Life Adventures, Society

The 25th Amendment

President Donald Trump has acquired a position in which he cannot serve. He awakened our darker side by promoting fear and discord. He reminded us to check our doors and lock our windows. He made us pause before interacting with someone outside our religion or race. He made us suspicious that most Mexicans were rapists and our Muslim neighbors could be dangerous. He continues to systematically unravel virtually every accomplishment made by the former president. He is disturbed by petty encounters, such as his smaller than expected inaugural crowd size, and the possibility that millions voted illegally. Rather than seek to bring our country together through hope and inspiration, he has sowed doubt that our former president wasn’t born in our country, claimed he was wiretapped, and condemns the validity of our free press when it portrays him negatively.

Most of us would agree that any leader would need the following attributes to successfully fulfill his duties:

  • a reasonable level of intellectual curiosity
  • a reasonable attention span
  • a genuine feeling of human empathy
  • a functional moral compass
  • a measure of restraint and self-control
  • -an ability to work in unison with others

President Donald Trump is deficient in all of these.

He also has the character of a child.

  • A child would blurt out classified information to impress visitors.
  • A child would ask the head of the F.B.I. why the rules could not be overlooked for his friend.
  • A child would not understand the consequences of his actions- like firing the same person he asked to obstruct justice.
  • A child would hurl a bad name at another in retaliation of a negative remark.
  • A child without conscience would make fun of a disabled person.
  • A juvenile child would brag about his sexual conquests.
  • A child may not conceptualize the difference between a group that promotes hate and inequality and a group that condemns hate and inequality.
  • A child would not have the ambition to understand the science of climate change and how humans have contributed to our planets harmful greenhouse gases.
  • A child may not comprehend the fear of deportation instilled into 700,000 illegal immigrant DREAMers, who have added cultural and economic value to our country and know no other home than the United States.
  • But even most children would understand the pain and suffering of a five-year prisoner of war.

A child cannot be our president.

In war, a misplaced word from the President of the United States could mean life or death for millions.  Accepting a President with unrestrained rhetoric is an act of gross negligence because it is dangerous to our world and our survival.

A child cannot have the nuclear codes.

In a dignified way, we must remove the president from office under the 25th Amendment.

This Amendment provides the steps for the removal of the president if the vice president and a majority of the cabinet informs the Congress that he is “unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office” and a two-thirds vote by Congress confirms the cabinet’s judgment. Although the President has not suffered a stroke or has symptoms of dementia, he has proven his incapacity to govern, and the 25th Amendment does not constrain itself to physical or mental illness.

To remove the President there must be Republican leadership. Please join me in the effort to ask Vice President Mike Pence, Speaker of the House of Representatives Paul Ryan, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to reconsider their support for a man who has never held a government position, who has never served in the military, who refuses to relinquish the control of his business empire, and should never have been endorsed or elevated to this office.

Amendment XXV. Section. 4.

…Thereafter, when the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration that no inability exists, he shall resume the powers and duties of his office unless the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive department or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit within four days to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office. Thereupon Congress shall decide the issue, assembling within forty-eight hours for that purpose if not in session. If the Congress, within twenty-one days after receipt of the latter written declaration, or, if Congress is not in session, within twenty-one days after Congress is required to assemble, determines by two-thirds vote of both Houses that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall continue to discharge the same as Acting President; otherwise, the President shall resume the powers and duties of his office.

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