A Colorado judge has rejected an attempt to remove former President Donald Trump from the state’s 2024 primary ballot based on the claim that he is constitutionally barred from office because of the January 6 insurrection.
They didn’t explicitly call out the president because in the historical context that would have been inconceivable, the president was never a traitor so they wouldn’t think to list the role explicitly.
This is a weak argument for 2 reasons.
First and foremost, our whole system is based on checks and balances, because they knew full well that any part of the government could become corrupt. The idea that they couldn’t fathom that a president could also be a threat to the republic doesn’t hold much water. It’s literally arguing that they made a “whoopsie” when crafting the amendment and no one from the 38 states and none of the supermajority of both houses of congress was smart enough to say “hey, maybe we should considering the POTUS too.” Hell, even during that time, Lincoln was called a traitor to the country when he was campaigning. I just can’t buy it that people at the time thought the POTUS was some noble person that would never do wrong.
Second, this actually confirms the ruling. You’re arguing that it was an oversight to not include the POTUS because they never thought it would happen, not that the POTUS is actually included. This is explicitly admitting that the POTUS is not part of it, thus making the ruling correct, and thus requiring us to go back and amend it to include the POTUS/VPOTUS.
If the president was meant to be excluded they could have said so.
And if the POTUS was meant to be included, they could have said so. This is why the ruling is well within reason and not the ridiculous rejection of logic that so many people are trying to paint it as.
This is a weak argument for 2 reasons.
First and foremost, our whole system is based on checks and balances, because they knew full well that any part of the government could become corrupt. The idea that they couldn’t fathom that a president could also be a threat to the republic doesn’t hold much water. It’s literally arguing that they made a “whoopsie” when crafting the amendment and no one from the 38 states and none of the supermajority of both houses of congress was smart enough to say “hey, maybe we should considering the POTUS too.” Hell, even during that time, Lincoln was called a traitor to the country when he was campaigning. I just can’t buy it that people at the time thought the POTUS was some noble person that would never do wrong.
Second, this actually confirms the ruling. You’re arguing that it was an oversight to not include the POTUS because they never thought it would happen, not that the POTUS is actually included. This is explicitly admitting that the POTUS is not part of it, thus making the ruling correct, and thus requiring us to go back and amend it to include the POTUS/VPOTUS.
And if the POTUS was meant to be included, they could have said so. This is why the ruling is well within reason and not the ridiculous rejection of logic that so many people are trying to paint it as.