Woke Politics: The Democrats’ Plan for a Permanent Majority - American Thinker
ith the 2020 election in the rear-view mirror, it is timely to focus on election politics for 2022 and beyond. The first step is pattern recognition: The Democrats are pursuing a multi-prong strategy to cement a permanent majority. To accomplish the goal requires upending the constitutional design. Until the scope of this effort is seen in its entirety, it can proceed in the shadows.
It has six astonishing elements:
So long as you are thirty-five, a natural-born citizen and a 14-year resident, it is the birthright of every American to aspire to the nation’s highest elective office. The right extends even to one-term presidents. Notwithstanding the recent acquittal, Democrats claim as a principle that the President, former or sitting, can be disqualified from seeking the presidency if convicted upon impeachment or barred from office under the 14th Amendment for inciting insurrection.
This is dangerous overreach. For impeachment, disqualification by Congress extends only to “any office of honor, trust or profit,” which limits disqualification to offices created or regulated pursuant to federal statute, and hence does not include the President.
Likewise, under the 14th Amendment, the bar from office in relevant part applies to “an officer of the United States,” i.e., appointed officers, as explained by Chief Justice Roberts in a 2010 decision: "The people do not vote for the 'Officers of the United States.'" Rather, ‘officers of the United States’ are appointed exclusively pursuant to Article II, Section 2 procedures. It follows that the President, who is an elected official, is not an ‘officer of the United States.’
Absent an amendment, the Constitution ensures that the people, not Congress, solely determine whom to elect as President. It is a principle that applies to both parties and is a bedrock right in this country. Or used to be.
ith the 2020 election in the rear-view mirror, it is timely to focus on election politics for 2022 and beyond. The first step is pattern recognition: The Democrats are pursuing a multi-prong strategy to cement a permanent majority. To accomplish the goal requires upending the constitutional design. Until the scope of this effort is seen in its entirety, it can proceed in the shadows.
It has six astonishing elements:
- Enable Congress to determine who can run for President,
- Eliminate the Electoral College without amending the Constitution,
- Override the states' constitutionally mandated authority to determine presidential election rules,
- Grant statehood to the District of Columbia by statute,
- Rewrite the First Amendment to limit political speech, and
- Enable open border immigration through executive agreement instead of Congressional action. Taken together, the program represents a comprehensive challenge to representative democracy. It deserves to be understood and debated front and center.
So long as you are thirty-five, a natural-born citizen and a 14-year resident, it is the birthright of every American to aspire to the nation’s highest elective office. The right extends even to one-term presidents. Notwithstanding the recent acquittal, Democrats claim as a principle that the President, former or sitting, can be disqualified from seeking the presidency if convicted upon impeachment or barred from office under the 14th Amendment for inciting insurrection.
This is dangerous overreach. For impeachment, disqualification by Congress extends only to “any office of honor, trust or profit,” which limits disqualification to offices created or regulated pursuant to federal statute, and hence does not include the President.
Likewise, under the 14th Amendment, the bar from office in relevant part applies to “an officer of the United States,” i.e., appointed officers, as explained by Chief Justice Roberts in a 2010 decision: "The people do not vote for the 'Officers of the United States.'" Rather, ‘officers of the United States’ are appointed exclusively pursuant to Article II, Section 2 procedures. It follows that the President, who is an elected official, is not an ‘officer of the United States.’
Absent an amendment, the Constitution ensures that the people, not Congress, solely determine whom to elect as President. It is a principle that applies to both parties and is a bedrock right in this country. Or used to be.
