(RightWing.org) – The Democrats’ use of the term “insurrection” was a rhetorical tool to brand Republicans in the lead-up to the 2022 midterm-elections. It’s become a litmus test to try and weed out strong conservative voices in Congress. Now that the primary season is about to kickoff, Democrats are upping the stakes.
In North Carolina, a vocal group of voters says Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-NC) isn’t eligible to run for re-election because he participated as a speaker at President Donald Trump’s rally in Washington, DC, on January 6, 2021. They claim the 14th Amendment is their guide, which says no federally elected official, from president to congressman, could engage in insurrection or rebellion and hold federal office. The group couldn’t be more wrong, and this reeks of liberal political activism hiding behind the courts.
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On June 13, 1866, Congress ratified a revision to Section 3 of the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution. The purpose of the insurrection and sedition clause was to prevent those in the South who declared war on the United States from ever holding federal office. It is difficult to argue that those who participated in speeches or peaceful protests on January 6, 2021, in accordance with their First Amendment rights, amounted to an insurrection.
Insurrection and sedition are legal terms. They are not political words that politicians should wield to brand an entire group of people so flippantly. For the charge to hold legitimate weight, the Department of Justice (DOJ) must charge one with the crime of insurrection according to 18 U.S.C. § 2384, and a jury of one’s peers must find one guilty of the crime. That’s called due process.
The law is clear. If two or more people conspire to overthrow, put down, destroy the US government, or declare war on it, it’s a crime of seditious conspiracy.
Over one year later, the DOJ has not prosecuted anyone under 18 U.S.C. § 2384, and for good reason. No one on that day was trying to overthrow the government. They were protesting what they viewed as electoral fraud, and for some, that protest turned into a riot. The DOJ charged over 700 people with relatively minor trespassing offenses, unlawful entry, or property damage.
So, as a speaker at a rally, does Cawthorn meet the legal challenge of insurrection? Of course not. The DOJ didn’t even question the North Carolina congressman, nor should they. The congressman exercised his free speech rights to speak out against the government and what he believed was an electoral injustice.
It’s something Democrats did after the 2000, 2004, and 2016 elections. It’s odd how it’s okay for them to question the legitimacy of an election when a Republican wins, but not when it’s a Democrat. The Left ought to consider their actions long and hard before they go down this road, but like the filibuster issue, they can only think in the moment instead of the long-term. It’s a flaw among Liberals.
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Ron Fein, legal director of the national election and campaign finance reform group Free Speech for People, says more lawsuits are to come. Unfortunately, like so many today, Fein believes the burden of proof is on those he sues, but it’s not. According to the Constitution and US law, the burden is for him to prove that Cawthorn’s participation in a speech meets the legal standard of insurrection.
Cawthorn voted against certifying the Electoral College vote. The first-term congressman said he had a constitutional duty to uphold it. He has repeatedly condemned the January 6 riot but compared it to frustrations across America in 2020 when rioters looted, destroyed, and burned down sections of cities for social justice causes.
So, what’s this lawsuit really about?
Democrats have nothing to run on in 2022 as they face a red tsunami of angry voters over the economy, inflation, Biden’s war on energy, shutdowns, Critical Race Theory, and more. The public isn’t buying the insurrection label. In a new CBS poll, fewer people are likely to refer to January 6 as an insurrection. Yet, CBS admits that “people widely call it a protest that went too far.”
As the Democrats try to create a crisis that doesn’t exist, it could backfire on them heavily. They keep screaming that democracy is at risk if Republicans win. Yet, it’s Democrats trying to deflect from their socialist proposals and hostile actions against half of the country that suggest they are the problem.
This lawsuit is likely to fail. The courts continue to quickly preserve free political speech. The fight against a fake insurrection charge is nothing more than a distraction to energize an unenthused left-wing base. America isn’t buying it, and Democrats are only hurting themselves.
It’s less than 11 months to the election. There’s going to be a lot of extreme rhetoric and emotional charges between now and then.
Sit tight.
The cavalry is coming!
Don Purdum, Independent Political Analyst
Copyright 2022, RightWing.org
