The Colorado Supreme Court’s Stupid Stunt

by Don Fredrick, The Complete Obama Timeline, ©2023

(Dec. 20, 2023) — The 14th Amendment, ratified after the end of the Civil War, reads:

“No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any state, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any state legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any state, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.”

Based on an incredibly flawed interpretation of that Amendment, the Colorado Supreme Court has ruled that Donald J. Trump’s name cannot appear on the state’s ballots. There are a multitude of problems with that decision:

1. Trump is not seeking to be “a Senator or Representative.”

2. Trump is not seeking to be an “elector of President and Vice President.”
Electors are the people selected by the states to cast votes in the Electoral College; they are not the President or Vice President.

3. “[H]old any office, civil or military, under the United States” does not include the positions of president or vice president. If the positions of President and Vice President had also been intended, they would have been included in the prior phrase rather than just Senators, Representatives, or “elector[s].” (Why would the Amendment specifically mention Senators and Representatives and not President or Vice President? The reason is that the amendment was not intended to apply to those seeking the office of President or Vice President. Those choices were to be left to the voters.)

4. Trump had not “previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any state legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any state, to support the Constitution of the United States.” It is clear from the language of the 14th Amendment that the President and Vice President are not intended to be included as “an officer.”

5.  The language, “[S]hall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof” obviously referred to members of the Confederate Army, and not to individuals in the future who (like Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, John Kerry, et al) simply argued that a disputed election involved vote fraud. Further, “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” cannot mean a mere allegation. There must be evidence of legal engagement and wrongdoing, including an indictment, a prosecution, and a conviction. Absent those, the 14th Amendment would have absurdly applied to all individuals in any of the Confederate States, simply because they had lived there — even if they had not served in the Confederate Army or the Confederate government. (Abraham Lincoln’s successor, Andrew Johnson was born in the Confederate state of North Carolina and later lived in the Confederate state of Tennessee. Should that have precluded him from serving as President?)

6.  “[O]r given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof” means the individual aided and supported the Confederate Army, even if he or she was not a soldier. But an “enemy” exists only in a declared war. The U.S. government declared war against the Confederate states, which means that Confederate soldiers and those who aided or comforted them were the “enemy.” But there was no declared war on January 6, 2021. There was no declared enemy. It was therefore impossible for anyone to have given aid or comfort to an “enemy” that did not legally exist. Further, Trump cannot be considered to have given aid and comfort to “enemy” protestors when he specifically asked them to proceed peacefully to the U.S. Capitol. Lastly, of course, Trump has neither been convicted nor even charged with insurrection or rebellion. It is therefore absurd to attempt to use the 14th Amendment to prevent Trump from running for and serving as President.

7. It is certainly not up to state judges in Colorado to determine, let alone boldly assume, that Trump (or anyone else) committed the crime of insurrection on January 6 in the nation’s capital. Such a determination can only be made within the legal jurisdiction of Washington, D.C. Colorado judges cannot assume Trump is guilty of a non-Colorado crime for which he was never indicted or convicted any more than they could consider him guilty of driving over the speed limit outside their own state.

8. The Court has ruled that Trump’s name should not appear on any ballots. That includes both the November 2024 presidential election ballot and the ballot for Colorado’s March 5 primary election. But the primary election is for the purpose of selecting the nominees of the political parties. It does not elect the President. The political parties are non-profit corporations, not government entities, and the Colorado Courts cannot use the 14th Amendment as the basis for keeping Trump or anyone else from appearing on the primary ballot. The Amendment does not address political parties or their rules. It places a restriction on those who can hold office. It places no restrictions on who can run for office.

9. Lastly, if Democrat state judges in Colorado can arbitrarily decide Trump cannot serve as President based on their flawed interpretation of the 14th Amendment, what is to prevent Republican state judges from arbitrarily deciding that Biden cannot serve as President based on their interpretation of the 25th Amendment?

The Colorado Supreme Court’s ruling will (or at least should) be overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court — and every reasonable Democrat knows that. But that does not matter to them. They will be happy that the Colorado ruling allowed them and their sycophantic pals in the mainstream media to publicly bash Trump for a few days, and they will be thrilled to have forced him to spend even more money on lawyers.
 
These unprecedented legal actions are not meant to simply stop Trump from regaining the presidency. They are a warning to all Americans not to rock the boats of the “deep state” and the uni-party power establishment. Democrats may be cheering the Colorado court decision publicly, but more than a few Republicans In Name Only are cheering privately. And that should concern everyone concerned about the future of this nation.