Alarming News: I like Morgan Freeberg. A lot.
American Digest: And I like this from "The Blog That Nobody Reads", because it is -- mostly -- about me. What can I say? I'm on an ego trip today. It won't last.
Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler: We were following a trackback and thinking "hmmm... this is a bloody excellent post!", and then we realized that it was just part III of, well, three...Damn. I wish I'd written those.
Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler: ...I just remembered that I found a new blog a short while ago, House of Eratosthenes, that I really like. I like his common sense approach and his curiosity when it comes to why people believe what they believe rather than just what they believe.
Brutally Honest: Morgan Freeberg is brilliant.
Dr. Melissa Clouthier: Morgan Freeberg at House of Eratosthenes (pftthats a mouthful) honors big boned women in skimpy clothing. The picture there is priceless--keep scrolling down.
Exile in Portales: Via Gerard: Morgan Freeberg, a guy with a lot to say. And he speaks The Truth...and it's fascinating stuff. Worth a read, or three. Or six.
Just Muttering: Two nice pieces at House of Eratosthenes, one about a perhaps unintended effect of the Enron mess, and one on the Gore-y environ-movie.
Mein Blogovault: Make "the Blog that No One Reads" one of your daily reads.
The Virginian: I know this post will offend some people, but the author makes some good points.
Poetic Justice: Cletus! Ah gots a laiv one fer yew...
I’m not a lawyer in Constitutional Law and I don’t play one on teevee, but I’ve been mulling this thing over and over in my mind. People say I never change my mind about anything, but when they say that what they’re really wanting to say is they had a script all written in their heads where they’d change my mind for me, and it didn’t work because I didn’t correctly play my part in their script. They’re really saying they thought more highly of the arguments they presented to me, than I thought of them, which is something that happens often when people argue about things.
I do mull things over and change my mind. It just happened…I think. Unless I see or hear something that changes my mind again, I’ll have to tentatively come down on the side of the democrats and Mitt Romney, against the 45 Republicans. It’s constitutional to try a former President of the United States in the U.S. Senate. At least, in this case, only because Donald Trump was still in office when the House of Representatives impeached him.
Now. If the Senate votes to acquit, and the House of Representatives says “Oh wait we just thought of something else, we’ve got more articles headed your way” — that would be unconstitutional.
What really decides this for me is the way Article I, Section 3 is worded:
The Senate shall have the sole Power to try all Impeachments. When sitting for that Purpose, they shall be on Oath or Affirmation. When the President of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside: And no Person shall be convicted without the Concurrence of two-thirds of the Members present. Judgment in Cases of Impeachment shall not extend further than to removal from Office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any Office of honor, Trust or Profit under the United States; but the Party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to Indictment, Trial, Judgment and Punishment, according to Law.
The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court has refused to sit for this, I’m hearing second-hand, because he does not preside over impeachment trials of casino owners and real estate developers, and right now that’s all Mr. Trump is. That’s correct.
This situation is weird but it is not out of the scope of what was anticipated by the framers of the Constitution. They did think of it. The “articles” make up the mechanism within the Constitution that deals with this. The House of Representatives has to worry about what office is being occupied by the person they’re impeaching; the Senate doesn’t need to worry about that at all. They have articles. They are reviewing the articles that have been delivered to them and reaching a verdict on those articles.
We here in modern times have an obsession with that “remove” thing. The Constitution clearly lists the punishments upon which the Senate may decide. There are two, not just one. “[R]emoval from Office” is listed first because it’s more important. But here, the democrats don’t care about that, they just want to make sure Donald Trump can’t run again.
Things can be stupid and dishonest, and still be constitutional. That’s what’s happening here. Trump didn’t incite violence. The politicians who say he did, know full well he didn’t. The people you meet everyday who say Trump incited violence, often are going to believe he did because they’ve been deceived. Those who are impeaching and chomping at the bit to vote to convict, are really worried about crimes. They don’t want crimes exposed and they want Trump banned from office so that he won’t expose them. Someone somewhere said “The democrats impeached Trump for investigating a crime, then they elected the guy who did the crime.” That’s a pretty accurate summary. This is a lie within a lie. But lies are not necessarily unconstitutional.
As I said, this is a tentative finding on my part and I look forward to the insights of those who are better educated about constitutional matters to see if they agree or not, and why or why not.
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