rule of law
path ahead
I wrote a column several weeks ago about why I did not understand former president Trump being on the ballot after 6 January. I thought the Colorado Secretary of State’s decision, following a court challenge by a Republican voter, was correct to take him off the ballot because of Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment which prohibits anyone from serving in a federal public office if that individual engaged in an insurrection.
The Supreme Court today rejected Colorado’s right to make that decision, although the justices did nothing to deny the insurrectionary behaviour. They chose to ignore an armed attempt to kill the Vice President and those on Capitol HIll certifying the election on 6 January 2021, which was not apocryphal but occurred live on all media for us to view ourselves.
I also readily admit I am not a lawyer. I am merely a citizen reading the Constitution. The Fourteenth Amendment seemed to support the Colorado decision.
Following the Supreme Court’s unanimous decision to throw to Congress the responsibility to preclude him on a federal election ballot, I understand we as a nation will not allow Colorado to pursue its position. I agree with Jena Griswold, the relevant Colorado Secretary of State, explaining she will enforce the Court’s decision because we live in a country with rule of law. I believe fervently in the rule of law because, without it, 340 million people cannot co-exist. I want to believe my children and grandchildren live a society of civilised people treated equally with everyone else under the Constitution.
The sole but imperative remedy for this decision is to vote. Every single eligible person must vote as I hope you will. The Court doesn’t want to touch insurrection? Then voters must address it head on.
Elections matter. Candidates matter. Protest votes rarely affect the targets the voter expects to influence; this is a binary vote about upholding our Constitutional system or not. Voting for the candidate whose behaviour, beliefs, and respect for that same rule of law is the responsibility for each and every one of us.
Our system and future really do hang on this vote. This is not a drill but an existential moment. It cannot be overstated.
Thank you for reading today. I welcome your thoughts. I welcome your support for this column.
It was another cloudy morning, though it brightened midday.
Be well and be safe. FIN
Jess Bravin, ‘Supreme Court restores Donald Trump’s ballot eligibility’, wsj.com, 4 March 2024, retrieved at https://www.wsj.com/us-news/law/supreme-court-ruling-trump-ballot-colorado-092852fe?mod=us-news_lead_story
Charles Savage, ‘Highlights of Supreme Court’s Opinions on Trump’s Ballot Eligibility‘, nytimes.com, 4 March 2024, retrieved at https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/04/us/politics/supreme-court-trump-colorado-ballot-decision.html
I am truly committed to rule of law because I have lived in countries where pernicious behaviour was the norm. Supporters don’t understand this can and would be turned on them in a heartbeat.
While the Court purported to throw this to Congress, what they really did, knowingly, was take the 14th Amendment prohibition against insurrectionists off the table. Congress will not, and they know it, address this before the election, and probably not after, either.
So, you're 100% correct. The solution is voting. I'm relatively certain that Trump will not win the popular vote. I'm less certain about the Electoral College, though hold out hope. Nevertheless, I'm incredibly worried about how many people support him, support his lies, ignore his insurrection, and are willing to vote for him. And this includes not only those terrible people who support his racism, sexism, and anti-immigrant hostility, but those who are willing to ignore all those things because they won't vote for a Democrat, or Biden specifically, because they are committed to Republican conservatism, over the good of the country in keeping Trump out. I understand commitment to economic policies, tax policies, and so on. I understand a lot of reasons people vote for issues I don't agree with. But I don't now, and never will, understand why people won't work toward their issues while keeping an authoritarian, civilly convicted fraudsters, adjudicated rapist, out of the White House. This person is a threat to our democracy, to the world, and has no business being in the White House no matter what other political reasons people may espouse. I'm truly worried.