Taking An Oath, and Failing To Honor It

IN SEVERAL STATES, legislatures have been and still are grappling with the question of whether it is constitutional to allow Donald Trump to appear on their state's ballots in the twenty tweny four presidential election, presuming he actually secures the Republican nomination and represents the party as their nominee. Presumably, he will. According to the constitution, in the fourteenth amendment, anyone guilty of leading or participating in an insurrection to overthrow the American government is ineligible to be president. The emerging conclusion seems to be that Trump is, as of now, indeed qualified for candidacy, since,in point of fact, he has not yet been convicted of incitement to insurrection in the infamous events of January 6, 2021. It seems almost preordained that he will at length be convicted, before the election, and will thereby become ineligible. This, aside from the question of whether he will be convicted of any or all of the ninety one separate felonies of which he is currently charged. Of these,only an insurrection conviction would actually disqualify him from serving as president. Such a conviction would appear inevitable; millions of Americans witnessed, in real time, Trump's act of incitement, his exhortation to an angry assembled mob to "go to the Capitol and fight like hell", which is precisly what it consequently did. It seems likley that never in history had so many people witnessed the commission of a high crime. The sequence of events leading to this precarious national set of circumstances is succinctly detailed in a just released book by former Congressperson Liz Cheney, in her book: "Oath and Honor: A Memoir and A Warning". Cheney's inside perspective derives not only from her membership in Congress during the whole sordid affair, but especially that she was one of only two Republican Representatives who participated on the Congressional subcommittee which thoroughly investigated the events leading up to, including, and after the violent attempt to allow Trump to illegally remain in power by force. Cheney emphasizes that the entire plot to overturn the election results was constructed in detail, as a contingency measure, well before the actual election, that Donald Trump was indeed the instigator, and that he and his close associates, in the White House and in Congress, cooperated closely in the planning and implemention of the attempted coup, and that there remains no doubt that Trump was well aware immediately after he lost the election that he had indeed lost the election. Cheney further asserts that only a handful of Republican Congressinal members ever truly believed in Trump's blatant election lie, and that, of the vast majority who did not and still do not, the main reason why they have failed to speak out has everything to do with their desire to keep their political careers intact by appeasing Trump, and nothing to do with honor or integrity. This book is thus far the most thoroughly researched and written explication of these tragic events to have appeared, for the obvious reason that its author was intimately involved with these events at the most fundamental level. Her warning is clear and simple; that Donald Trump must never be allowed to possess political power again,as president, nor in any other elective office. She confesses to have voted form him both in 2016 and 2020, a mistake for which she still harbors regrets of the deepest sort. She pledges to herself and to her country that she will never do so again, and her expressed determination to keep Trump out of office has cost her her own politial career,and membership in her former political party. She says that her misguided votes are her only regret.