The 14th Amendment is not a magic wand that you can just wave to keep insurrectionist politicians off the ballot. As we've long said, that kind of battle has to be waged in court. That's now happening in a test case against Madison Cawthorn. But it'll take time, and may not work.
"But why don't the Democrats just..." because they can't. Just because the constitution says something, it doesn't mean you can just magic wand it into happening. The Democrats can't just say "Madison Cawthorn you're out" and have him fall through a trap door. This is reality.
For instance, the 5th Amendment makes very clear to me that airport security is unconstitutional, but I can't just announce that and magically make airport security go away. It would have to be done in court. And I'd lose, because the courts are idiots about the 5th Amendment.
We're talking about needing the court, the appeals court, and the supreme court to all rule that Madison Cawthorn etc are disqualified from office because of the 14th Amendment. What are the odds of that happening? 10%? 5%? Worth trying, but don't hang your hat on it.
"So why doesn't the DOJ just..." because while the DOJ enforces the law, it has to do so in the courts. So it would end up in the courts anyway, which is where it is now. There just are no magic wands for making this kind of thing automatically happen.
"But if the Democrats would just act more like the Republicans on this kind of thing..." Sorry, that's gibberish talk from people who have no idea what they're even talking about. The Republicans don't have a magic wand either. 90% of what Trump and the GOP tried to do, failed.
If you're listening to media/pundits who (falsely) insist the Republicans did everything by magic wand, and claim the Democrats are just too weak to wave their magic wand, then you're listening to fiction. You have to tune out that infantile stuff about magic wand solutions.
"But they shouldn't be allowed..."
Once again, the words "shouldn't be allowed" are not a legal basis for preventing anything from happening. TSA shouldn't be allowed to x-ray me without cause. But if I want to prevent it, I would have to go to court and fight a long battle.
Once again, the words "shouldn't be allowed" are not a legal basis for preventing anything from happening. TSA shouldn't be allowed to x-ray me without cause. But if I want to prevent it, I would have to go to court and fight a long battle.
When Trump was running in 2016, numerous pundits on here insisted he would be "disqualified" because a civil suit was being brought against him for rape. I had to explain over and over that there is no such thing as "disqualified." There just isn't. Not a legal term.
Nor would Trump have been disqualified even if it were a criminal case against him, and he had been convicted. He could have run for president from prison. Eugene Debs did precisely that in 1920, and got 3% of the vote.
You have to stop listening to pundits who promote magic wand solutions. At best they're clueless about how things work. At worst they're conning you by pushing something they know isn't real, to make themselves look smarter and more aggressive than everyone else on your side.
Most political victories are achieved through grunt work. You slog it out, you work harder and smarter than the other side, and you win. The side that lazily sits around and listens to tall tales about magic wand solutions is the side that loses.
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