Trump accountability
Regarding “Trump barred from Colorado ballot — now what?” (Dec. 21) Determined not to be upstaged by Iceland’s erupting volcano, Donald Trump spews his own brand of toxic gas into the atmosphere, darkening the skies and heating up the political climate. Meanwhile, our judiciary ponders the seismic consequences of applying Section 3 of the 14th Amendment.
So here we are, back to the same question. Are we a nation of laws? Do we apply a reasonable and clearly articulated constitutional standard — the Constitution being that thing presidents swear to uphold — that prohibits someone who tried to overthrow the government from serving in said government? Or do we let it slide, yet again, allowing this reality-resistant man-child to continue crying it out, subjecting our country to his ongoing tantrum about witch hunts and stolen elections?
Like an unwanted White Elephant gift, the responsibility for holding this impeached and indicted ex-president accountable has been passed around from politician to politician. At the same time, his many criminal cases grind slowly through the courts, delayed by lawyers keenly aware that his arguments tend to fail spectacularly under the slightest legal scrutiny.
I see the point of those who say Trump should be defeated at the ballot box, not in the courts. But that also suggests he should not be subject to our laws, our Constitution, our reality. It reinforces a precedent already set and helped along by a Fascist-curious, civically ignorant base. This hot potato keeps getting hotter. And we’re running out of hands.
Robert Campbell, Katy