Trump's demise is simply a matter of time

After its dismissal by a US District Court judge Laramie, Wyoming lawyer Tim Newcomb has appealed his lawsuit to the state's highest court against Secretary of State Chuck Gray to bar Donald Trump and US Senator Cynthia Lummis from the general election ballot under the Disqualification Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

The Colorado ruling, based on “clear and convincing evidence” that Trump engaged in insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021, does, in fact, limit voters’ choices, but that is true of other constitutional provisions that disqualify various citizens from holding the Office of the Presidency. But other provisions that seem undemocratic — Article II criteria for presidential eligibility, the Impeachment Clause, the Disqualification Clause of the 14th Amendment and the 22nd Amendment — because they impose limits on the choices of voters, have retained their vitality and relevance in an age marked by grave constitutional challenges. These voter-limiting provisions serve the greater interest of the nation — the necessity of preserving our constitutional democracy. [Wyoming Humanities, Section Three And Constitutional Democracy?]

Newcomb claims Trump refused to protect Congress from terrorists. 

Joan Donovan is Assistant Professor of Journalism and Emerging Media Studies at Boston University.

Networked incitement involves insurgents communicating across multiple platforms to command and coordinate mobilized social movements in the moment of action. The insurrectionists behaved akin to a networked social movement, with online platforms forming the infrastructure to organize action, but its leaders were politicians and political operatives as opposed to charismatic community leaders. No sitting president before Trump had exploited the capacity of social media to directly reach citizens to command specific actions. The use of social media for networked incitement foreshadows a dark future for democracies. Rulers could well come to power by manipulating mass social movements via social media, directing a movement’s members to serve as the leaders’ shock troops, online and off. [Jan. 6 was an example of networked incitement − a media and disinformation expert explains the danger of political violence orchestrated over social media]

Is Trump even well enough to weather the toll his crimes are taking on his health? His lawyers are arguing that a unitary executive could launch the extraordinary rendition or worse of anyone anywhere anytime without due process because he can. But the Supreme Court of the United States is in a box: if it rules the unitary executive is immune to prosecution President Joe Biden could call for the removal of every Republican who incited insurrection. And while Trump is a clear and present danger to national security and his imprisonment at Guantanamo Bay is an intriguing goal house arrest, a gag order and loss of passport is probably adequate if POTUS Biden orders it. 

So if Donald Trump is disqualified and Ron DeSantis just dropped out Nikki Haley needs a running mate from a swing state: who is it? Georgia, Michigan, Wisconsin and Arizona are in play. 

Learn more at the Wyoming Tribune.

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— Ann Telnaes (@AnnTelnaes) January 19, 2024