bush Did Not Take An Oath to Congress

Barry Casselman writes a piece at RealClearPolitics.com in which he compares Lincoln's Civil War travails in 1864 to the current climate. I've done that here before and there certainly are similarities, especially during the 2004 elections. You can read his comparisons here.

One paragraph stuck out and is a truth that most people on both sides of the aisle and in the media conveniently forget:

Mr. Bush has not taken an oath to Mrs. Pelosi, nor to Mr. Boehner. He has not taken an oath to The New York Times, nor to The Washington Times. He has not even taken an oath to Molly Ivins, nor to a mere prairie editor such as myself. He has taken an oath "to preseve, protect and defend the United States of America." He was re-elected decisively in 2004. Those who opposed him then, and those who disagree with him now, have every right to criticise him and second-guess him. I myself have consistently taken issue with his communicating about the war to the American people (he's neither a Lincoln nor a Ford), the mistakes in our performance in Iraq, and with those he hired to conduct the war, even as I supported his overall vision. But he is still the commander-in-chief, and doing what he feels will fulfill his oath.

Exactly. Bush is not going to let those invested in America's defeat, whether terrorist, foreign leader, or American politician, get in the way of doing what he thinks he needs to do to protect our country. That doesn't mean he'll always be right, but he'll have the constitution on his side.