During my naval career, I served under seven Commander

During my naval career, I served under seven Commanders in Chief, from Eisenhower to Reagan. When I retired in 1984, I no longer had a Commander in Chief because I was no longer in the military. The Constitution which I swore to protect and defend (and did so for 30 years) states in Article 2, Section 2: “The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States.”

April 29, 2008 10:35 pm

Not electing

our commander

During my naval career, I served under seven Commanders in Chief, from Eisenhower to Reagan. When I retired in 1984, I no longer had a Commander in Chief because I was no longer in the military. The Constitution which I swore to protect and defend (and did so for 30 years) states in Article 2, Section 2: “The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States.”

Unless and until we become a military dictatorship, this country will never have a Commander in Chief. It is only by virtue of an ineffective Legislative Branch that President George W. Bush has been allowed to operate as if he was the Commander in Chief of the nation.

When the current nominees for the presidency from both the Democratic and Republican parties assert that they are best qualified to be Commander in Chief, they are displaying their ignorance of the Constitution, unless they append the phrase “of the Armed Forces.” Allowing them to do otherwise will, in my opinion, continue to be disastrous for the country.

Pickens W. Irvine

Oak Harbor