I promised myself that I would take time off until the end of November to write my next column. I primarily just needed a breather from all the crazies who troll me online waiting to threaten me or say the dumbest things in the world to me.
But this morning, the President of The Untied States pushed me out of my bed with his latest ludicrous announcement. He says he can wipe out the 14th Amendment with an Executive Order. He says, “they tell me that.” Who “they” are of course is always a mystery in his pronouncements. I personally think “they” are the voices he hears in his head.
But that’s not the point. The point is that the 14th Amendment states:
“All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”
U.S. President Donald Trump
Further, Article 5 of the Constitution states:
“The Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose Amendments to this Constitution, or, on the Application of the Legislatures of two thirds of the several States, shall call a Convention for proposing Amendments, which, in either Case, shall be valid to all Intents and Purposes, as Part of this Constitution, when ratified by the Legislatures of three fourths of the several States, or by Conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one or the other Mode of Ratification may be proposed by the Congress.”
In no way does Article 5 give ANY authority to the President to modify the Constitution. He cannot amend it, he cannot veto an Amendment, nor can he block the ratification of one. This is not only the opinion of constitutional legal experts; it was also made clear by the Supreme Court in Hollingsworth v Virginia (3 US 378 [1798]) with their ruling stating:
“The negative of the President applies only to the ordinary case of legislation. He has nothing to do with the proposition, or adoption, of amendments to the Constitution.”
As smart as President Trump claims himself to be, surely he understands this. And surely he is surrounded by enough people smarter than him who tell him the same.
So why did he make this bold statement to Axios last week?
Because he is trying to influence the mid-term elections. His stump speech since he took office is all about how illegal immigrants are the root cause of all the evil in the US and that getting rid of them all will “Make America Great Again.”
This rhetoric is tiresome. And yet his followers buy it hook line and sinker. While the distraction helps them to ignore the larger issues of what this administration is doing [debates for another week].
I’m pretty sure he has NO intention of trying to write an Executive Order to repeal the 14th Amendment. He will float this now for the next week so that he can continue to rile up his base with the “enemy” he has created. It’s no different than sending 5,300 military troops to the border to stop the caravan of illegal immigrants who “must have been infiltrated by Middle Easterners.” [Though he has admitted there is no evidence of that, it must be true because he wants his base to believe it’s true.] Lost in reality is the fact that these people are thousands of miles from the Mexico-US border right now. But truth doesn’t matter in HIS “fake news” cycles.
He learned long ago that if he “plays with people’s fantasies” and uses “truthful hyperbole,” people want to believe it. He said so in Art of the Deal.
So, rest assured Baron and all you other birthright citizens, you will not lose your citizenship by the repeal of the 14th Amendment. At least not by this CONGRESS.
This “shiny object” of distraction will disappear in 8 days, after it has infected the minds of a base that happily turns awayfrom fact to read the latest fiction of the day.
And one more thing: 33 countries (including the US’s neighbor Canada) in the world give birthright citizenship to people born on their soil. So Mr. President, before you spread your latest lie—that America is the only country that does this—be aware that we’re on to that one.
