Honor the Oath, Now!

A Republic If We Can Keep It

Franklin Delano Roosevelt reportedly responded to constituents’ request for action with “I want to do it it but I need you to make me.” It may be that President Biden wants to honor his oath of office and defend the Constitution of the United States but he needs us to make him do it.

Section 3 of the 14th amendment of the United States Constitution bars insurrectionists who had sworn an oath to defend the Constitution from ever holding any public office.

Section 3. No person shall . . . hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or . . . as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. . . .

As an insurrectionist who had sworn the Presidential oath to uphold the Constitution of the United States, president-elect Trump is barred from holding any public office. President Biden is rightly committed to the peaceful transfer of power but cannot transfer power to Trump without violating his oath to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. President Biden has a constitutional crisis that he must resolve by transfering power to an elected successor who is eligible to hold the office.

How can this constitutional crisis be resolved? It cannot be resolved by transferring power to Vice President-elect Vance because the people did not elect Vance to the presidency. Vance was chosen as a running mate by the insurrectionist. If the people want Vance as President, they deserve the chance to vote for him. Our next president can be neither an insurrectionist nor chosen for us by an insurrectionist.

One way for President Biden to resolve our constitutional crisis is by having the nation hold an expedited election so the people can choose leaders who are eligible to hold public office.

What Can President Biden Do?

Honor his oath of office to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States by transferring power to a successor who is eligible to hold public office and elected in accord with the Constitution.
Hold an expedited election insuring that only individuals eligible to hold public office are elected.
Insure election integrity. Given the malign attempts of foreign adversaries in our electoral process, election officials across the nation should review the November 2024 election process to find vulnerabilities and correct any vulnerabilities ahead of the expedited election.
Fund all campaigns equally. We the people have given our all to the 2024 election—we are spent. Now only monied interests can afford to contribute to another election. To allow the people to hear the voice of all candidates equally, the expedited campaigns must be funded solely through a special fund with all candidates receiving equal support.
Minimize disinformation and unchecked spread of misinformation. To protect our election from foreign adversaries and malign actors, we must minimize disinformation and insure that democratically relevant information is available to all voters.
President Biden has broad lattitude to protect our Constitution using the powers of the Executive Branch. However, he cannot be the spokesperson for upholding Section 3 of the 14th Amendment without appearing partisan. It must be our voice demanding that he honor his oath to uphold the Constitution.

What can we do?

We can share this “Honor the Oath” document with others—as many as we can as soon as we can.
Contact President Biden and implore him to honor his oath. Tell him “President Biden, Honor your oath by transferring power to a legitimately elected successor who meets all constitutional criteria for holding the office. Do not betray your oath of office by transferring the power of our nation to an insurrectionist who is constitutionally ineligible to hold any public office.”
Tell our legislators to honor their oaths and use their proximity to the White House to compel President Biden to honor his.
Start or sign a petition to your state’s federal legislators demanding that they honor their oaths by working to resolve this constitutional crisis. As elected representatives, they need us to make them do it.
Contact social media personalities asking them to use their platform to educate their audience about this constitutional crisis, to create grassroots support for Honor the Oath, and to demand that President Biden uphold the Constitution as he has sworn to do.
Keep it non-partisan. The Constitution is America’s answer to the historic abuses of leaders with unchecked power. Holding our elected leaders accountable to the oaths they swore is not partisan, it is American. Let’s demand that our leaders honor their oaths of office—starting with President Biden. Implore him to (1) transfer power (2) to a legitimately elected, and (3) constitutionally eligible successor.

Resources

Write to President Biden online. When asked what you would like to discuss choose Other and type Honor the Oath: https://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/share/
Senators’ contact information can be found here: https://www.senate.gov/senators/senators-contact.htm
Representatives contact information can be found here: https://www.house.gov/representatives
The 14th Amendment can be read here: https://constitution.congress.gov/constitution/amendment-14/
An oveview of bipartisan determination that President-elect Trump participated in the January 6th insurrection is given here: https://thehill.com/opinion/judiciary/4155537-the-constitution-bars-trump-from-holding-public-office-ever-again/amp/
An overview of Colorado’s District and Supreme Courts adjudication of Trump as an insurrectionist can be read here under the section titled lower court history: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trump_v._Anderson
In Trump v. Anderson the Supreme Court ruled that states cannot block federal office seekers from their state ballot. https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/23pdf/23-939_e2pg.pdf