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A 15-Step Plan to Save Democracy Via the 14th Amendment Can Start Today [1]
['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']
Date: 2025-01-02
[please share your take on these ideas in the poll that follows]
You know what would make this the happiest of new years yet? If President Biden acted today to put the wheels in motion to stop Trump’s impending conversion of democracy to full-on #RepubloFascism starting on Jan. 20th. And oddly enough, the tools needed to prevent this travesty were solidified by the Supreme Court’s presidential immunity ruling and laid out through Trump’s plan to jail his political foes and critics.
The difference here, of course, is that Trump has no evidence, only vindictive will. Biden has evidence of Seditious Conspiracy worthy of exclusion via the 14th Amendment for a large portion of Congress. Voting against accepting Biden’s electoral college votes with foreknowledge that Trump’s Big Lie was fabricated - with no hint of evidence - would be the smoking gun that eventual indictments and convictions could hinge on.
Biden has already expressed his regret in choosing Obama’s spurned Supreme Court pick, Republican Merrick Garland, as Attorney General. Garland dragged his feet on time-critical Trump investigations and sat on his hands in pursuing co-conspirators.
Biden can and should fire him today. And since FBI Director Chris Wray said he’ll quit on Jan. 20, Biden should replace him on Jan. 2 too. In each case, a recess appointment can happen immediately.
Then Biden can hurl a Hail Mary that can ultimately save American democracy, the world economy, perhaps even hold off the tipping point in climate disruption and prolong humanity itself.
The key factor is just how - and to whom - the 14th Amendment can be applied. Regarding Trump, the SCOTUS decision to overturn the AZ Supreme Court’s ruling which was to deny Trump’s placement on the presidential primary ballot did not fully preclude the use of the 14th Amendment at the presidential level. SCOTUS did leave that open to Congress.
But as to sitting members of Congress, there’s a law on the books that can be applied:
18 U.S.C. § 2383 - U.S. Code - Unannotated Title 18. Crimes and Criminal Procedure § 2383. Rebellion or insurrection
It states:
Whoever incites, sets on foot, assists, or engages in any rebellion or insurrection against the authority of the United States or the laws thereof, or gives aid or comfort thereto, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both; and shall be incapable of holding any office under the United States.
Merrick Garland never seemed to have considered applying this law on the actions of Congressional lawmakers on Jan. 6, 2021. But why couldn’t a new AG? And what could that snowball rolling downhill turn into?
Here’s my take on how it could roll and how momentous it could prove:
Step 1: Biden fires AG Garland and replaces him with Stacey Abrams.
Step 2: Biden fires Wray and installs Russ Feingold. Others could be considered, but Feingold has the tenacity and the skills.
Step 3: Abrams announces investigations into Seditious Conspiracy charges, citing the 14th Amendment and the U.S. Code noted above. This disqualifies the seating of eight Senators including Ted Cruz, Josh Hawley, Tommy Tuberville, and Rick Scott as well as 139 members of the House.
Step 4: Feingold confiscates their phones to search for texts that could verify both foreknowledge of The Big Lie as false, and the active conspiracy to vote against certifying Biden as President despite knowing the truth.
Step 5: AG Abrams states that active investigations preclude the seating of accused members in the next Congress starting Jan. 3. Once cleared of criminal sedition, these politicians can free themselves from this disability with a 2/3 vote in both houses of Congress.
Step 4 : With the resulting large majorities in both houses before Jan. 6, House Speaker Jeffries and Senate Majority Leader Schumer could pass Schumer’s No Kings Act, overturning the SCOTUS presidential immunity decision and adding other restrictions to Trump’s notion of absolute power.
Congress may cite the 14th Amendment against Trump taking office himself, legally objecting to electoral college votes. The 270 vote threshold for determining a president would be reduced to a simple majority among eligible EC votes that remain. Harris would become President on Jan. 20 if this is done.
But in case that doesn’t happen:
Step 5: Before Jan. 20, Congress can also pass:
HR 1, the For The People Act which mandates public not private campaign funding. Included in HR 1 would be other reforms such as blocking gerrymandering federal and state maps, mandating hand-marked and hand-counted paper ballots, along with superPAC and lobbying reforms.
The Equal Rights Amendment; after 60 years finally giving women full equality. Add in LGBTQ+ rights too.
The federal budget, which otherwise would be due for a vote again in March
Legislation ending the debt ceiling completely
Wealth taxes on billionaires and a firm end of Bush/Trump tax cuts favoring the rich
Step 6: All documents from both federal cases against Trump are revealed, along with Mueller Report and impeachment evidence. In all cases, only Grand Jury and witness names are redacted.
Step 7: In the last weeks of his presidency, Biden will approve the expansion of the Supreme Court and name three new justices to offset the power grab that Mitch McConnell and Trump orchestrated.
Step 8: Trump is inaugurated, saddled with more restrictions on his power and a Court that won’t fudge on his behalf. All of Trump’s cabinet choices go through full FBI vetting with no partisan controlling the process.
Step 9: Only normal, skilled people will populate his cabinet and other Senate-approved office holders. There will be no recess appointments because the Senate doesn’t adjourn to allow for that sidestepping of the vetting process.
Step 10: Trump would soon face his third impeachment for emoluments violations, bribery for cabinet posts through inauguration fund contributions, and his refusal to sign the commitment to integrity document that is part of the presidential transition process. The Senate will not pass removal - this time.
Step 11: DOJ and FBI Seditious Conspiracy investigations expand to include GOP party leadership. Phone confiscation also leads to evidence regarding the 2024 election cycle, not only confirming conspiracies but also plans implemented in election theft. Some are strategic, some are pushing voters off the voting rolls and not counting their provisional ballots, but also knowledge and the planning of electronic manipulation of the vote itself.
Step 12: None of Trump’s agenda will pass Congress at first. Special elections bring some new GOP faces, but many not until spring.
Step 13: Fox News, OAN, and Newsmax are among the media outlets reeled into corruption investigations. TV hosts, management, and entities as a whole are implicated. Punishment options, including license revocation, are considered.
Step 14: Without the propaganda megaphone at full power, legacy media will realize that this is their window to tell every damning truth about Trump, as leverage shifts with Trump no longer wielding Unitary Executive powers. The lies and hypocrisy of MAGA are exposed, and this new focus will increase profits and market share as over 80% of America will sense that RepubloFascism will not prevail over democracy.
Step 15: Before the blue Congress is reverted back to GOP hands, Dems pass tangibly helpful legislation for the poor and middle classes, then override Donald’s vetos. Positive results will give a contrast to weigh against GOP priorities once back holding both gavels.
Rolling into 2026, with the MAGA agenda soundly thwarted, humiliating defeats await most House GOP incumbents, either in the primaries or in general elections. All the old-guard #CORPservative Republicans are soon to be gone. Careers spent in servitude only to billionaire and corporate donors have no actual accomplishments to run on. Only anti-Trump faces will survive the primaries since dark and foreign money can’t preserve the greedy RepubloFascist legacy.
Some Republicans will have switched parties to preserve their careers. Others can only win by standing against Trump and his shriveling MAGA base.
And in 2027, knowing his fourth and most likely final impeachment looms after massive Democratic gains in Congress, Trump will finally decide that the billions he’s bilked out of his base and overseas despots are enough so he can cut bait and run. He’ll resign, siting health reasons, and retire in Russia, Hungary, or perhaps Saudi Arabia.
Speaker Jeffries and a Democratically controlled Senate will largely prevent President Vance from doing much additional harm, considering he’s likely done a few impeachable offenses too.
Dems will rule Congress for a generation, and along the way Kamala Harris, having kept her powder dry, will be our first female president in 2029. She won’t even have to run on the “I told you so” platform.
Then she and her blue Congress will start the long process of undoing as many wrongs as possible, exposing along the way the greedy motivations behind each sociopathic plot.
And as we turn towards our calendar’s next decade, America will finally achieve the greatness that comes from being a democratic nation of full equality where everyone’s individuality is valued and respected, corporations and billionaires no longer wield disproportionate power, and climate and immigration challenges are no longer steered towards profit potential.
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Sometimes a glass-1/16th-full perspective like mine is just good therapy. But sometimes, that willingness to dream yields actionable ideas outside the norm that can really make a difference. Which is in play here? Please tell me in your comments and poll response.
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