A Loyal Cabinet

I didn’t watch the Republican debate, having better things to do with my time, such as watching the paint dry in my downstairs room. I did see clips of it, though, including the part where they were fulminating about Muslims in the cabinet. Newt Gingrich declaimed with great enthusiasm that anyone who was “not loyal to America” could not serve in his cabinet, and that “we did that with the Nazis and we did that with the Communists, and it worked.”

In exactly what way it “worked” he did not explain in any real detail, but then he never does. I’m also not sure how many Nazis actually sought US cabinet positions, but I was just an infant at the time, so I can’t speak with any real authority on the subject.

I was still pretty young when Communists were seeking cabinet positions, but I do recall that we didn’t limit their non-participation to cabinet positions. As I recall we banned them from film careers, and from publishing, and… Well, it was a pretty sweeping ban. It certainly did keep them out of the cabinet, but I don’t think we want to do that kind of thing again.

Somebody needs to inform Newt that every member of the current cabinet has sworn an oath to “protect and defend the constitution of the United States.” I’ve always thought that phrase was slightly weird; like who is going to attack a piece of paper? It does, however, certainly imply a high degree of loyalty to America, so I do believe Obama has beaten Gingrich to the punch on this issue.