Should Donald Trumps' name still be on the general election ballot if

@DrWatson It all hinges on the treason thing.

@DrWatson The 14th amendment does not say " convicted" and being written in the 18th century I very much doubt a conviction would be required. I suppose it depends on how much a believer you are in the sanctity of the Constitution. Either way that 2/3 majority of the House and Senate wouod be a significant hurdle - unless you think the Constitution should be ignored

@22Michelle I am simply going by the legal arguments I have been reading for the past year. Most legal scholars seem to think that the fourteenth amendment is not 'self enacting'.

At any rate, the question here was not specifically about insurrection. It was just about the general issue of criminal conviction. And that is all I had in mind when I responded.

@22Michelle Look, I would love for Trump to be kicked off the ballot.

But I don't think it is going to happen.

@DrWatson It does appear to be true that the only amendment Republicans care about is the second one. And they don't even really quote that one correctly.

@22Michelle Those who are skeptical of invoking the 14th amendment are not all Trump partisans.

I think it is good to remember the adage "be careful of what you wish for." I think we will have utter chaos if each state were able to define "insurrection" as it pleased. (The prevailing legal opinion is that it would take an act of Congress to declare someone guilty of insurrection.) If any state excluded Trump from the ballot, and that decision held up in court, I am confident that other states would rule Biden to be an insurrectionist for "encouraging an army of rapists and murders to invade our southern border and to threaten the American way of life." And some whacko court filled with Trump-appointed judges would uphold the ruling. (I can hear the arguments now: "how many attacked the capital? Compare that with how many have crossed the border!")

It's easy to get a blood-lust for expressing outrage against a candidate we despise, but let's remember that every legal ruling is a two-edged sword.

We have already entered the era of "dueling impeachments" in this country. I would hate to usher in an era of "dueling insurrectionists."

@DrWatson To be honest I think, like much of the Constitution it is written for its time, and for a class of people who saw themselves as being the rulers ofvthe USA. Determining insurrection would have been simple back then. I just find it amusing that it's always those who say they hold the Constitution as being inviolate who tie themselves in knots trying to find ways if should not be applied to them. See the "well regulated militia" provision of the second amendment. Add in the cry of " you can't amend the Constitution" when we're debating amendments to the Constitution and you realise how insane the debate is. The USA, like the UK needs to bring it's electoral and legal processes and provisions into the 20th let alone the 21st century.

@DrWatson

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