By Carol Lucas
For the 35 years that I lived in suburban Pittsburgh, I voraciously read the local newspaper on a daily basis. At first it was the Pittsburgh Press, which eventually closed down. At that time, the other major paper was The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, and it became the dominant daily newspaper for much of western Pennsylvania.
Many times I used this as a resource in my classroom, asking students to bring a paper the next day if a current event happened to reflect something we were reading. One instance addressed the story of South Carolina’s Susan Smith’s having killed her children by letting the vehicle they were in roll into a lake. At that time we were reading the Greek drama Medea, and a lot of discussion centered on how any mother could possibly use this action as a form of retribution.
I tell you this because I am still drawn to newspapers. There is something about gaining your daily dose of news through reading as opposed to listening to someone drone on incessantly. Thus the above introduction to my topic for this week.
One of the most widely read columnists at The Post-Gazette is Gene Collier. I have followed his writing for as long as I can remember, and it was just recently that he wrote something that really struck a chord.
I cannot recall seeing this topic addressed in depth anywhere. It deals with the indictments of Donald Trump, but Collier’s approach explores the subject a bit differently; he, too, says this aspect has been given little coverage. And so it is that with great gratitude to Gene Collier that I am going to present to you his musings, and in doing so, I will try not to plagiarize.
Collier begins his column by stating that Donald Trump is the presumptive nominee of the Republican Party, despite the fact that he is faced with multiple indictments that include 75 separate felony counts, 37 of which involve the alleged mishandling of secret documents. Collier then adds that the former president has been found liable on sexual battery and defamation charges, and he concludes the list by mentioning looming indictments which have come to fruition since the article was published.
Perhaps I need to interrupt here to say that when I was researching the current status of the Post-Gazette, I found two sources that deem the paper to have a conservative bias. Some may roll their eyes at that, but my take is that Gene Collier has dealt in facts. Nothing but the facts, ma’am.
So let me get to the heart of what I found to be very interesting, yet sadly under-reported. Collier asserts that there is “one application of the law enshrined in the Constitution that could shut down Trump’s candidacy permanently.” He goes on to say this: “The 14th Amendment of the Constitution, ratified in July of 1868 by a bitterly divided government still blood-stained by the Civil War, includes language in Section 3 that prohibits the election or appointment of anyone to state or federal office if they previously held such an office, took an oath ‘to support the Constitution of the United States, have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid and comfort to the enemies thereof.’”
Collier then points out that such a person needn’t be convicted of these actions and needn’t have joined in the violence associated with said actions because Section 3 is not a criminal penalty, merely a qualification for holding office. Read that last sentence again.
A civic watchdog group, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics, or CREW, noted that the founder of “Cowboys for Trump,” who was a county elections official in New Mexico as well, was removed from office for his involvement in the January 6 insurrection. This removal came about because that activity violated Section 3 of the 14th Amendment. Like Trump, he refrained from direct engagement, although he did climb over the barricades and used a bullhorn to urge the crowd on.
On that note, I ask you to remember, “Be there; it will be wild.” And, “March to the Capitol and fight like hell.”
As for giving aid and comfort to the enemies, there was, “We love you; you’re very special.”
So many are given to piously alluding to the Constitution when they come up short for a viable excuse regarding the actions of January 6. The right of free speech, the right to assemble, etc., etc. May I suggest that now is, indeed, the time to look closely at the Constitution, most specifically Section 3 of the 14th Amendment. I have to believe Jack Smith has already done so.
Carol Lucas is a retired high school teacher and a Lady’s Island resident. She is the author of the recently published “A Breath Away: One Woman’s Journey Through Widowhood.”
