I'm starting to believe there are some lines that, if crossed, should cause a politician to be summarily stripped of office and tossed out into the street.
It would be a high bar, foundational stuff, like refusing to admit the basic, Constitutionally-protected rights of citizens and residents of the United States.
The U. S. Constitution is not an obscure or tricky document; while the language is a little archaic, it was written before lawyers had really polished the art of building in wiggle room and clever traps. And it was written by a group of men who were not entirely all lawyers, and who were uniformly concerned with having the thing make sense and hold up* over time.
When a President -- any President -- is asked if he is supposed to uphold the Constitution and his reply is that he doesn't know, he's got to check with his lawyers, that ought to result in immediate disqualification from office. It should be a red card. The requirement is right there in the oath of office publicly sworn by all Presidents:
"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the
Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my
Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United
States."
There isn't anything in it that needs to be parsed by a member of the bar. Pretending otherwise is just bad-boss BS, the same as when you are promoted, negotiate your new salary with your boss, and when that first paycheck arrives, it's ten percent short. You go to the boss, and his immediate response is, "Oh, Corporate trimmed it. Tough luck. It's not like we had anything in writing." The Presidential oath of office is in writing -- and the swearing or affirmation of it by incoming Presidents is preserved on film, tape or electronically, as far back as we have had such media.
Alas, there is no such automatic penalty clause, and Presidents inclined to dissemble and evade their clear duty do so with impunity -- and to our and the nation's peril.
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* Many of them became pessimistic about the results of their efforts in later years -- and not a one worried they had given the President too little power, or made too great an effort to protect the rights of The People.
Exactly. Not remembering one's oath of office is a clear sign, to me, of dementia. This should immediately trigger invocation of the 25th Amendment or, at least, a review of the medications the felon in the Whitehouse may be taking.
ReplyDeleteIt's like a PTerry Discworld book where Reacher Gilt becomes Patrician. He's such an obvious villain that it's almost too obvious for people to register.
ReplyDeleteThere's also a reiteration of the old lesson that people can be easy to fool when they want to be fooled- and without a whole lot of effort. A few slogans, a bit of flagwashing, and some 'I hate the people who hate you, and they hate me!', and they'll follow him right off the cliff.