Bad Actors Not Welcome

Chris Christie and Gavin Newsom both say Donald Trump must not be kicked off the ballot, because, apparently, voting is the only way to prevent someone from office-holding in America. This betrays an extreme ignorance of law and history.

The Constitution specifies office-holding requirements related to maturity and familiarity with the American way of life, for starters. We also have a system of civil and criminal justice whereby offenders can lose the civil right to move about and keep up their predatory behavior. This is another large hint that bad actors are not welcome at polling places in a democracy.

In the 3,500-year recorded history of democracy there has always been disqualification of candidates who have been involved in malfeasance in office and/or civil misbehavior or criminal conduct at any time in their lives. If we go with the idea our very special Donald Trump must be allowed on the ballot, we are opening up his pathway to perpetual monarchy, which says “The king can do no wrong.”

That’s our choice folks. Rule by one-person, or rule by everyone else. Allowing Trump on the ballot takes a giant step toward disqualifying 330 million people from the ballot in America.