Because I can’t let crap like this pass; I’m sorry, I just can’t.
The headline in the Times says, “Trump Says a Recent M.R.I. Scan Was ‘Perfect,’ and He’d ‘Love’ a Third Term”: President Trump made the comments on the second day of his trip to Asia. The Constitution limits presidents to two terms, but Mr. Trump has suggested he might try to circumvent it.” No, he didn’t say anything of the sort. The President said he was healthy, and that he would “love to do it,” as in a third term. That does not suggest that he would try to circumvent the Constitution. When I say I would love to have Elon Musk’s resources, and I would, it does nor mean that I am tempted to rob him. If I say I would love to spend a night with Sydney Sweeney, it does not mean I am plotting to abduct her.
Fox News asked Trump about the (stupid) theory that he could run for another term by winning as a VP candidate with a Presidential candidate who would resign once the votes were in. He replied, “I think the people wouldn’t like that. It’s too cute. It wouldn’t be right,” after saying, “Yeah, I’d be allowed to do that.” (I doubt it, but the man is no Constitutional scholar, to be kind about it.) Even then, he did not suggest he would try to circumvent the the 22nd Amendment because, you know, he can’t, and he’ll be lucky if he lives through this term.
There is nothing, literally nothing, in the Times piece that supports its headline. The closest it comes is this: “Last week, Stephen K. Bannon, Mr. Trump’s former strategist, said that he was part of ‘a plan‘ to help the president get elected to a third term.’Trump is going to be president in ’28, and people ought to just get accommodated with that,’ he said.”
Sure he’ll be President in 2028: his term ends in 2029. Who pays attention to what Steve Bannon says at this point?
Then, in the same Times edition, we get this Editorial headline on the home page: “Americans Are Living in Fear of Their Own Government.” If they are, it’s because the New York Times is scaremongering every day, along with the rest of the Axis news media and the Democratic Party, with stories like the one claiming Trump is plotting to serve a third term.
I finally checked the editorial: it was yet another bleat about mean I.C.E. frightening Hispanic-Americans by aggressively removing illegal aliens—Oh! I’m sorry: “Undocumented individuals that are human beings”— from cities and workplaces unethically and illegally trying to help them elude law enforcement. I very much doubt that American citizens who are not involved in violating immigration laws are “living in fear” of I.C.E. unless it’s from the Axis of Unethical Conduct telling them that concentration camps and summary executions are just around the metaphorical corner, courtesy of our “fascist” President.
Ethics Alarms 
Here is the text of the 22nd Amendment:
“No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once.” (emphasis added). This does not address consecutive terms; it an elected president is limited to two four-year terms and an unelected president is limited to one elected four-year term.
Here is the eligibility for Vice President in the 12th Amendment:
“But no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States.”
By that logic, if Trump cannot be eligible for President (term-limited), he is not eligible to be Vice President, either.
jvb
thanks for that reminder. I have not felt the desire to try to rebut that bit of idiocy I have seen (from both sides, frankly).
-Jut
And, if I am not mistaken the Presidential succession act — which sets the order of succession past the Vice President — says that anyone ineligible to be president is excluded. For example, I believe Henry Kissinger was not a natural born citizen and hence ineligible to succeed to be president, even though he was Secretary of State.
Correct.
jvb
Excellent work, jvb! I’m convinced all this “Trump 2028” talk is just to keep the Left safely ensconced in their collective madness. There is no avenue for President Trump to serve after this term, but it’s hilarious to watch the other twist itself into pretzels over it.
I’ve said it before: President Trump simply owns the Left. Conservatives have long known what gets progressives angry, but we have shied away from stirring the pot. The President has no such qualms and has cracked the code on using the Left’s idiocy and constant outrage to his own advantage. And for the most part, the Left appears to have no idea how badly it’s being played.
Jack: “ If I say I would love to spend a night with Sydney Sweeney, it does not mean I am plotting to abduct her.”
sorry to break it to you Jack, but guys like us don’t have any other options.
-Jut
Erm . . .
jvb
Apropos Sydney Sweeney, I’m a little concerned, Jack. This is the second time in two days you’ve mentioned her in the context of a sexual abduction fantasy. (“Trump is said to be holding Sidney Sweeney in the White House basement as his sex slave.” was the other one.)
I can certainly see why anyone would be obsessed, but I’d tread lightly. I’d hate for you to be on the receiving end of a restraining order, and God forbid anything were to actually happen to her in the near future. You might find a couple of FBI agents knocking on your door asking to search your basement.
Is there a gap between ‘eligible to be elected’ and ‘eligible to the office’ given that a VP (or Speaker) does not become President by being elected, but by the Presidential Succession act?
I don’t think this is going to be attempted, but discussing the legal feasibility serves to distract and distress the enemies of the current administration, and I’m sure that is Bannon’s objective.
Is Steve Bannon even still pro-Trump?
Sure.
Didn’t Obama get asked that same question and he responded that he would not mind if he could have a front man sat around in his sweats and made all the decisions? Seems to me that actually occurred.
[From your host: I confess, I would have been disappointed if kamakazi self-banned poster AF hadn’t taken the bait and tried to rationalize the Times pure dishonesty and Fake News attack. And he snuck it in while I was sleeping off watching 16 innings of the Dodgers-Jays World Series game last night. (It ended in the 18th.)]
Huh…you still haven’t gotten the memo…
Especially odd, since he wrote the memo.
I dozed off in the 16th, but woke up for the last two innings. The Dodgers, damn them, kept making brilliant plays in the field, after they gave up some unearned runs in the 4th.
No matter who you were pulling for, it was a nailbiter, a true classic in the Fall Classic.
And, in true baseball fashion, they get to come back in 17 hours and do it all over again.
============
One does have to wonder — if the Bluejays were up by two runs and the bases were loaded — would they have still intentionally walked Ohtani?
Last night? Yes.
3….2….1….
It has never been tested in court, but Johnburger makes a near irrefutable case that a two-term former president cannot be elected vice president.
I believe the Presidential Succession Act is written to bypass anyone down the list ineligible from assuming the presidency or acting presidency.