0:02

This is the Black Information Network Daily podcast

0:05

and I'm your host, rams' Ja.

0:07

And sometimes the amount of stories that make their way

0:09

to us means that we simply can't cover everything

0:11

that comes our way. But from time to

0:14

time, a story just stays with me and Bill

0:16

compelled to share it with you and give you my thoughts.

0:19

And now one more thing, okay,

0:26

so more

0:29

news in the development of

0:32

our country

0:36

politics and who can do what

0:38

and who can get away with what. And

0:41

we weren't able to fit this into

0:44

any of the news recaps just because of

0:46

the timing of it all. So I

0:48

felt like we would take

0:51

a moment and cover

0:54

this and then give our reaction to it.

0:57

Joining me is Qward

0:59

of civics and of

1:01

the Black Information Network here to

1:04

discuss an article

1:06

that was sent to us from MSN dot com

1:08

and I'll share it before we break it down.

1:12

The Supreme Court on Monday handed as

1:14

sweeping when to former President

1:16

Donald Trump by ruling States cannot kick him

1:18

off the ballot over his actions leading up to the January

1:21

sixth attack on the Capitol, bringing

1:23

a swift end to the case with

1:26

huge implications for the twenty twenty four

1:28

election. Court in an unsigned

1:30

ruling with no dissents, reversed

1:33

the Colorado Supreme Court, which determined

1:35

that Trump could not serve again as president

1:37

under Section three of the Constitution's

1:39

fourteenth Amendment. The provision

1:42

prohibits those who previously held government

1:44

positions but later quote engaged

1:46

in insurrection unquote from

1:48

running for various offices. The

1:51

Court said the Colorado Supreme Court

1:53

had wrongly assumed that states can determine

1:55

whether a presidential candidate

1:57

or other candidate for federal office is ineligible.

2:00

The ruling makes it clear that Congress,

2:03

not states, as to

2:05

set the rules on how the Fourteenth Amendment

2:07

provision can be enforced against federal

2:10

office seekers. As such, the

2:12

decision applies to all states, not

2:15

just Colorado. States retain

2:17

the power to bar people running for

2:19

state office from appearing on the ballot under

2:21

section three quote. Because

2:23

the Constitution makes Congress,

2:26

rather than the States, responsible for enforcing

2:28

Section three against all federal

2:31

office holders and candidates, we

2:33

reverse the ruling set

2:36

by deciding the case on that

2:38

legal question. The courts

2:41

avoided any analysis or

2:43

determination of whether Trump's

2:45

actions constituted an insurrection.

2:48

In addition to ensuring that Trump remains

2:50

on the ballot, in Colorado. The decision

2:53

will also end similar cases that have arisen.

2:56

So far. Only two other states, Maine

2:58

and Illinois, have followed Old Colorado's

3:00

path. Like the Colorado ruling,

3:03

both those decisions were put on hold.

3:06

So, in short,

3:09

the Supreme Court decides that states

3:15

cannot determine

3:17

whether or not presidential candidate

3:19

can appear on a ballot. Only

3:22

Congress can do that based on whether

3:26

or not they've engaged in an insurrection

3:28

against the government.

3:31

So that shifts the power to.

3:33

Congress,

3:36

and in doing so, Donald

3:40

Trump is

3:43

now free and clear

3:45

to appear on the ballots as the

3:48

Republican nomination for president for twenty twenty

3:50

four. Now

3:53

this wasn't I'll say this first,

3:55

this wasn't the case that

3:57

everyone was hoping for. It was just another case

3:59

that he was involved in. And

4:02

of course, as mentioned in the article, this

4:05

wasn't the Supreme Court determining whether

4:07

or not he did engage in an

4:10

insurrection. But it

4:12

is a

4:14

win or the Trump

4:16

campaign, and it

4:19

was unanimous. In other words, all of the

4:21

members on the court felt

4:23

like, okay, this should

4:25

be determined

4:28

by Congress,

4:31

not by the state Supreme

4:33

Court. So that includes the

4:38

liberal justices as well as the conservative

4:41

justices all agree that

4:44

this should be interpreted that way.

4:49

But man, it does feel like a little bit of

4:51

a blow. So

4:56

a few things here. The

4:59

article states that this was a ruling on the previous

5:01

question, which was do the

5:03

states have power to make those decisions?

5:06

And if the Constitution says no, it

5:09

really isn't about the opinion of the justices.

5:11

It's just them enforcing the law as it's

5:14

written. So it's important to say that

5:16

out aloud because it always

5:18

feels unfair when

5:21

a Supreme Court that was stacked

5:24

by that former president rules

5:26

in his favor. It'll always feel crazy

5:29

because of the way that he exercised power

5:31

when he was in office to make sure that

5:33

he had a Supreme Court that was

5:36

stacked heavily in favor

5:39

of not just his party but him.

5:43

So as much of a blow as it is, I

5:46

think the reason that it was unanimous is because

5:48

this was a ruling on that question in particular,

5:50

do the states have the power or does Congress?

5:52

And if the Constitution says it's Congress, then

5:55

as citizens, even if we don't, even

5:57

if it's not popular, it doesn't make us feel good.

6:00

We should all lean

6:02

on rules

6:06

quote unquote, what's right is what happened

6:08

here. The problem, however,

6:11

is what I just said previously. The

6:14

former president stapped the deck in

6:16

favor of himself. And

6:19

I've heard people say out loud, he

6:23

just did what anyone

6:25

else would have done. Except

6:28

as soon as you say that, you know it's not true,

6:31

because when it was time for

6:34

former President Obama to do something

6:36

similar, he bowed

6:38

out in favor of doing what he thought was

6:40

the right thing. To criticis not

6:43

just what was in his power to do, which

6:45

is one of the things that made our

6:47

former president less popular with a lot of people

6:49

that voted for him. They really wanted him to flex

6:51

his muscle in the way that

6:54

former President Trump did. They wanted him

6:56

to kind of cross some lines. It'd be so pro

6:59

us and so pro lack that he kind of

7:02

blurred the lines of what was the right thing

7:04

to do. And you talk about tradition and president he

7:06

did not want to spit in the face of that.

7:09

So when he could have appointed another

7:11

justice, the other

7:13

side said to him that that wouldn't be right because

7:15

he wasn't going to be in office when this person took

7:17

over, so you should let them. Let the next president do

7:19

it, and they didn't even

7:22

bring up those same rules when

7:25

it was time for the next person to do it. A

7:29

lot of what's happening in our country with

7:32

our former president is unprecedented,

7:36

legally, morally, and just from a character

7:38

standpoint. He is he is a person of

7:40

such low character that he should

7:43

not have ever been elected to the president of this country.

7:45

And it's kind of disgraceful to be a citizen

7:48

in a country that, in a country where

7:50

he could win an election, he's still considered

7:53

strongly considered. Yeah, well, strongly considered

7:55

isn't the right word. He's going to be the

7:58

candidate or the other party.

8:01

I mean by the country. The country as a whole

8:03

is strongly considering him and Joe Biden

8:05

us just where we are.

8:10

This is the most helpless and hopeless

8:13

that I felt as an adult in

8:15

this country because

8:18

of what we're presented with as options,

8:20

and just again the fact that he's even eligible.

8:23

I think this is the part that makes people most upset.

8:25

If ramses job was running for president

8:29

and his resume and rap sheet read like

8:31

former President Trump be

8:33

disqualified before there were even ever

8:36

a chance for anybody to vote for you. No matter how

8:38

popular popular you

8:40

were, no matter how many people

8:42

wanted you in office, you

8:45

just be deemed and unfit

8:49

and wouldn't even have a chance. And

8:52

that someone like him has

8:54

already been the president and is

8:56

in line to do it again is the most

8:59

discouraging, heartening, frustrating,

9:01

and heartbreaking thing that

9:03

I've witnessed. And it makes

9:05

me really really shamed,

9:09

isn't the right word, but just really disappointed

9:11

in my fellow America. I know that

9:14

feeling.

9:15

You know, there's there's

9:22

you know, you're right, there's there's something

9:24

to be said about tradition,

9:28

being a gentleman, understanding

9:31

and respecting that the office means

9:33

more to the people of

9:35

the United States of America than it does to

9:38

the individual occupying it. And

9:42

you know, Obama, observing the

9:47

precedent, said before him, I'm not going

9:49

to appoint another Supreme Court

9:52

justice because the justice won't

9:54

be there to interpret laws

9:57

under my watch. I will wait until the next

9:59

administration is sworn

10:01

in. And I'm sure at the time he was optimistic

10:03

that that would be Hillary Clinton or some

10:07

some Democrat,

10:09

continuing the foundation that

10:12

he had laid, continued to build on that foundation,

10:16

and then when Donald Trump comes

10:18

in and he's like, I'm

10:21

not concerned with the next administration

10:24

Democrat or Republic.

10:26

I'm concerned with Donald Trump.

10:27

Now, you could argue that he didn't feel that way,

10:30

but this is how his behavior.

10:32

There's people that would you can't.

10:33

I know, I know, I'm just saying that. I'm just saying

10:35

that, but his behavior

10:38

certainly gives

10:41

those of us who are kind of watching it enough

10:44

to say, yeah, he was kind of moving for him.

10:47

So for him to rush

10:50

through an appointment and

10:54

to kind of spit in the face of tradition

10:56

in this country where Obama

10:58

was, you know, he had the grace and he understood

11:00

that, Okay, this is kind of how this works. There

11:02

are no rules here, but this is how it

11:04

works. I'm going to be a gentleman. I recognize

11:07

that this seat belongs to the American people, et cetera.

11:09

Donald Trump was like, no, I got to make sure that

11:12

I'm good. I'm him. I'm

11:14

gonna, you know, keep running this up

11:16

right, and

11:24

then we get a president after

11:26

him that And

11:30

I don't want to be unkind because

11:32

you know, we were talking not too

11:34

long ago about Stephen

11:36

A. Smith's interpretation of Joe

11:39

Biden sitting symbolically with a black

11:41

family and eating bride chicken, and

11:45

he in

11:48

his account of Joe Biden's administration,

11:51

highlighted some of the things that Joe Biden did,

11:53

some of the positive things that he did, they weren't

11:55

the things that we elected him to do. We

11:57

wanted police reform, certainly, you and I wanted that.

12:00

I mean, but we want to police reform. You know, he

12:02

was talking about sude loans, all this sort of stuff that he was going

12:04

to be able to get off, and a

12:06

lot of that didn't happen. But you know Juneteenth,

12:08

then you know, appointing a black Supreme

12:10

Court justice, and you know these things

12:13

again that are symbolic.

12:14

That's not zero.

12:15

Certainly, I believe it's a better way

12:18

to pass the time than being under a Trump administration.

12:21

Okay, but

12:23

we have this administration that has been attacked

12:26

for being very sleepy, for not really

12:31

getting the message out of what they have accomplished,

12:33

for not really marketing

12:37

themselves in a way

12:39

that offset

12:43

the smear campaigns that were so prevalent

12:45

on the right, and

12:48

the most prevalent of all of them is that he's

12:51

sleepy, Joe Biden.

12:53

So when you have an administration. The previous

12:55

administration was very aggressive, like

12:57

a bully, just a rude

13:00

bully and arrogant.

13:03

Well, get it done, get out of

13:05

my face. I'm not reading that like

13:07

this type of energy. What I

13:09

don't care about what they do before. I'm here

13:11

now, and this is how it's going to go. Not

13:15

saying that that's right, but knowing

13:17

on the heels of that administration that

13:19

the rules have changed to

13:21

then have someone who could be deemed

13:23

a sleepy old man in the office

13:26

who wants to revert us back to tradition.

13:29

That would be all well and good if

13:33

Donald Trump still wasn't looming on the horizon

13:36

and we really sincerely felt like we could go

13:38

back to it and then it would be fine.

13:40

But no, if anything, we've seen how

13:43

his messaging since then has

13:45

fortified his supporters. You're

13:47

going to charge me with ninety one, may as well charge you with

13:49

one hundred. I'm not going to lose one

13:52

vote, Okay, Joe

13:54

Biden. You probably need to stack

13:56

that court. You probably need to break some rules.

13:58

You probably need to you know what I'm saying, because

14:00

the state of play has changed the

14:02

way or get out of the way. And so when

14:04

we look at the Supreme Court's interpretation

14:06

of whether or not Joe Biden can't

14:08

appear on the ballot. Sure,

14:12

former President Trump could appear on the ballot.

14:14

Thank you for that.

14:15

Sure, they're interpreting this

14:20

one facet

14:23

and they're using one.

14:26

Rule to do so.

14:28

Congress should be the decider of this, not the States.

14:30

That's it, right, But

14:33

something like that working in Donald Trump's favor.

14:38

Again, that's not nothing. That's not what everyone had

14:40

kind of hung their hat on.

14:42

How we got them He's not going to appear on the ballots, and then everyone

14:44

went because he could be a right in candidate. So

14:46

of course this is just kind of performative,

14:50

you know, to be symbolic.

14:52

There you go.

14:53

But but

14:55

just to know that it

15:00

almost feels like when

15:02

it comes to Donald Trump, people are looking for

15:04

technicalities, not

15:08

the sincere, moral objective

15:12

truth and understanding

15:15

how those implications affect this

15:17

country, this country's future,

15:20

this country's past, you know. And

15:22

so when you have these minds,

15:24

these brilliant legal minds, Lawrence Thomas

15:27

is not a stupid man. I cannot

15:29

say that anymore.

15:31

But there you go.

15:32

And you could say the same thing about all the

15:34

villains in history from Hitler's everything.

15:37

You can't call them stupid people because they're not that. We

15:39

would not call them decent folks. Sure, I'll give

15:41

you that, but they're not stupid.

15:43

Right. So these people who.

15:46

Maybe they are immoral, not

15:49

unintelligent, but maybe they're immoral,

15:52

maybe they're playing

15:54

by a different set of rules, or they believe a different

15:57

set of rules exists, whatever, And

16:00

this is just our assessment these

16:02

folks. When

16:04

you stack enough of them, we're able

16:06

to find these technicalities and

16:09

interpret them and then share them. And you, you

16:11

know what, You're right, that technicality

16:13

does excuse this thing,

16:16

and so we cannot rule on that right.

16:20

Right is right, And that's

16:22

a fair play because it's within

16:24

the rules. So I'm not arguing that. But

16:27

you understand that when you have more of

16:30

those brilliant minds that are looking for

16:32

the technicalities, you end

16:34

up getting off. This guy ends up

16:36

getting off on more technicalities. And so far

16:39

there has not been anything that

16:41

he has gotten away with in my recollection

16:43

in this moment that has been based

16:45

on.

16:49

Anything other than a technicality.

16:52

Well, the one of the bigger problems is it would

16:54

have to be a technicality

16:57

because he's already shown that there is no

17:00

You were talking about things being objectively wrong

17:02

and objectively immortal. He've shown that

17:04

that doesn't matter. He said out loud

17:07

and shown the

17:10

grab him by the you know what video

17:14

became public before

17:16

he was elected, and he was still

17:18

elected. He said himself

17:20

that he could pull out a gun and unlive

17:23

someone, and people cheered when he said

17:25

it, and he wouldn't lose a single

17:28

vote. We've observed

17:30

this longer, long enough to know that

17:33

that's true, right, So

17:35

there's always going to be some technicality, and.

17:38

There's always going to be some people looking for the technicality

17:41

for him now, you.

17:41

Know, looking for that for him, But it's not even

17:44

necessary. Even if all of these states

17:46

that want to remove him from the ballot had done

17:48

so, they'd find a way for that to not

17:50

matter. So, you know, those

17:53

that oppose him have

17:55

to understand, like you said about our current president,

17:58

that the rules have changed and something that's

18:00

really discouraging and I hate echoing

18:02

this on our platforms.

18:05

Recently, you've probably seen in the news that our

18:08

current president wants to work

18:10

on immigration reform

18:13

with former President Trump. Like

18:16

you either think that's a good idea, tells

18:19

me a lot about where your head is, or

18:22

that's political strategy tells

18:24

me a lot about where your head is. Either of

18:26

those things put

18:28

you in a position as someone I find it very very

18:31

hard to support moving forward, even

18:33

as we've tried to encourage people to do so

18:35

in light of what we know the other side looks like,

18:37

if you guys share anything in the way of thinking

18:40

and what are we doing here and what are we left with here

18:42

with regards the choices that we have, you

18:45

know that man's history, you're going to reach out to

18:48

him to work on something with regards to immigration

18:50

and the borders and reforming that. Like where

18:53

are we now as a country? Man? A

18:56

longer conversation than we probably have a time

18:58

to have now, but it's

19:00

getting real scary around here. Man.

19:02

Well, you're not wrong, and

19:04

as always, now is the time we open the floor to you

19:06

to share your thoughts with us. So if you have

19:09

anything to share, please hit us up. You can use

19:11

the red microphone talkback feature on the iHeartRadio

19:13

app.

19:14

You can hit me at Ramsey's job. I

19:16

am Qward on the social media

19:18

platforms that I still

19:20

reside and we can keep

19:23

the conversation going. But yeah,

19:26

for now, we're still watching

19:28

the other ninety one charges

19:31

and seeing what comes with those, so until we got

19:33

something more.

19:36

This has been a production of the Black Information Network.

19:39

Today's show is produced by Chris Thompson. Have

19:41

some thoughts you'd like to share, use the red microphone

19:44

talkback feature on the iHeartRadio app. While

19:46

you're there, be sure to hit subscribing down. With all

19:48

of our episodes, I'm your host,

19:50

Ramsey's job on all social media. Join

19:53

us tomorrow as we share our news with our

19:55

voice from our perspective right here

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on the Black Information Network Daily Podcast

20:00

eight