RUTHFULLY YOURS

Missouri state senator and Black Lives Matter protestor Jamilah Nasheed refused to stand along with her fellow legislators to recite the pledge of allegiance at the opening of a session of the Missouri senate.

The Muslim convert (she was born Jenise Williams) has been active in the Ferguson riots/protests, and although Ms. Rasheed has supported strict gun control laws, she was found in possession of a loaded firearm when she was arrested in front of the Ferguson city hall in 2014. (Nasheed also refused to take a breathalyzer.)

While there is no law compelling Ms. Rasheed to stand and recite the pledge, one wonders at a public servant (sic) willfully refusing to make a pledge to the country she is ostensibly serving. And one wonders why she is doing this now, when she freely pledged this same allegiance in the past. If she has changed her views and no longer deems America worthy of her allegiance, shouldn’t she be removed from her office?

The Missouri legislature can and should at least censure her, if not remove her from office. And since the GOP has a super majority it can be done.

Nasheed took an oath before assuming office. According to the Missouri Constitution:

Section 15. Every senator or representative elect, before entering upon the duties of his office, shall take and subscribe the following oath or affirmation: “I do solemnly swear, or affirm, that I will support the Constitution of the United States and of the state of Missouri, and faithfully perform the duties of my office, and that I will not knowingly receive, directly or indirectly, any money or other valuable thing for the performance or nonperformance of any act or duty pertaining to my office, other than the compensation allowed by law.” The oath shall be administered in the halls of the respective houses to the members thereof, by a judge of the supreme court or a circuit court, or after the organization by the presiding officer of either house, and shall be filed in the office of the secretary of state. Any senator or representative refusing to take said oath or affirmation shall be deemed to have vacated his office, and any member convicted of having violated his oath or affirmation shall be deemed guilty of perjury, and be forever disqualified from holding any office of trust or profit in this state.

While the Pledge of Allegiance is not the oath of office, her refusal to make it brings into question her support for the Constitution of the United States. As such, it can be argued she has vacated her office.

In a seemingly unrelated story, a social security employee in Illinois is being threatened with termination for refusing to watch a training video promoting “sensitivity” to LGBT issues.

David Hall, a 14-year career employee of the Social Security Administration in Chicago is faced with termination for his refusal — based on religious grounds — to submit himself to what he believes is a violation of his religious beliefs. Mr. Hall worked in IT, and did not have direct contact with clients or the general public.

So, Mr. Hall has an obvious First Amendment right being violated and the liberals are demanding he be fired while a state legislator willfully breaks the law and further refuses to even acknowledge her allegiance and she is untouchable. The hypocrisy is galling.

After all, both are public employees.

The Democrats and the Left are completely willing to take down a man who has not sworn such an oath as Ms. Nasheed, and do so happily. Until Republicans learn to play hardball in the fashion of their political opponents, they will continue to lose, and America will continue its long, agonizing slide into the abyss.