The Oath Of Office

Dear President-Elect Obama,

A few weeks ago I heard you being interviewed and you emphatically stated that the very first priority that you will have every morning upon waking is the safety of the American people.

That started me thinking about what the Founding Fathers had in mind for the line of future presidents, and what they wanted to emphasize to them and what they thought their number one priority should be.

They said: Each president recites the following oath, in accordance with Article II, Section I of the U.S. Constitution:

"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."

You are about to assume a most awesome responsiblity at a pivotal moment in the history of these United States and in the history of the entire world. This world has been recently spinning around issues of safety and economy, and this world, at this very moment is standing still; waiting to see how you will guide this nation.

May I suggest that you make a slight shift in your morning practises to include silently retaking your Oath Of Office every morning. May that guide you and be your number priority.

In the preamble to the constitution the goals are...

"to form a more perfect union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity..."

The path that they lay down is embarked upon with the taking of The Oath. It is that document, and the principles contained within it, that you swear to preserve, uphold and defend. Every day to day issue, every crisis, every opportunity must be informed by the indications of that document.

I wish you well on that journey.

I Resolve...

On this first day of this new year, I resolve to not buy into the fictions that are presented to me, and to the collective "us," each day. These fictions are pervasive, and they are presented so regularly, and so skillfully, both directly and indirectly that they put a coating of believability over each of their respective topics which makes it hard to even perceive them.

It is as if the coating serves two purposes. The first is to draw us unsuspectingly into an attractive alternative in the world of choices. The second is to capture us in a web which serves each and everyone who perpetrates it. The prime perp-er-trators are those who seek power over, and those who pursue financial gain over others.

Some of the tools and processes which perpetuate this web - dare I say: "Matrix?" include:

- The lie that is the "n-e-w-s," especially as presented on television;

- The fiction that is television programming, which is one of the most corrosive technologies on the planet. It purveys all sorts of unreality as if it is the way it is supposed to be. The latest lie I have noticed are the impossibly white teeth of virtually every celebrity wanna-be on the n-e-w-s programs;

- The lie that more and better purchasing and consuming will bring us happiness and a better quality of life;

- The lie that money is very important; it's important but after having a basic amount, not that important;

- The lie, the fiction, the deception that faster is better;

- The lie that we are a nation of great physical health and that pharmacology and high-tech medical procedures can, or will be able in the near future to solve most of our physical problems, and the lie that extension of life is in our best interest;

- The deception that financial investing is a good strategy for future security;

- The truly biggest deception is the covert programming that sucks from each of us the belief that we can make a difference;

- The unspoken lie of the established system that programs us to believe that we routinely need experts to solve our problems.

There are others. But I wanted to post this on the first day of this year.

I wish us all well in this coming year. And my wish is that all who embark on this discovery process will find a freedom and a power and a sense of purpose and life and engagement and responsibility that will benefit our respective worlds.