<
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/nov/27/monica-lewinsky-interview-presidential-age-limits-self-pardons>
"Monica Lewinsky has called for elected officials to be subject to mandatory
retirement ages and for presidential self-pardons to be banned.
The former Bill Clinton White House intern whose affair with the president
eventually set the stage for his 1998 impeachment pushed for those measures in
an opinion piece published on Monday by
Vanity Fair.
Lewinsky, a political activist and writer, said that her editorial was inspired
by recent discussions about whether the US constitution’s 14th amendment barred
anyone from holding public office if they engage in an insurrection.
Though she did not name him, days earlier, Donald Trump moved to appeal a
Colorado court ruling that found the former president engaged in insurrection
through his incitement of his supporters’ January 6 attack but nevertheless
could not be disqualified from seeking the Oval Office again in 2024.
Lewinsky said it was “bonkers” that the 14th amendment – which is otherwise
known for extending equal protection under the law to all people within the US
– “is the only place that addresses the disqualification of a candidate for
such behavior”.
“How. Is. This. Possible? Why don’t we have more protections?” Lewinsky wrote
in Monday’s piece, in which she described herself as “a constitutional nerd”
who then began researching amendments.
She said she was surprised to learn that Congress passed the 27th and most
recent constitutional amendment in only 1992. To her, the change was
unimpressive – it clarified that proposed congressional raises could not take
effect until the following legislative term.
But she later realized that in the century before the so-called compensation
amendment, Congress added changes to the constitution “every 10 to 20 years or
so”. She said this prompted her to conclude: “It’s time. We are overdue for
some constitutional upgrades.”
Topping the list of a half-dozen proposed amendments, Lewinsky’s piece goes on
to offer is an explicit ban against presidential self-pardons."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
