Colorado Earthquake: Trump Disqualified, 2024 Shivers on Unstable Ground

by Patrick Wilson

A political tremor has ripped through the heartland, sending shockwaves across the nation. In a 4-3 decision with the weight of history on its shoulders, the Colorado Supreme Court has disqualified Donald Trump from appearing on the state’s 2024 presidential ballot. The reason? His role in the January 6th Capitol insurrection, deemed a violation of the Fourteenth Amendment’s “Insurrectionist Clause.” This unprecedented earthquake reshapes the entire 2024 landscape, leaving legal scholars scrambling, pundits gasping, and the very foundations of American democracy wobbling precariously.

The Ground Cracks Open:

The court’s verdict hinges on a rarely examined corner of the Constitution, Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment. It bars individuals from holding federal office if they’ve “engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the Constitution.” The court’s searing majority opinion argues that Trump’s incendiary rhetoric and deliberate incitement of the Capitol mob constitute precisely that – a brazen attempt to overturn a democratic election, the purest form of insurrection. This isn’t just a legal earthquake; it’s a tectonic shift, setting a precedent that could reshape American politics for generations.

Pandora’s Box Unlatched:

This decision throws open a legal Pandora’s box. While confined to Colorado for now, it emboldens similar disqualification efforts in other states with comparable provisions. The specter of the Insurrectionist Clause haunting presidential candidates is a chilling prospect, promising years of bitter legal battles and potentially escalating to the Supreme Court, where the fate of this precedent hangs in the balance.

Election on Unstable Ground:

The immediate impact on the 2024 race is undeniable. Trump’s Colorado exile throws the Republican field into disarray, potentially benefiting other contenders like DeSantis or Pence. But this earthquake isn’t just about shifting campaign strategies; it’s about voter mobilization on steroids. Both Democratic and Republican bases are likely to be electrified, turning out in record numbers, their resolve hardened by the seismic tremors of accountability. The potential for voter suppression tactics adds another layer of volatility to this already combustible landscape.

Beyond the Ballot Box: A Social Reckoning:

This legal earthquake has tremors far beyond the ballot box. It signifies a turning point in American discourse, where the notion of holding the highest officeholder accountable for anti-democratic actions, even the unthinkable, takes center stage. For the left, this resonates deeply. It validates calls for robust defense of democratic institutions and the rule of law, even when faced with formidable power structures. But it’s also a double-edged sword, guaranteed to ignite fierce resistance from the right, potentially widening the ideological chasm.

Uncertainties and the Road Ahead:

The aftershocks of this decision are just beginning. Legal challenges are inevitable, culminating in a potential Supreme Court showdown that will hold the future of American democracy in its trembling hands. Regardless of the legal outcome, one thing is certain: the political landscape has been irrevocably altered. This isn’t just a judicial intervention; it’s a societal reckoning, forcing us to confront the limits of power in a democracy and the delicate dance between individual liberty and collective well-being.

For the Left Lens:

This earthquake offers fertile ground for critical analysis and theoretical engagement. The application of the Insurrectionist Clause to a former president demands a deep dive into the power dynamics embedded within American democracy. It paves the way for discussions about the role of institutions in safeguarding democratic norms and resisting authoritarian tendencies. The impact of this decision on social movements, grassroots activism, and the broader struggle for social justice deserves meticulous examination.

** This piece was created with the help of ai.

Trump Accused of ‘Criminal Extortion’ After Asking Georgia Officials to ‘Find’ 11,000 Votes for Him

“Knowing what Trump has said in leaked phone calls, just imagine what he’s said in calls that weren’t.”

by Julia Conley

Days before the U.S. Congress is set to certify President-elect Joe Biden’s victory in the November 3 election, political observers on Sunday demanded to know how much effort President Donald Trump has put into pressuring state officials into naming him as the winner, after the Washington Post released audio of Trump pleading with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to “find” more than 11,000 votes for him.

As the Post reported, Trump spoke with Raffensperger and Ryan Germany, general counsel to the secretary of state, warning that by certifying Georgia’s election results—which showed Biden winning 49.5% of the vote to Trump’s 49.3%, and taking the state’s 16 electoral votes—the two are taking “a big risk” and potentially breaking the law.

Trump urged Raffensperger to simply tell the public that he “recalculated” the results and determined the president won the state, to which the secretary of state, also a Republican, told Trump, “The data you have is wrong.”

The president soon thereafter took a more direct approach.

“So look,” Trump said. “All I want to do is this. I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have. Because we won the state.”

Listen:

At one point the president asked Germany to substantiate baseless rumors that ballots which cast votes for Trump in Fulton County were “shredded” by poll workers and that Dominion, which supplied voting machines for the election, removed the machinery from polling places to unfairly swing the results in Biden’s favor.

“No, Dominion has not moved any machinery out of Fulton County,” Germany told Trump, adding, “I’m sure. I’m sure, Mr. President.”

The president suggested at one point that as a Republican, Raffensperger should want to have an “accurate election”—or one that Trump won.

“We believe that we do have an accurate election,” the secretary of state replied.

In a separate audio clip, Raffensperger reiterated, “We have to stand by our numbers. We believe our numbers are right.”

 

Critics condemned the latest evidence that Trump, two months after the election, is actively attempting to undermine the will of American voters.

The phone call came several weeks after Raffensperger told the Post that Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) was among several Republicans both in and outside of Georgia who pressured the secretary of state to invalidate legally-cast ballots.

Should Trump’s and other Republicans’ attempts to swing Georgia’s numbers in the president’s favor succeed, Trump would gain only 16 electoral votes—far fewer than he would need to meet the 270 threshold to be declared the winner of the election.

That suggests, some said on social media, that the president and his allies have likely made or plan to make similar phone calls to other election officials in states where they’ve contested the results, including Pennsylvania and Michigan.

“Everyone who has a tape of Trump abusing his power should release it now,” tweeted former U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara.

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Source: Trump Accused of ‘Criminal Extortion’ After Asking Georgia Officials to ‘Find’ 11,000 Votes for Him | Common Dreams News

Fewer Jobs, Rising Poverty: Scathing Report Finds Trump Economic Legacy ‘One of the Worst Among All US Presidents’

“American businesses and workers are struggling to survive because President Trump refused to listen to advice from public health experts and economists about the best way to handle the coronavirus.”

By Jake Johnson

When President Donald Trump departs the White House next month, he will leave in his wake a nation devastated by a pandemic he failed to confront and an economic scene characterized by rising poverty, widespread hunger, a looming eviction tsunami, and mass layoffs that have left the U.S. with fewer jobs than when his administration began.

And for that, a scathing new report (pdf) by Democrats on the congressional Joint Economic Committee (JEC) argues, the outgoing president “only has himself to blame.”

Released Friday in response to the 2020 Economic Report of the President (pdf), the assessment of Trump’s economic performance during his four years in office runs directly counter to the rosy depiction frequently offered by the president himself, who seldom missed an opportunity to boast about the state of the stock market even in the midst of nationwide material suffering brought on by the coronavirus pandemic.

“American businesses and workers are struggling to survive because President Trump refused to listen to advice from public health experts and economists about the best way to handle the coronavirus,” Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.), the incoming JEC chair, said in a statement. “In fact, his handling of the coronavirus will hurt the economy for years to come. That is President Trump’s economic legacy—one of the worst among all U.S. presidents.”

The new report examines Trump’s economic record dating back to the beginning of his administration, which began with soaring promises on jobs, trade, wages, healthcare, and other key policy matters.

While Trump inherited an steadily improving economy, the president “failed to pursue policies that would sustain and strengthen the economic expansion,” the JEC report argues.

As many analysts predicted before its passage and implementation, the $1.5 trillion Tax Cuts and Jobs Act that Trump signed into law in December of 2017 delivered most of its benefits to the rich and failed to produce anything resembling an economic boom.

“President Trump’s televised claim that the tax cuts would be ‘one of the great Christmas gifts to middle-income people’ proved to be deeply misleading,” the JEC report notes. “Analysis reveals that the tax cuts heavily favored the very wealthy, with the top 1 percent of households—those with average incomes of almost $2 million—projected to receive an average tax break of nearly $50,000 in 2020.”

“This is approximately 64 times the average tax cut of the middle 20 percent of households, who were projected to receive an average tax cut of $780,” the report continues. “The poorest 20 percent were projected to receive an average tax cut of just $60.”

 

Trump’s trade promises were similarly empty, the report finds. The president’s oft-touted trade war with China “resulted in hundreds of thousands of lost U.S. jobs.”

“A study by Moody’s Analytics found that by September 2019 it had cost the U.S. economy nearly 300,000 jobs,” the JEC notes.

While the president’s economic performance prior to the coronavirus pandemic was far from successful, Trump’s handling of the Covid-19 crisis and resulting economic collapse was catastrophic, pushing millions more into poverty and leaving countless Americans unable to afford basic necessities. At present, the U.S. has around 10 million fewer jobs than it did at the start of the pandemic.

The JEC observes that after Congress and the White House approved the $2.2 trillion CARES Act in March—providing a temporary $600-per-week boost to unemployment benefits and a round of one-time stimulus payments to many Americans—”the administration and Senate Republicans refused to work to negotiate another package until a few weeks before the expiration” of the unemployment supplement, a lapse that dramatically slashed the incomes of millions of people.

“The administration’s mismanagement of the coronavirus, and its grudging response to limit the resulting economic damage, have exposed and widened vast structural inequalities,” the report states. “Low-income workers and people of color have been most harmed by Covid-19 and the ensuing recession. They are more likely to be exposed to the virus, to be hospitalized and to die from it.”

The JEC Democrats conclude that “by all objective measures—job growth, unemployment, gross domestic product—President Trump leaves the economy in much worse condition than he found it.”

“However, the numbers do not tell the whole story—his failure to use the power of the presidency to fight the coronavirus will weigh down the U.S. economy for years to come,” the report says. “His successor will be left with an extraordinary challenge—to reverse the failures of the Trump administration. He must also move beyond them to ensure that the United States builds back better from this crisis, fully utilizing the talents and resources of all of its people to build an economy that is fairer, stronger, more inclusive, and more resilient.”

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Source: Fewer Jobs, Rising Poverty: Scathing Report Finds Trump Economic Legacy ‘One of the Worst Among All US Presidents’ | Common Dreams News