A lot of things he’s done should have invoked the 25th ammendment
A lot of things in Trumps last term too. And a few things in Bidens term. The 25th doesnt really function.
We used to talk about “constituional crisis” too, and Trump is now just ignoring judges and asking what anyone will do about it. That should also trigger the 25th, if congress lived up to their oaths, but their oaths are vastly secondary to party politics, self interest, and money making, on both sides.
What did Biden do that warranted invoking the 25th? I suspect if you think it should have with him, it should have with every president.
Our laws plainly spell out that if a state is interfering with aid distribution, aid and weapons to them must stop. Biden refused to admit that Israel was interfering with aid distribution in any way. According to Biden the gazans have food aid and aid workers have not been interfered with. I dont see how this violation can possibly be debated.
In the face of strenuous complaints by congress, Biden refused to admit that Israel could plausibly be involved in genocide, which would have triggered automatic safeguards in the Leahy laws and other laws around shipment of weapons and giving of foreign monetary aid.
Israel/Biden also repeatedly and consistently violated the geneva conventions, which we are a signatory of, so thats binding law in our legal system. That makes him a war criminal with blood on his hands.
Biden swore an oath to faithfully execute our laws, which he grossly violated, doing massive amounts of grievous criminal harm. These are the very definition of “high crimes”.
https://www.commondreams.org/news/leahy-law-israel
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/dec/17/palestine-israel-leahy-lawsuit
And that’s different than what any other US president would have done? Kowtowing to Israel is US government policy.
Nothing different. I’d argue that’s another indicator that the US’s ‘health’ has been bad for a long time.
Oh come on, that’s ridiculous. I was with you calling Biden an enabler for Israel’s actions in Gaza, but I just don’t see the leap to war crime
Well we can google what is a war crime.
Lets do that:
What qualifies as a war crime?
A war crime, a serious violation of international humanitarian law, is a breach of the laws or customs of war committed in the context of an armed conflict, whether international or non-international, and can lead to individual criminal responsibility.
Here’s a breakdown of what qualifies as a war crime: Key Elements:
Context: War crimes always occur within the context of an armed conflict, whether international (between states) or non-international (internal conflicts).
Violation of International Law: They involve serious breaches of the laws and customs of war, as defined in international treaties like the Geneva Conventions and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.
Individual Responsibility: Perpetrators of war crimes incur individual criminal responsibility under international law.
Examples of War Crimes: Attacks Against Civilians: Intentionally directing attacks against the civilian population or civilian objects.
Torture and Cruel Treatment: Inflicting torture, cruel treatment, or inhuman treatment on prisoners of war or civilians.
Taking Hostages: Taking hostages.
Pillaging: Pillaging or looting property.
Sexual Violence: Rape, sexual slavery, forced pregnancy, or any other form of sexual violence.
Use of Prohibited Weapons: Using weapons that cause unnecessary suffering or are prohibited by international law, such as chemical weapons or cluster munitions.
Disregard for the Wounded and Sick: Attacking medical personnel, facilities, or transports, or preventing them from carrying out their duties.
Deportation or Transfer of Populations: Forcibly deporting or transferring populations from their homes.
Use of Child Soldiers: Enlisting or using children under the age of 15 in armed conflict.
Killing or Wounding Surrendered Combatants: Killing or wounding combatants who have surrendered or are hors de combat (out of action).
Important Considerations:
Proportionality:
Military actions must be proportionate, meaning the harm caused to civilians and civilian objects must not be excessive in relation to the anticipated military advantage.
Distinction: Military actions must distinguish between civilians and combatants, and between military objectives and civilian objects.
Necessity: Military actions must be necessary to achieve a legitimate military objective and should not cause unnecessary suffering.
Humanity: Military actions must be conducted with humanity and should avoid unnecessary suffering.
What US military action has taken place in Gaza?
Let me help you: none. The US has supported a state that is committing war crimes. Show me where in international law that is defined as a war crime.
the United States signed the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) on September 25, 2013, which establishes common standards for the international trade of conventional weapons and aims to prevent transfers that could fuel genocide, war crimes, and other human rights abuses.
Article 6 addresses explicitly prohibitions against arms transfers that would be contrary to international legal obligations, or where the State knows the arms would be used in the commission of genocide, crimes against humanity and certain war crimes. This provision sets a clear benchmark to allow States parties to effectively and consistently implement these prohibitions.
https://legal.un.org/avl/ha/att/att.html
In the 1949 geneva conventions, referred to as the IHL, signed by the US: War crimes – serious violations of international humanitarian law that include wilful killings, direct attacks on civilians, torture, use of prohibited weapons, the murder or ill-treatment of prisoners of war or others who have been captured, surrendered or injured and crimes of sexual violence.
Crimes against humanity – crimes committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack by or on behalf of a state or an organization against a civilian population during peace or wartime. There are 11 crimes against humanity including murder, extermination, enslavement, deportation or forcible transfer of a population, torture, rape and other serious forms of sexual violence, enforced disappearance and apartheid. Crimes against humanity may be committed in armed conflict or in peacetime.
Genocide – certain acts committed with the intent to destroy, completely or partially, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group. Genocide may be committed in armed conflict or in peacetime.
In Us law Biden violated the Leahy act and the arms export control act.
Glad I could help you out and make you better informed. Also check these.
i’m going to take a counter argument here. the united states should annex canada and buy greenland.
why?
because the population of canada is more than california.
because there are 48 democratic senators.
because canada and denmark are both more left leaning than california is.
see where i’m going here? canada and greenland gives dems enough people to force through their agenda through the house and senate. and with enough backlash there’s probably going to be a lot of gop senators who aren’t going to be senators in 2026, probably enough to hit 69 which would be the minimum to remove trump from office. probably enough to impeach that little lickspittle vance too. and then enough votes for a democratic president (since the house would be run by democrats, 3rd in succession is the speaker of the house) to sign bills giving canada it’s “independance” and return greenland to denmark.
if trump wants it that badly, then lets give it to him.
They’ll make them a territory like D.C. or P.R. who don’t have senators.
That assumes that Trump or his fascist successors would honor democratic norms. I’ve seen no evidence of that so far.
He should have been banned from running long ago when he incited an insurrection trying to stay in power.
It does seem like all the hoohah about how great the US Constitution is, or the genuis of the US founders may well have just been some good marketing mixed with a reliable dash of American Exceptionalism.
The problem with any constitution is that it’s not self-enforcing. Any system can be subverted and corrupted. It’s the corruption that’s the problem, not that the Constitution (like any set of laws) is not perfect.
In his deal with Putin, Trump is closing the investigations into child trafficking and kidnapping of Ukrainian children, and closing down war crimes committed by Russian military.
I agree, Trump advocating for invading Canada and Greenland is enough for the 25th Amendment and on moral grounds I hold him accountable for absolving Putin and Russia of war crimes.
Any threat to Canada is a threat to the whole commonwealth!
Yes but No
No country will put themselves in a strategically loosing situation willfully. The UK is militarily very intertwined with the US : An abrupt divorce with the US isn’t possible. Just like Ukraine’s European allies are still buying Russian gaz, many NATO allies will try to play both side and the smaller Canada essentially being abandoned to itself. Easier to organize a blockade with the Atlantic Ocean as a boarder after Canada is attacked and mostly lost. I say this painfully as a Canadian. Hopefully we have time to make it too expensive to attack us.
Canadian, eh?
What does it say?
It’s the Trump administration – it doesn’t matter what it says.
25th Amendment needs to start with the Vice President, so we know that’s not going to happen:
Section 4
Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit 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, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President.
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.
This seems like such a short-sighted design by our founding fathers and subsequent leaders when we look at it with today’s lens. I know they likely would have assumed that people would riot with pitchforks and torches of anyone engaged in corruption during their era, including having the support of the VP. I know the 25th amendment was a more recent addition (1967), but I’m surprised there weren’t more catching points for this written into the foundation.
I guess they hoped we would never allow things to get this shitty.
Our whole system was hanging on the hope that We the People would identify and not elect a power-hungry egomaniac.
“We The People” only referred to white land owning men. Even with the expansions of reconstruction, women’s suffrage, and civil rights (all won by working class organization and opposition) our entire representative democracy has been designed to the benefit of capital owners. Neoliberalism just shifted that into overdrive.
