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THE SHAMEFUL FAILURE OF YESTERDAY’S SCOTUS 14TH AMENDMENT ARGUMENTS
 
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Thom Hartmann
February 9, 2024
The Hartmann Report
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_ The simple reality is that the future of American democracy is as
much on the line now as it was in 1866. That was lost in yesterday’s
arguments, but should have been central to them. _

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The single most astonishing thing about yesterday’s oral arguments
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the Supreme Court was the almost complete lack of historical context
in those arguments about an insurrectionist staying on the ballot.

The fear that led Colorado to ban Trump from the ballot was that
he’d keep his word and “suspend the Constitution” and “be a
dictator on day one.” Neither were mentioned even once: the words
“suspend” and “dictator” don’t appear anywhere in the
transcript.

And yet that is exactly what provoked Pennsylvania Congressman
Thaddeus Stevens, Michigan’s Senator Jacob Howard, and New York’s
Senator Roscoe Conkling (and 12 others) to write and push through
Congress the 14th Amendment.

The Confederate states had ceased to be a democracy in any real sense
by the late 1830s, as I detail in _The Hidden History of American
Oligarchy
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with the wealthiest families in each of those states running them like
dictatorial fiefdoms.

WHEN THEIR POLITICAL OR ECONOMIC POWER WAS CHALLENGED, THEY WERE NOT
AT ALL RELUCTANT TO BEAT, IMPRISON, AND EVEN LYNCH POOR OR
WORKING-CLASS WHITES: MUCH LIKE TODAY’S RUSSIA, NO DISSENT WAS
TOLERATED. IF SOMEBODY TRIED TO LAUNCH A SERIOUS POLITICAL CHALLENGE
AGAINST ONE OF THE OLD SOUTH’S OLIGARCHS DURING THAT ERA, THEY MOST
FREQUENTLY ENDED UP DEAD OR BEING BURNED OUT OF THEIR HOME.

That is the American Trump is promising to bring us back to
“again.”

Compounding this, Lincoln had made the horrible mistake of taking a
slaveholder, Andrew Johnson, as his second-term Vice President — a
largely futile effort at healing the nation — and when Lincoln was
assassinated the following year and Johnson became president, Congress
freaked out.

On the Supreme Court, both Chief Justice Roger Taney and Associate
Justice Samuel Nelson were in poor health; Taney had authored the
notorious _Dred Scott_ decision (and had earlier owned
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people) and Nelson’s tuition through law school was paid
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one of his family’s enslaved individuals.

SO CONGRESS — FEARING PRESIDENT JOHNSON WAS PREPARING TO APPOINT
ANOTHER CONFEDERATE SYMPATHIZER TO THE COURT — PASSED LEGISLATION
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1866 CUTTING THE SIZE OF THE SUPREME COURT FROM TEN TO SIX MEMBERS.

That’s how concerned they were — and how extreme an action they
were willing to take — to rescue the fragile democracy that the
Confederate oligarchs had just recently tried to destroy.

CONGRESS, PARTICULARLY THE RADICAL REPUBLICAN FACTION STEVENS LED,
THEN ESSENTIALLY WENT TO WAR WITH PRESIDENT JOHNSON AND THOSE WHO
SUPPORTED HIM, WHO BITTERLY OPPOSED RATIFICATION OF THE 14TH
AMENDMENT.

The landslide victory of the Radical Republicans in the election of
1866 arguably saved
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day for the Amendment and helped save American democracy.

THAT VIRTUALLY NONE OF THIS HISTORY WAS MENTIONED BY THE ATTORNEYS
REPRESENTING COLORADO IN THE ARGUMENTS BEFORE THE COURT YESTERDAY IS
TRAGIC; EVEN WORSE IS HOW THE JUSTICES SEEMED SO INTENT ON FINDING
TECHNICAL REASONS TO IGNORE THE PLAIN LANGUAGE OF THE AMENDMENT’S
SECTION 3.

“No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or
elector of President and Vice President, or hold any office, civil or
military, under the United States, or under any state, who, having
previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of
the United States, or as a member of any state legislature, or as an
executive or judicial officer of any state, to support the
Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection
or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies
thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House,
remove such disability.”

The simple reality is that the future of American democracy is as much
on the line in this case as it was in 1866. That was completely lost
in yesterday’s arguments: it should have been central to them.

SO, WHY DID EVEN THE “LIBERAL” WING OF THE COURT GO ALONG WITH
THIS CHARADE? WAS IT BECAUSE, LIKE MITT ROMNEY SAID OF HIS REPUBLICAN
SENATE COLLEAGUES WHO FAILED TO CONVICT TRUMP IN HIS SECOND
IMPEACHMENT, THEY WERE AFRAID FOR THEIR OWN SAFETY?

As Romney’s biographer, Atlantic writer McKay Coppins, wrote
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“One Republican congressman confided to Romney that he wanted to
vote for Trump’s second impeachment, but chose not to out of fear
for his family’s safety. The congressman reasoned that Trump would
be impeached by House Democrats with or without him — why put his
wife and children at risk if it wouldn’t change the outcome?

“Later, during the Senate trial, Romney heard the same calculation
while talking with a small group of Republican colleagues. When one
senator, a member of leadership, said he was leaning toward voting to
convict, the others urged him to reconsider. You can’t do that,
Romney recalled someone saying. Think of your personal safety, said
another. Think of your children. The senator eventually decided they
were right.”

Were we watching the consequence of Trump’s thuggish threats? After
all, just a few weeks ago Trump attorney Alina Habba said
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Fox “News” of Bret Kavanaugh:

“You know, people like Kavanaugh, who the president fought for, who
the President went through how to get into place, he’ll step up.”

_Nice little house and kids you’ve got there, Brett; be a shame if
something were to happen to them…_

This is how fascists and authoritarians have seized and held power for
all the millennia we’ve had what we call civilization: by inducing
terror. Just ask Ruby Freeman or Paul Pelosi. Or read Shakespeare or
the Bible. Or talk with Alexi Navalny’s wife.

Did they never learn in American History class that there was a time,
spanning about a generation, when democracy had been replaced by
strongman oligarchy in the South and Trump is merely echoing the
values and postures of that time?

THAT THE 14TH AMENDMENT WAS WRITTEN TO PREVENT OR RESCUE US FROM
EXACTLY TODAY’S SITUATION?

Stevens, Howard, and Conkling went to their graves believing they’d
secured America’s future. Tragically, Trump’s lawyers, Sam Alito,
Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Clarence “sugar baby” Thomas
(among others) proved they were wrong.

Yesterday’s hearing was a disgrace. Now that the Supreme Court has
apparently failed in their responsibility, it’s up to us to prevent
this monster or anyone like him from ever again setting foot in the
halls of American power.

Make sure everybody you know is registered to vote and understands
what’s at stake this November.

_Thom Hartmann @THOMHARTMANN NY Times bestselling author 34 books in
17 languages & nation's #1 progressive radio host. Psychotherapist,
international relief worker. Politics, history, spirituality,
psychology, science, anthropology, pre-history, culture, and the
natural world._

_Subscribe to The Hartmann Report._
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* SCOTUS
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* 14th amendment
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* History
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* Reconstruction
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