Reply to Colorado case. To keep Trump off ballot

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[quote=Anonymous]Great article on good history being deployed to counter bad arguments.

https://snyder.substack.com/p/bad-arguments-and-good-historians

I particularly appreciated this paragraph:

"Most discussions of this case, Trump v. Anderson, are about the politics.  Commentators assume that the Court will behave as politicians.  If no one is given credit for doing anything except seeking excuses for what they want to do anyway, then bad arguments get currency.  The purpose of constitutional order, of course, is to provide a framework above politics, one which allows a decent sort of politics to prevail. If no one takes the meaning of the Constitution seriously, then such an order cannot long be sustained."

But, in particular, on the history front, the author cites to a couple of the amicus briefs filed with SCOTUS and points out that:

1) It's very clear that the President was considered an "officer" -- that's the plain language reading, but also everyone involved at the time understood that Jefferson Davis couldn't become President after the amendment was ratified.

2) It was understood at the time that disqualifications instantly ensued, and they did instantly ensue. When Davis was standing trial for treason, everyone involved agreed that he had already been disqualified from office by Section 3.

3) Application of Section 3 was not designed to be confined to the events of the 1860s. Legislators could have framed Section 3 to apply only to the 1860s, but they did not.  Indeed, they discussed including language specific to "the late insurrection" and rejected such a framing as too limiting.

A majority of the members of the Supreme Court advertise themselves as people who attend to the plain wording of the Constitution, or to its meaning as understood by framers, legislators, or people at the time.  But, basically everyone involved, knows that they are lying when they market themselves that way. Thomas and Alito are, in particular, shameless political hacks. [/quote]

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