Imagine If You Will...

There have been many questionable scenarios since the President entered into national politics.  If one listened, the vocabulary of the President has included “hoax”, “witch hunt”, “corrupt”, “drain the swamp”, “rigged”, “stolen”, and the list goes on and on and on.

It would be easy to dispute those allegations, but I will not do so.  The vocabulary of  “evidence”, “court decisions”, “lost lawsuits”, and “fake electors” pretty much dispels those of the prior list of vocabulary terms.  And one term that I didn’t hear was “accountability”.

There are now two things the President has said that have caught my attention. 
 
According to the Associated Press (AP),”Top national security officials for President Donald Trump, including his defense secretary, texted plans for upcoming military strikes in Yemen to a group chat in a secure messaging app that included the editor-in-chief for The Atlantic, the magazine reported in a story posted online Monday. The National Security Council said the text chain “appears to be authentic.”
 
“Trump initially told reporters he was not aware that the highly sensitive information had been shared, 2 1/2 hours after it was reported. He later appeared to joke about the breach.”

What bothers me about this statement from the President is, the President is the Commander in Chief.  He is the sole person who commands the armed forces; he is the one person who must authorize such activity.  No Secretary of Defense, no General, can order the military to attack without authorization from the President.  So, my concern is simply this:  Why wasn’t the President on the group text that described the moments before and during the attack on the Houthis?  One would believe the President would like to know about success or failure of the attack.  But a statement from the President indicating he was “not aware that the highly sensitive information had been shared”, may indicate a lack of communication between the different particulars of the current administration, or, plausible deniability for the President, in the event the attack went sour.  

Either way, in my opinion, it doesn’t look good.

The second item from Washington that has me raising an eyebrow or two is the thought the President is considering a run for a third term of office.  The President has indicated there are several scenarios which could allow him to run again for the Presidency.  According to the 22nd Amendment of the US Constitution, no person can be elected to two (2) terms, or serve more than ten (10) years.
  
The Vice President is allowed to complete the unexpired term of the President, should the President become disabled or die in office.  However, those years served are counted as part of the “term limits”.  So, if a President were to become disabled or die in office one (1) year into the elected term, the Vice President would become the President, serve the remaining term of three (3) years and could only run for one four (4) year elected term of his own.

The 22nd  Amendment is explicit about how many terms (2) and years (10) a President can serve.

Now, unless Congress calls for a Constitutional Convention to change the 22nd Amendment, I am unaware of how the President could run for a third term.  However, with the state of the flux Washington DC is currently in, I suppose anything could happen.

With that being said, age, becomes a factor in the next presidential election, should Trump somehow manage a way to be a candidate.  The oldest person inaugurated as President in United States history is Donald Trump, at age 78 years, 7 months, for his second term.  

During the recent Presidential campaign, Trump called Biden too old to be President.  Republican candidate Nikki Haley even suggested there should be a “too old” age limit for Presidential candidates.  Many voters thought Biden to be too old…too frail…and those who thought that were probably correct.
  
But with Trump being the oldest President ever inaugurated in United States history…what does that say about campaign rhetoric?  

All I know is this:  If Trump can somehow find a way to be elected for a third term in 2028 and take office again in 2029, he will be 82 years and 7 months old. 

How about that campaign rhetoric of a candidate being too old?  Is that "the pot calling the kettle black"?