I’ve been trying to post less about politics in general and about Trump in particular, who I haven’t posted about for more than two months now. But this story is getting people excited, and I can understand why:
The Colorado Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled that Donald Trump is disqualified by the Constitution from serving as president again because he stoked an insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021.
The 4-3 ruling, which rests on an interpretation of the 14th Amendment, will almost certainly force the issue to the U.S. Supreme Court to resolve whether Trump, the leading candidate for the Republican nomination, is eligible to hold future public office.
The Colorado court ruled that Trump cannot appear on the state’s presidential ballot next year, but the ruling will not take effect immediately to give Trump time to appeal.
“We do not reach these conclusions lightly,” the Colorado majority opinion reads. “We are mindful of the magnitude and weight of the questions now before us. We are likewise mindful of our solemn duty to apply the law, without fear or favor, and without being swayed by public reaction to the decisions that the law mandates we reach.”
The court, which consists entirely of Democratic appointees, is the first in the nation to side with activists and voters who have filed numerous lawsuits around the country claiming that Trump is barred from office under the 14th Amendment’s “insurrection clause.” That clause states that anyone who “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” after taking an oath of office to support the Constitution is forbidden from holding any public office.
I think the interesting detail here is that the entire court is Democratic nominees but three of them still voted against the judgement, which makes it a bit more complicated to argue that OBVIOUSLY it’s a Democrat attack… but one of the dissenters offered the interesting point that they didn’t think the Colorado court actually had the authority to consider the case anyway. And that’s what has me a bit puzzled by the excitement about the story, i.e. what if anything does it actually mean beyond the fact that he apparently can’t be included on the Colorado ballot? This is a state-level rather than federal thing. What if any effect does this actually have at the latter level? I don’t know enough about American law to know if this actually means anything for Chump, and that’s why I’m not as excited about it as some people are.
On the other hand, Republicans are worked up about the situation in the opposite direction:
Vivek Ramaswamy, the GOP presidential candidate, called the court’s action “an actual attack on democracy”.
Ramaswamy pledged to withdraw from the Colorado GOP primary and called on other candidates – Ron DeSantis, Chris Christie and Nikki Haley – to do the same unless Trump is allowed to be on the ballot.
“The framers of the 14th amendment would be appalled to see this narrow provision being weaponized … to prevent a former president from seeking re-election,” Ramaswamy said.
The framers of the 14th amendment would probably also be surprised at best by someone of Indian ancestry being allowed in American politics. But apart from that, I’m not sure how actively refusing to participate in the Colorado primary if they disallow Trump helps the Republicans either; I gather Colorado is basically a blue state anyway but why hand it to the Democrats on a plate like that? Then again, Vivek does not strike me as the most shining intellect in that mob…
