Our Party is Better than this

My RedMaryland colleague Michael Swartz reports that all of the proposed bylaw amendments passed, with the exception of the incumbent protection amendment. The most damning of these amendments to pass was the one calling for an oath. And I have to say that the State Central Committee members screwed the pooch on this one.

The members of the Central Committee have adopted an amendment to the bylaws that calls for an undefined, Orwellian sounding loyalty oath to the party. Aren't we, as a party, better than this? Do we need the members of the Central Committee to swear loyalty to do anything other than execute the duties of their office? And furthermore, who determines what this oath is? Is it the Central Committee? Is the Executive Committee? And what does the oath mean the Central Committee members swear allegiance to? To the Constitution? To the flag? To John Flynn?

This amendment to the bylaws seems nothing more than a power play to create a oath that can be used to bludgeon opponents of whoever is in charge at the time. We as a party should be better than this, and it is awfully disappointing to see the State Central Committee go along with such an Orwellian idea...