McConnell and Cruz defend Trump to Supreme Court, asking: What does 'insurrection' mean anyway?

MicroWave@lemmy.world to politics @lemmy.world – 256 points –
businessinsider.com

What does "insurrection" even mean?

That's the question top Republican lawmakers — including Mitch McConnell, who previously held Donald Trump responsible for the riot on January 6, 2021 — are asking the Supreme Court in a brief defending him from being disqualified in the 2024 election.

In a legal brief filed Thursday, 179 Republican politicians urged the court to overturn a Colorado Supreme Court ruling that kicked Trump off the 2024 ballot because it found he violated the 14th Amendment's Section 3, which bans those who "engaged in" insurrection from running.

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Pretty sure the U.S. Code says it means to act or incite to act against the authority of the United States. Such as the authority of the United States says it’s time for Congress to count and certify electoral votes, and you try to stop it from doing so. https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/2383

Let me add a reminder that Trump's state, Florida, is moving to ban dictionaries...

Just to clarify, this is not an example of Poe's Law. Florida is really, actually, truthfully, no bullshit, banning most dictionaries in schools.

Florida law currently prohibits books that depict or describe sexuality. Most decent dictionaries include definitions of sexual terminology. Consequently, schools are pulling dictionaries, encyclopedias, and a wide variety of classical works and reference materials, rather than risk criminal charges.

That kids won't be able to look up the definition of "insurrection" at school is a welcome side effect for them.

Just to clarify, the government is not specifically targeting dictionaries. They passed broad laws regarding acceptable content in school libraries and some teachers have been enforcing them very strictly as a for of protest.

I love that they banned Bill O'Reilly's books. And obviously, the Bible.

Didn't McConnell himself say it was a "violent insurrection"? So he could probably define it.

We all were here. We saw what happened. It was a violent insurrection for the purpose of trying to prevent the peaceful transfer of power after a legitimately certified election, from one administration to the next. That’s what it was

God, will he ever die? He's such a piece of shit and looks like death.

Republicans: The federal government is too big and acting like a nanny state!

Hillbillies: The Civil War was all about states' rights!!

Hillbillies/Republicans/Same thing: How can a state do this?? Hurry federal government and overturn the state's ruling!!

Republicans' core beliefs are whatever benefits them, despite how hard they pretend otherwise. Luckily for them, they are immune to hypocrisy.

Forget Republicans. Conservatives core beliefs are about hierarchy.

  1. They want it to exist based on "who deserves it"
  2. They want to be on top
  3. Failing that, they want to suck up to the people on top

That's what happened before the Civil War too. The South didn't give a shit about states' rights. They wanted the Federal Government to enforce the Fugitive Slave Act to force free states to return runaway slaves.

They seceded because the Federal Government was changing. California was admitted as a free state, tipping the balance in the Senate to 16 free states vs. 15 slave states. They would no longer be able to use Federal Law to force the free states to do what they wanted.

The Confederate Constitution was basically a copy of the US Constitution, but with a prohibition on the right for states to outlaw slavery. They took away states' rights. So, yes the Civil War was about states' rights, but the Union was fighting to preserve rights not the Confederacy.

Hey now, there is a distinction to be made between rednecks and hillbillies. Rednecks fly the stars and bars, hillbillies fuck their daughters.

Trump is never held accountable. Nobody else would get this type of treatment.

It isn't Trump.

If you send him to prison you normalize imprisoning politicians who did crimes.

So big criminal politicians are trying to prevent that. If he doesn't go to prison neither will they

So what’s the problem with that? If you’re a politician and you commit crimes, your ass should go to jail.

you can see where if you were a politician who commits crimes (which is to say, a politician) and you were in charge of whether politicians who commits crimes go to jail, you might have a different opinion about these things

The problem is that they are criminals as well and would go to jail themselves.

Good thing it’s the justice department’s job. Checks and balances. Oh wait, my fucking Republicans took over the courts.

Ah yes. The collective vanishing of the republican spine every 4 years.

You know it when you see it. And we all saw it.

The legal definition of "insurrection" is "If you're reading this, pick someone else."

Interference in transfer of power. Duhhhhh. Ted and Much take the short bus to school.

Both Trump and Biden partisans could try to disqualify each other under Section 3, in tit-for-tat retaliation that has already been threatened," the Republicans wrote.

They forgot to add "by us" at the end of that sentence.

It's bad enough when Neoliberals make these slippery slope fallacies when it comes to holding fascists accountable, but Republicans‽

I understand that "insurrection" is defined as an act of revolt or uprising against an established government or authority. It typically involves the use of force or violence by a group of individuals seeking to overthrow or challenge the existing government or political order. Insurrections are characterized by organized rebellion against a nation's laws or governing bodies, often in pursuit of political, social, or ideological changes. This term is commonly associated with actions that are considered beyond the realm of peaceful protest or civil disobedience, veering into the territory of armed resistance or violent uprising.

I…I’m really not sure how you can read something like that and still make this argument. Despite my familiarity with the utter lack of morality in the GOP, this new low surprises even me. Also, McConnell, just die already.

Now let's point out that to the extent the term is not defined, it's definition is Congress's responsibility (that is to say their responsibility). To the extent that their definition is unclear, it is the responsibility of the Court to interpret it. So are they complaining that they haven't done their own job?

18 U.S.C. section 2383 has Congress's current definition of insurrection.

In short, this is just grandstanding to distract their gullible base.

This is the best summary I could come up with:

That's the question top Republican lawmakers — including Mitch McConnell, who previously held Donald Trump responsible for the riot on January 6, 2021 — are asking the Supreme Court in a brief defending him from being disqualified in the 2024 election.

Trump appealed the ruling to the Supreme Court, which agreed to take up the pivotal case in the coming weeks.

In their legal brief, the lawmakers argued Congress should enforce the 14th Amendment and that loose definitions of "insurrection" would allow "widespread abuse of Section 3 against political opponents."

"Both Trump and Biden partisans could try to disqualify each other under Section 3, in tit-for-tat retaliation that has already been threatened," the Republicans wrote.

"But once 'engage in' is defined so broadly, even significant countervailing evidence can simply be labeled as a ruse, as insufficient, or even as an implied recognition and praise of ongoing violence."

A recent report by ABC News cited sources that claim Trump himself was reluctant to post the message and that one of his aides had to do it instead.

The original article contains 391 words, the summary contains 176 words. Saved 55%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!

They don't want the supporters going after them.

I don't get it. Why does McConnell not simply retreat into his shell at the first sign of danger?

He does. The GOP just had a special aide who will coax him out of there with slices of pizza. Each time he defends trump, he'll get a whole pizza just for himself. Can't blame the guy really. What else is he going to do when all his friends leave him to go play ninja with that stupid bearded rat?

It means that time you shit your pants thinking the Trump Gang was going to hang your enabling asses. That was an "insurrection."

Moscow Mitch said he didn’t vote to impeach because he should be criminally convicted instead.

What what’s fucking new with that shit stain of a human?

I'm continually shocked they can stand upright, what without a recognizable spine and all. I've said it before and I'll say it again: bunch of cuckolds, the whole lot of 'em.

Jan 6 was a big nothing burger. Filling a room with people is all it takes to take over a country these days??