The unofficial start to Fall is here. Despite being blazing hot, Fake Fall brings us football, pumpkin-influenced food and drinks, and court proceedings for presidential candidates!
Grab your sweater, Okay History, friends. It’s about to get cold!
Over the summer, we had our first experience of a former president being charged with various crimes. We wondered if President Donald Trump was Above the Law and explored the past situations where our elected officials were unfairly jailed and somehow won a subsequent election.
Since then, many scholars have weighed in as the indictments began piling on, wondering if Trump should be allowed on the ballot, let alone serve in office.
People more competent than I have explained that Trump is disqualified from being president ever again due to the Constitution, because of the wording in an amendment I have yet to rank, mostly since I don’t understand the complexity. Still, I’m sure it is worthy of whatever high ranking I end up giving it.
But I have my doubts about Trump’s eligibility. Primarily because if it was cut and dry, say if Trump was convicted after he was impeached for trying to steal an election, I don’t think there is an argument to make that he could run again. Alas, we came up well short because people are stupid.
So here we are. Another Ask Me Anything edition, only this time, I’m the one asking the question. And I asked it back in June of another expert, the esteemed historian Lindsay A. Chervinsky.
I subscribe to Lindsay’s Substack Imperfect Union because I subscribe to real historians, and she is really good, which is how a non-historian would describe a real one. You should check her out, subscribe, buy her book, and we can race to see who finishes first.
Lindsay wrote her monthly newsletter right when Trump was indicted for keeping top secret documents in a bathroom at his compound, lied about it to the FBI, and then whined about it when the FBI decided to press charges.
Chervinsky provides plenty of insight into the circumstances and how they relate to other high-profile “scandals” that have been tied to the president, his wife, or a nominee, or the president’s wife, who was also a nominee. She even mentions Matthew Lyon regarding being convicted of a crime and still running for office.
Since I like to rub shoulders with those who know what they are talking about, I dropped this question to Lindsay.
Doesn’t look like the way it is playing out right now? Man, I’m good. There’s no way anybody else came to this conclusion.
Here’s what Lindsay responded:
There you have it. Shrug emoji.
I love that, at the end of the day, we have no idea about any of this. Just a big, fat question mark.
Which brings me to my overall point. Articles being written by people who aligned themselves to both gangs serve the purpose of pushing an agenda. The guys who wrote the Atlantic article want to persuade those who may decide Trump’s fate that Two Scoops should be kept as far away from the ballot as possible.
Lindsay has the more objective point. She doesn’t know.
But we live in a world where Trump is an overwhelming frontrunner for the GOP nomination. Things could change, but there’s already an argument by Trump that people are out to get him. It appears to be working. It’s working so well that we seem to be heading towards a constitutional crisis – which is not okay.
On top of that, the GOP-held House of Representatives is beginning an impeachment inquiry against President Biden because we now have entered a world where we will impeach every president. After all, it ultimately doesn’t do anything.
As Lindsay A. explains, this will ultimately be pushed to the Supreme Court. An institution that has questionable ethical standards at the moment. Okay!
How quickly will they hear this case, or any case? Insert Shrug Emoji.
How did we get to this point? Insert Shrug Emoji.
What do you think? Do you think Trump is legally allowed on the ballot? I would say yes because if nothing explicitly denies him, why can’t we just not elect him again? He’s going to use the same playbook, only this time, he isn’t in charge, and my guess is fewer people will show up to try and hang Vice President Kamala Harris when he does lose and hosts the next Steal the Vote Rally.
Anonymous took Blue to the vet earlier this week, and he is on the mend. But he will have to go under the knife to have some skin tags removed and other lumps and bumps all over his body. His stomach issues seem to have moved on, but we still monitor the situation. Thanks to everyone who has emailed me, checking in and advising me. I greatly appreciate it.
It’s anniversary weekend! Just think, a year ago at this time, I was in the middle of a sabbatical. As I wrote back then, I needed some time away. When I returned, I hit you with the I’m married update, and just like that, we have been on a roll.
It’s hard to believe it’s been a year. But what a year it has been! Anonymous is so great. She’s a massive supporter of Okay History and pretty much everything I’m interested in. She is the most important person in my life, and I appreciate how our friendship and love have grown over the first year of marriage – which many people say is the most challenging year in a marriage. So it will be nothing but bliss from here on out.
Don’t worry; I’ll be back Monday with my weekly Monday history stuff. Last week, I got my dates mixed up, so I had the September 18 week in history pretty much done already and can have it ready to go on Monday.
Until then, have a great weekend. May it be filled with happy emojis.
Okay,
Chris