14TH AMENDMENT? HOW ABOUT RIGHT FROM WRONG!

The Founders would not entertain the idea of Trump being president again. (Photo credit American History Research)

Unnecessary angst

Currently, there is teeth-grinding, forehead-scratching, and fist-clenching as scholars, historians, election officials and now, the Supreme Court, debate whether Trump is eligible to run for president again. At the center of this handwringing is Section 3 of the Constitution’s 14th Amendment.

The language of the 14th Amendment, Section 3, makes it clear that Trump is no more eligible to run for president of the United States than Jefferson Davis was, following his stint as president of the Confederacy. In fact, the 14th Amendment was put in place expressly to prohibit insurrectionists like Davis (and Trump) from holding public office, including the presidency.

The 14th Amendment, Section 3, is not tricky or difficult to understand. The easy to absorb words flow succinctly. Able-minded high school civics students should be able to arrive at the correct answer regarding Trump’s eligibility. (He’s ineligible.)

Never-minding the unnecessary uncertainty that clouds the 14th Amendment conversation, there is another relevant criteria, more than equal to the Constitution. This powerful yardstick should be used to determine the outcome of today’s most pressing political question. It is a gold standard that towers above the Constitution and can readily answer the great question of Trump’s eligibility. Simply put, do we as a people understand right from wrong? Is knowing the difference between right and wrong still the foundation of our core principles?

Precedent set

For example, federal judges imposed stiff prison sentences on Jan. 6 ringleaders, most notably Oath Keeper Stewart Rhodes and Proud Boy Enrique Tarrio. When it came time to sentence Rhodes and Tarrio the judges surely considered their behavior on a base level, i.e., how abhorrently wrong the insurrectionists were. Not only were Rhodes and Tarrio legally wrong, but they were also wrong within the context of a principled society that values knowing right from wrong. Both men’s refusal to sincerely acknowledge wrongdoing surely added to the number of years they will spend in prison.

Sending Rhodes and Tarrio to the slammer for 18 and 23 years, respectively, is a resounding answer of “Yes!” to the question of whether what they did was not only unlawful seditious insurrection, but in a civil society it was also plain dead wrong. Put another way, if Rhodes and Tarrio had managed to avoid conviction it would not change the fact that what they did was wrong.

(Consider Bernie Madoff, who pulled off the largest Ponzi scheme in history stealing billions of dollars from investors. What Madoff did was wrong. Does anybody really believe Madoff, even without a conviction, would have been eligible to become chairman of the New York Stock Exchange?)

Can the Supreme Court be trusted to do the right thing? (Photo credit The Weekly Opine)

A dose of common sense

So, go ahead legal minds, consult the 14th Amendment if you must. But remember this; we do not need the 14th Amendment to tell us Trump should be barred from any ballot seeking political office. All we need is to apply common sense and recognize the easily detectable difference between right and wrong.

Or, instead of the Constitution, maybe we should consult the most famous arbiter of right from wrong, The Ten Commandments. Surely, the evangelical, self-proclaimed Christians devoted to Trump would agree The Ten Commandments are appropriate to help us decide if Trump is a “right” or a “wrong” man. So, let’s evaluate Trump based on three of the most notable commandments:

Thou shalt not steal: Trump stole millions of dollars from his defunct charity, evaded paying taxes his real estate company owes the government, and suckers his cult-like followers into sending him money specifically for his campaign, then diverts millions of dollars to pay legal bills.

Thou shalt not kill: The Trump-led Jan. 6 insurrection caused five deaths. Oh, and Trump’s lies and dilly-dallying during the early stages of the covid pandemic caused hundreds of thousands of preventable deaths.

Thou shalt not commit adultery: Did somebody say pornography star Stormy Daniels? Trump denies having an adulterous affair with Daniels (he denied sexually assaulting E. Jean Carroll, too, but was found guilty). Despite his denials Trump tried covering it up with a non-disclosure agreement and $130,000 payment to Daniels, whom he does not deny being acquainted with.

Back to square one, it’s clear Trump and his associates orchestrated and participated in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection. What he did was not just illegal, it was also just wrong. It should not require the 14th Amendment to determine that Trump, a bad, “wrong” man, is disqualified from ever again taking the solemn oath of political office in the United States.