What is a legal order?

Just for review: let’s look at the officer’s oath.

I do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic, and to bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation 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.

Think about it. Parse it.

Words mean things. As an officer, they are sometimes the only thing. They define you, your career, your honor. One word forgotten. One word misplaced. One word ignored. That is all it takes to change a life. Take a life. Save a life.

A bunch of “words” strung together and misplaced make up the thin line that separates an officer in the U.S. military from an officer in some 3rd World country.

Watch this video and remember: these are our contemporaries. This is the United States. For those that don’t have broadband, here is a quote to chew on.

National Guard troops going house-to-house, smashing down doors, searching for residents, and confiscating guns. Every victim of disarmament was clearly not a thug or looter, but a decent resident wanting to defend his or her home.

Many of the troops were clearly conflicted by their orders. "It is surreal," said one member of the Oklahoma National Guard who was going door-to-door in New Orleans. "You never expect to do this in your own country."

Many never would have expected it -- confiscating firearms from decent people who were relying on those firearms to protect themselves from the looters.

Conflicted by their orders. “I was just following orders.” Where do you draw the line? When do you call the JAG? Do you care?

Do words mean anything? Are we a nation of laws, or a nation of men?

Does an enemy of a written document always have an army behind him? Does he always carry a bomb? Does he have to fly a plane into a building?

Could that enemy, perhaps, just be a government official who in a time of crisis ignores the foundation of all that justifies the very uniform you wear?

When do you take the chance to say, “No.”
Think about it. You could be next.

Illegal order.

What price tag does your honor have? Which part of The Constitution has the smallest price tag? What official could make you forget that oath?

What are you willing to order your men to do?

When do you shut down a prayer service at the point of a gun?

When do you destroy the computers and internet connections of a member of the press at the point of a gun?

When do you fire on an unarmed crowd protesting in a public place?

When do you break up a political gathering at the point of a gun?

When do you force your way into a peaceful citizen’s house at gunpoint and take away their legally owned firearms?

When do you do everything, just because you are following orders, at the point of a gun?

In America. Against Americans. At the point of a gun.

Again, what price your honor? What price your oath? What price your Constitution?