Look, if you ask me, the whole mess begins with a candidate for President of these United States who, after being told he lost the Presidential election, simply refused to accept the truth, then deliberately stirred a pot of falsehood, and now has seduced millions of cultic true-believers who follow him blindly, or so it seems. "Stop the Steal" might well have been the most pernicious phrase of our time. It is and was and forever will be a lie. We all know who chartered it, who perpetuated it, and who still rides the following he created four years ago.
Start there. With a lie. And that millions believed it. That's where this chaos caught flame.
Today is just another manifestation of the festering scourge that lie created. Today, a truly historic day in American history, Donald Trump's lawyers--he has battalions of them--will argue this: while the 14th amendment makes clear that no "official of the government" can hold office if at any time he or she was once part of an insurrection. Trump's boys--and this time they are males- will argue, among other things, that Trump wasn't an officer of the government; he was the President.
What they want--and what millions of Trumpsters also want--is Trump's name on the Colorado ballot. They want him viable where some have ruled, following the 14th amendment, that he isn't.
If you back up a minute, it's hard not to identify a little irony here. Trump pledged to the pro-life crowd that he'd see to it that Roe v. Wade came tumbling down. That's what he promised, and that's what he delivered. He did so with three Supreme Court justices (amazing tally, by the way--his four years in office gave him the opportunity to name three new justices), justices from a school of constitutional interpreters called "originalists," who claim the only standard they use to interpret the constitution is to read what the words say, not adduce what the idea might have said were the signators around today: no playing fast and loose with the truth, in other words. One doesn't interpret the constitution; one reads what it says.
All three of his appointees are "originalists" or "textualists." They don't like to mess around with what's there, which means Trump's fate is in the hands of three of his appointees, all of whom believe in taking the text of the constitution at its word, not in interpreting it to mean, for instance, that the President really isn't an "officer," when 99 percent of the American people would understand he sure as heck is.
One might well expect that Trumps' three justices rule against his lawyer's determination that the line has to be interpreted--did it really mean Donald J. Trump? after all, the amendment was written up when there were tons of Confederates still ready, willing, and able to serve their states and nations. The Prince of Orange certainly isn't a reb. But that's interpretation. No go, say the originalists he gave the court.
(snicker, snicker)
But then, they're conservative (which is why they were nominated and others weren't). They're Trump appointees, and he's made it clear that he thinks they're great justices (which is Trump talk for "you better come through!").
Their decision-making is going to be far, far more interesting than what they rule, because the likelihood of their taking Donald Trump's name off any state's ballot is slim and none, as they say). There might well be a full-bore insurrection in the U. S. of A if they'd rule against the Orange man. It's really unlikely that they'd rule for Colorado and keep him off the ballot. How they say what they do is the lede here for sure.
Because John Roberts has an immense problem on his hands. Trump's three facsimile justices clearly create the perception that the court is just another branch of politics in America (they were appointed because of their politics!). That idea is disaster to the court. If the Supremes are to be what the constitution itself appointed (no, appoints) them to be, they may not be political. They have to render truth, unbiased. That's tough anytime, but it's really tough when the nation is at war with itself.
Just remember, we wouldn't be here--no, siree--if our ex-President did originate falsehood, didn't determine that he was robbed by a crooked political machine that pre-determined the results of the 2020 election.
That's not true, he knew it, as did Fox News and America's mayor--I'm not so sure about the Pillow guy.
Trump is like no other President in the history of the nation. He's one for the books. And today, more of his story--and ours--will be written. Stay tuned.
I'm guessing the court will rule against its own better judgment and let the dirty work--getting rid of Donald J. Trump--up to us, the people.
We'll have to vote him out. We must.
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