(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Until now few people realized that incacerated felons can run for President - it could happen [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags'] Date: 2023-04-06 Incarcerated felons can run for President, but they can rarely vote for one. For that, you can thank the Founders and state laws. The Constitution stipulates that the only eligibility requirements to be President are that the aspirant be a US citizen, 35 years old, and have lived in the US for 14 years. The only things that disqualify the otherwise eligible are to have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the US if they had taken an oath to support the Constitution — or if they had been impeached. If you have poisoned your spouse, shot up a school, or defrauded 1,000s, you are still golden. However, while you are locked up in jail — unless you are in Vermont or Maine, you cannot vote for yourself . This means that should justice prevail and the authorities lock him up, the law will bar Trump from casting a ballot. Note: With the speed at which the US judicial system works, especially when the defendant is wealthy, the chances of some jurisdiction jailing Trump before November 2024 are negligible. God only knows what would happen if some court found him guilty while he were President — if the Supremes would allow that. How did we get here? To answer that, consider the ethos of 18th-century Americans, especially the educated class that hashed out the Constitution. I doubt they were any more or less moral than we are today. Criminality is as old as humankind. It is why legal codes are as least as old as Hammurabi in Babylon in the 1750s BCE. The father of the Constitution, James Madison, wrote in the Federalist Papers, “If Men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and the next place, oblige it to control itself.” The sting is in the tail. The Constitution does give the government a lot of ammunition to control the governed. However, it does little to control itself. Impeachment requires a 2/3rds majority for a conviction. That has always been a steep climb. Just eight federal officials, all judges, have been removed from office. And the three Presidents impeached by the House, Andrew Johnson, Clinton, and Trump, avoided conviction by the Senate. In today’s ultra-partisan political climate, it is hard to imagine a President ever getting impeached. So why did the Founders not add language about no felons running for office? I can only imagine that it never occurred to them that someone so obviously disreputable would run. Or that if they did, they would attract enough support from their party to be the nominee. Or that if they won the nomination, that they would receive enough votes to be President. Until 2016 they were right. However, as wise as these solons were, they did not see that cultism would not only seduce the impressionable voter — it would also enslave an entire political party. Unlike George Santos, whose venality was only exposed when he had won the election, Trump’s history of fraud, racism, fiscal illiteracy, business malpractice, and pussy grabbing was well known — and forgiven. At first blush, a constitutional amendment disqualifying convicted felons from seeking the presidency — or any other federal office — seems like a good idea. However, that does open the doors to malicious prosecutions of up-and-coming politicians to thwart their ambitions. Today Republicans say that the prosecution of Donald Trump is just that. No, it is not. As stated above, a conviction would not bar him from office. And while Trump’s legal team has yelled about bias, overcharging, and the statute of limitations, they have yet to file any briefs challenging the case. It is reminiscent of the 2020 loser’s team of lawyers shouting “election fraud” into the media’s microphones — without ever alleging fraud in court. You can lie to the media. It is a significant risk to lie to a judge. No doubt the motions will come. The court will deal with them accordingly. And this being the US, the process will be public. There is no opportunity for Stalinesque show trials or summary justice. Consider the horde of media that covered every mile of Trump’s progress from his home to the New York Courts. America has seen nothing like it since Al Cowlings was OJ’s chauffeur. The idea that a former President, with his wealth, an avalanche of small-dollar offerings from the MAGA army, the backing of his coterie of billionaires, and a GOP House running interference, will not get a fair trial is ludicrous. Anyone who has been on a jury knows that jurors are not cavalier. They take the job seriously. They are not in a rush to send an innocent person to jail — even if they do not like the defendant. Something jurors do react to is the personality of the lawyers. And there, Trump’s mouthpieces are not helping him. If they bring their chest thumping to the courtroom, they will do their client no favors*. America's founders believed there was a line. They thought reprobates would not garner enough support to do significant damage. For most of American history that was the case. The Republicans, after an initial show of support for Nixon, eventually turned against him when the evidence of his crimes became overwhelming. On February 7, 1973, the Senate voted 77-to-0 to establish a select committee to investigate Watergate. That would not happen today. Witness the GOP’s refusal to join the Democrats in a 9/11-style bipartisan investigation of the Jan 6 insurrection. And Nixon resigned because he knew the Senate would impeach him. What a difference a few decades make. No matter what happens in the courts, Trump will likely be the GOP’s candidate in 2024. And should he be in jail on Tuesday, Nov 5, 2024, his MAGA army will vote for him, along with almost all the Republicans in DC. Jesus weeps. *Personal note. I was a juror on a federal securities fraud case. The evidence against the defendant was overwhelming. However, the asst. US DA — the ‘2nd chair’ — was such a pompous ass we hoped there would be something to raise reasonable doubt. There was not. And we found the accused guilty. Just saying. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/4/6/2162457/-Until-now-few-people-realized-that-incacerated-felons-can-run-for-President-it-could-happen Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/