I despise Trump and think he absolutely should be disqualified from holding office (including the presidency) - AT A MINIMUM. I’m also far more a “spirit of the law” advocate than “letter of the law”. With that said, the findings of the judge are perfectly reasonable in full context. The letter of the law clearly omits in its enumerations the office of the presidency. For this to have been merely a mistake would be so monumental an oversight as to make it highly unlikely. If there had been no listing of included offices, then the catch-all portion of that language would perhaps inarguably include the presidency (because of course it SHOULD be included). Thus, this omission also strikes at the spirit of the law. What the judge is saying is that the fact this list is included, yet fails to include so obvious an office one would imagine should be included (the presidency), indicates - absent compelling evidence to the contrary - that the Founders intended it to be omitted. In other words, absent said evidence, neither the letter of the law nor the spirit of the law suggest the presidency was meant to be included.
This is a circumstance in which I would argue the judge ain’t wrong and if we’re not happy with that, then the law needs to be changed.
I see your point, but can’t help thinking this from a layman’s perspective. If I were going out of town for the weekend and left a note for my kids that said “While I’m away, no keggers, ragers or any other types of parties at the house.” Then I come back to find out they held a massive rave that destroyed my house, and they say “obviously a rave wasn’t included when you said any other types of parties. A rave is bigger than a kegger or a rager.” I would be more than a bit upset.
I despise Trump and think he absolutely should be disqualified from holding office (including the presidency) - AT A MINIMUM. I’m also far more a “spirit of the law” advocate than “letter of the law”. With that said, the findings of the judge are perfectly reasonable in full context. The letter of the law clearly omits in its enumerations the office of the presidency. For this to have been merely a mistake would be so monumental an oversight as to make it highly unlikely. If there had been no listing of included offices, then the catch-all portion of that language would perhaps inarguably include the presidency (because of course it SHOULD be included). Thus, this omission also strikes at the spirit of the law. What the judge is saying is that the fact this list is included, yet fails to include so obvious an office one would imagine should be included (the presidency), indicates - absent compelling evidence to the contrary - that the Founders intended it to be omitted. In other words, absent said evidence, neither the letter of the law nor the spirit of the law suggest the presidency was meant to be included.
This is a circumstance in which I would argue the judge ain’t wrong and if we’re not happy with that, then the law needs to be changed.
I see your point, but can’t help thinking this from a layman’s perspective. If I were going out of town for the weekend and left a note for my kids that said “While I’m away, no keggers, ragers or any other types of parties at the house.” Then I come back to find out they held a massive rave that destroyed my house, and they say “obviously a rave wasn’t included when you said any other types of parties. A rave is bigger than a kegger or a rager.” I would be more than a bit upset.