I took a stroll this Christmas morning. It was almost balmy! — very warm for Dec. 25th. Almost 50%. That’s record breaking weather for Minnesota on Christmas. It is now quite humid and will rain later on today. I guess I would rather have snow, but I also like the warm weather. it’s very nice for walking; the air is so clean and fresh.
Both of these constitutional scholars point out that this Colorado ruling undercuts democracy, that Trump was not found guilty of insurrection, and that the Supreme Court must intervein—or our county will be lost.
By Brian Freeman | Wednesday, 20 December 2023 11:04 AM EST
The U.S. Supreme Court must overturn the Colorado Supreme Court’s ruling that Donald Trump cannot appear on the ballot for the state’s Republican presidential primary in March. Otherwise, more states will do the same and the country will stop being a democracy, Judge Andrew Napolitano told Newsmax on Wednesday.
The former New Jersey Superior Court judge told “Wake Up America” that “it’s not the way the system is supposed to work … when judges are at the center of the democratic process, the voters should be at the center of the democratic process.
The 4-3 ruling from the Colorado Supreme Court, whose seven judges were all appointed by Democrats, makes Trump the first presidential candidate ever to be declared ineligible for the presidency under a rarely used provision of the U.S. Constitution that bans officials who have taken part in “insurrection or rebellion” from holding office.
But Napolitano pointed out that “the president has not only not been convicted of participating in or supporting or aiding an insurrection, he has not even been charged with it,” adding that the January 6 charges are not charges of aiding or abetting an insurrection.
If the Colorado Supreme Court’s decision “is not disturbed by the Supreme Court of the United States … then the ballgame will be over for Donald Trump, because other states will do the same thing,” Napolitano said. “That’s why it is vital that the Supreme Court of the United States interfere with this decision, put it on hold and reverse it and let the voters decide … otherwise we don’t have a democracy.”
Napolitano said he was confident the U.S. Supreme Court will take up the issue in the next few days, because ballots will soon begin to be printed” for the primary in Colorado.
He noted there was a trial in Colorado in which a judge found that Trump did participate in and did incite the insurrection on January 6. The Colorado Supreme Court upheld that decision.
By Charlie McCarthy | Wednesday, 20 December 2023 11:07 AM EST
The Colorado Supreme Court’s decision to disqualify former President Donald Trump from next year’s presidential ballot “is so anti-democratic,” constitutional expert and legal scholar Alan Dershowitz told Newsmax on Wednesday.
The court’s 4-3 decision Tuesday made Trump the first presidential candidate in U.S. history to be deemed ineligible for the White House under a rarely used provision of the U.S. Constitution that bars officials who have engaged in “insurrection or rebellion” from holding office.
Dershowitz, appearing on “National Report,”called the decision “absurd.”
“In the 60 years I’ve been practicing and teaching law, I’ve never seen a decision that’s so anti-democratic and so unconstitutional; it is absurd,” Dershowitz told co-hosts Emma Rechenberg and Jon Glasgow. “The idea that the 14th Amendment was supposed to substitute for the impeachment provision, carefully drafted by the framers, is wrong.”
The 14th Amendment stipulates the process, which clearly says Congress shall have the power to ensure that a person cannot run for office, Dershowitz continued.
“If you want to impeach a president, if you want to make him not be able to run in the future, there’s a provision. It requires a two-thirds vote of the Senate,” he said. “But the idea that the framers of the 14th Amendment intended to circumvent that carefully drawn provision and simply allow any state to make up grounds for denying him the right to be on the ballot undercuts democracy.”
Also, the Harvard University professor emeritus noted, Trump has not been charged or convicted of taking part in an insurrection, a term that has not been defined legally.
The U.S. Supreme Court will rule against the Colorado decision, and with more than just a conservative majority, according to Dershowitz.
“I think this case will be decided not along party lines in the Supreme Court,” he said. “I think this is such an extreme stretch of the 14th Amendment that he will get more votes than just the people he appointed to the Supreme Court or even the 5-4 conservative majority. I suspect you’ll get the chief justice, and I suspect he’ll get some other justices, as well.
“This is an extreme, extreme stretch. If you go and read the text of the provision, it doesn’t even apply to president. It says no person shall by a senator, or representative or elector, and then it gives an oath of office, and the oath of office is not the presidential oath of office. It’s the senatorial oath of office.
“So even the text of the Constitution doesn’t make it applicable to the president. But the amendment itself was designed simply to prevent people who fought in the Civil War from running for certain offices.”
Plagued with grief over sins, I determine to push on; for I am assured of cleansing—of continual cleansing from the ever-flowing blood of my Savior and God. He will sustain me through the evil world—a world crippled by sin and sorrows, and yet strengthened in evil by demonic vitamins. Yes, Satan has his own supply of poison nourishment, which both strengthens his evil, but in the end will bring a cruel death.
This world and many nations are on the verge of war and destruction. It will be war between good and evil. Evil will be the dominant force, but ultimately every evil army and every evil being will work against itself to its own destruction. In the end, the returning Conqueror will bring a mighty destruction against all evil, to the praise of His glory.
So, with renewed perspective, I press on. A walk in the park, a smile and a “hello,” a few pages of good reading, and a sip of Chai tea—all blessings from God, will keep me going for another day. God is good.
News
The top of the news is the war in Israel. It seems that all nations are against what Israel is doing. I think the main reason why so many Palestinians are being killed is because Hamas is not letting them out and hiding behind them. It’s a shame. But most Palestinians, even those who are not tied to Hamas, are also against Israel. They have been trained from a child to hate the Jews.
I think the war is going well, and I wish the US and all other nations would let Israel alone and let them fight their own war. I know that if Trump were the Pres. He would support them in whatever they would want and also aid them.
I am most disappointed in the elite colleges like Harvard who aren’t doing one thing to put down the antisemitism and marches. They are getting a very bad reputation as being very liberal and anti-Jewish. Sad!
Both Biden and Trump are on the hot seat. Biden could be impeached for his criminal history—I hope. It’s a different story for Trump. He is wrongly judged for so many things. The New York AG is making it her amusement to get rid of Trump. I guess she is trying to build up her own image and popularity with the people. Sad.
Prophetic Horizons
In just the last few years Russia, Turkey and Iran are coming together and making plans to war together against Israel. This is exactly what the Bible says will happen in the last days (read Ezek. 38, 39). This latest Israel/Hamas war is also prophetic, because it is bringing out so much animosity against Israel. It is shocking to me how many are declaring their hatred against the Jews. It is Satanic. He is working hard to eliminate the Jews. But that won’t happen.
My Reading
I just finished reading about William Tyndale. What a brilliant and dedicated servant of God. Now I’m reading about Eric Liddell, a champion Olympic runner and a missionary to China (from 1923 to 1945). He was such a humble man. He ran for the Lord and used his running fame as a platform to evangelize the lost. He really cared nothing for his own fame; he did everything for the glory of God.
This and That
I’ve been feeling sickly—trying to exercise more and eat better. I didn’t feel like going to church, but I still wanted to and so I did. And it helped me. The fellowship with believers always lifts me up. Church is so necessary for these times (Heb. 10:24-25).
It’s rather warm here is MN—in the 40’s! and no snow. Very odd for Mn.
Reading a book on heaven by John MacArthur has really got me thinking about God’s omnipresence, and how He will always be with us, always be with all of us individually at the same time. I haven’t been able to find any verses about this—only that He will be with me always. Here are a few quotes from MacArthur’s book:
It’s hard for me to grasp the idea that I will be in God’s presence always, and that will also be true of everybody else in heaven. I know that He will not be split apart. Each of us will get Him in full. And since God the Father is pure spirit, we will really be looking at the person of Jesus the Son—He is the manifestation of God.
And then how will it be when I am with a small group of friend’s? Will Jesus be there with us? I suppose. And will He also be in every other small group of people—at the same time?
Will His physical presence always be with me, with us? Or sometimes will He be present only in His spirit? Whatever it is, I’m sure we will all be satisfied with it.
And since I will have a glorified body, I will be able to go and be with Him whenever I want—to travel miles and miles in a second. We will have a body like the resurrection body of Jesus was on earth. He was appearing and disappearing and going through walls.
The city of New Jerusalem, our heavenly home, will be huge. And if I had my apartment on the top floor, I think I will be able to somehow fly up there in a second. And what a view I will have! Looking over the whole new earth!
There is more and more news (from the left media) these days about Trump. But He loves it! I think he knows that in the end their news—intending to dissuade him—will do more to reveal the lefts fears and guilt.
This morning in my newspaper I saw two lengthy articles entitled, “Second term could unleash a darker Donald Trump,” and “Trump declines to rule out abusing power in 2nd term.”
I think trump’s openness about how he thinks is what the right loves about him, and conversely, what the left hates and fears about him. He is not one to be “nice” toward his enemies—that is, toward criminals and antisemites and evil doers of all sorts. He will speak out against it with strong speech, which the left will term “authoritarian rhetoric” and abusive power.”
In these articles, I read today that Trump was being compared to the Chinese authority that killed civilians at Tiananmen Square, all because trump said that they showed strength. But he also said that “they were vicious and horrible. I don’t think that there is anything wrong with praising the strength of a country and a leader even if it is evil. Trump never praised evil—only their strength. But Trump intents to use strength for good—to squash evil, even evil in this country. He wants to secure our boarders and deport all illegals. He wants to stop shoplifting, and to open up the oil wells, and to imprison all known criminal—like Hillary Rodham Clinton and Joe Biden.
Oh they are really after him for using the word “vermin” to describe immigrants he would like to “root out,” mainly because certain former dictators also used that word. So they are using his speech against him.
Oh I am laughing and just loving to see Trump’s enemies scurry like frightened mice when they hear and see him. They know their doom is near.
This morning my mind is on the US ships that were shot at in the Red Sea. No doubt this Israeli war with Hamas will escalate. Both Israel and the US has many enemies and they will take advantage of any opportunity to kill us. We must pray for the safety of all ships.
I was also thinking of my time at war in Viet Nam. One positive of soldiers being at war is that there is some comradery—a sense of togetherness. I don’t have that so much now since I live alone—it gets lonely. I always look forward to Sundays, to worship together with friends. I try to get out of the apartment as much as possible. I go to restaurants to hang out and talk with people that know me. I love the smiles.
Have a good day. God’s blessings to you. And don’t forget to pray for all those at war and in distress.
Stephen Nielsen 