These Proceedings

 I was curious what the Oath in Oath Keepers was. Exactly. According to their website, “Oath Keepers is a non-partisan association of current and formerly serving military, police, and first responders, who pledge to fulfill the oath all military and police take to defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic.”

The short answer is: "I will defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic." Apparently there was some confusion on January 6, 2021 because the Constitution is not housed inside the Capitol building, but at the National Archives. An easy mistake to make if you're confused by things like maps and facts. 

Of course, the Oath Keepers are more of a "in the spirit of" rather than actually following the directions on the box we call Democracy. Which might explain how they periodically find themselves running into trouble with the law. The law that, ironically, they have taken an oath to protect. This past week, Stewart Rhodes and Kelly Meggs were found guilty by a Federal jury in Washington of seditious conspiracy in connection with the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. Not the National Archives. Stewart is the founder of the Oath Keepers. Kelly is one of his sheep. Three other members were found not guilty of seditious conspiracy, but all five were found guilty of obstruction of an official proceeding and aiding and abetting for their actions on Jan. 6, 2021. Perhaps what these keepers of an oath they don't fully comprehend may not have anticipated is that the lawyers they were going up against had more than a passing knowledge of the United States Constitution, and saw fit to apply it to the awkward hypocrisy applied by Stewart and his minions. Chief among the concerns that he and his group seem most worried about is the government imposing martial law in order for them to take everyone's guns away. The other little tidbit to take away from all of this might be that Stewart's actual first name is Elmer. Which may go a long way to figuring out what might be at the heart of his trouble with authority. 

Of course Mister Rhodes and his pals will look to appeal the verdict. That's something that is guaranteed in the (checks notes) Constitution. That thing that they are supposedly upholding and protecting. Unless they're busy breaking into offices and stealing from people's desks and beating police officers with the United States flag. 

Confused? That's okay. There is a lot about which to be confused. For instance, Where is the big cheese in all this talk about insurrection and so forth? That wispy hunk of orange fromage is notable absent from these proceedings. I guess there's still so much we all don't know about the Constitution.