January 4, 2024
Troy D. Smith
“Three Years Ago This Week: Was It an Insurrection?”
Since last week, Maine has joined Colorado in ruling that the
14th Amendment bars Trump from running for public office. As I wrote
last week, the amendment is clear -the only question is, did Trump participate
in an insurrection? His defenders (and quasi-defenders) keep pointing out that
he has not been convicted of anything, and that is true -he is, in fact, about
to go on trial. The problem is, if he gets elected president before those
trials conclude, he can simply order the government to drop all charges and then
that question will be moot. This is why the 14th Amendment was proposed
and ratified -the knowledge that someone who has clearly shown a past willingness
to violate their oath to the Constitution might still be popular enough to get
elected, and that is a threat to the republic. Trump has clearly shown what he
is capable of, and is still flat-out telling us what he plans to do if he gets
another shot at it. It’s going to be interesting to see what the Supreme Court rules,
because I honestly believe it could go either way. Whatever they decide
regarding the ballot issue will be the final word on that question, and I will
accept it whether I agree with it or not. However, I continue to believe that
it is my duty (and my right), and that of anyone who is paying attention, to
keep sounding the alarm in hopes of getting through to some voters who might be
on the fence or not paying attention.
Let’s look, once more, at what we have learned via the many
investigations so far. Trump’s defenders continue to deny that January 6 was an
insurrection, saying it was just a bunch of protesters who got carried away and
who had no real ability to overthrow the government. That is not the complete
truth, and it is not the point. We now have plenty of evidence that, although most
of the participants were unaware of it, the event itself was planned and
coordinated ahead of time. The goal was to prevent the certification, by
Congress, of the electoral votes by the end of that day, as the Constitution
requires. The accusation is that Trump not only planned the riot and stirred it
up, but that he made no effort to stop it once it was underway, in hopes of
stopping that certification -and that he and others had illegally conspired to
set up fake electors to be used instead. That is insurrection.
I now want to address something that I have debated bringing
up. I never thought I would see the day that my friend John Gottlied would
impugn my integrity, attack my character, and literally call me a liar. Tying
his assertions to a statement about me teaching young people is wildly
irresponsible, because I think we all realize in our current environment there
are people who might use that to threaten my job or even my physical safety. He
was so confident in his statements it almost made me doubt myself, so I went
back and re-read my own column that he was responding to.
In that column I listed off all the things Trump has been
charged with, accused of, and/or found liable for. Whether you believe the
evidence backs that up or not, it is a cold, hard fact that he HAS been
charged, accused, and/or found liable for those things, which is exactly what I
said. I then pointed out that, in the past, the mere accusation of such things
would end someone’s political aspirations. There is not one untrue or
misleading statement there. John concluded by saying (of himself) “I might
disagree with other’s opinions but never intentionally mislead or insult.”
I invite you to re-read what I actually said and then his (extremely
insulting) response. And then, by all means, do think for yourself.
--Troy D.
Smith, a White County native, is a novelist and a history professor at
Tennessee Tech and serves on the executive committee of the Tennessee
Democratic Party. His words do not necessarily represent TTU.
Buy the book A Liberal Dose: Communiques from the Holler by Troy D. Smith HERE
You can find all previous entries in this weekly column HERE
A list of other historical essays that have appeared on this blog can be found HERE
Author's website: www.troyduanesmith.com
The author's historical lectures on youtube can be found HERE
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