Oath of Office

When you join the United States military, you take the oath of office. This oath states:

I do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will 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 on which I am about to enter.

Like me, John McCain took this oath upon graduation from the United States Naval Academy. Each year, McCain takes the oath again as a member of Congress.

I would like him to square that oath with a campaign that encourages this:

These people are not all crazy or stupid. Instead — worse — they are normal people, worried about the future for themselves, their families, and their children, being willfully misled, distracted, scared by a campaign more focused on winning at all costs than remembering the oath Senator McCain took.

While Senator McCain is not responsible for the behavior of every one of his friends or supporters, to encourage this kind of mob mentality is reprehensible and irresponsible.

He should be ashamed of himself.