Back in 1971, a crazy journalist named Hunter S. Thompson published a series of stories in Rolling Stone magazine, purportedly documenting a couple of news gathering trips to Las Vegas while under the influence of various drugs… including alcohol, LSD, diethyl ether, marijuana, mescaline, adrenochrome, heroin, cocaine, and amyl nitrite.
The series later appeared in book form as Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.
Years later, Rolling Stone publisher Jann Wenner, describing his first impression of the piece, called it, “sharp and insane”.
Which will be the theme for today’s humor column. Especially, the “insane” aspect.
Only as a theme, however. I have no intentions of writing in the style of Mr. Thompson. Doing so could unintentionally lead to demented thoughts and behavior, and could conceivably result a crazy decision to live in western Colorado, where Mr. Thompson eventually settled. In fact, he ran for sheriff of Pitkin County — home to the resort town of Aspen — in 1970, as part of a group of citizens running for local offices on the “Freak Power” ticket. The party platform promoted the decriminalization of drugs, tearing up the streets and turning them into grassy pedestrian malls, banning buildings tall enough to obscure a view of the mountains, disarming the police, and renaming Aspen “Fat City” to deter investors.
It took a while, but marijuana and psychedelic mushrooms have finally been decriminalized in Colorado. LSD and mescaline, not yet.
Now that you mention it, I already live in western Colorado. But not in Aspen.
So it’s quite possible, of course, that I am already crazy, and simply haven’t recognized the fact. Presumably, an insane person doesn’t know that they are insane, because they are insane. We might all be insane, for that matter. Or, at least, most of us.
Bringing us, therefore, to the subject at hand:
The 25th Amendment to the United States Constitution, which allows Congress to remove a President who is “unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office”. The Amendment was ratified in 1967, when Lyndon Johnson was President. Probably just a coincidence.
Section 1. In case of the removal of the President from office or of his death or resignation, the Vice President shall become President.
This section reminds us that a U.S. President can die while in office, or resign, both of which have happened in the past.
Also, the President can be “removed”. This is a bit trickier than death or resignation. Ostensibly, someone would need to be pretty darned arrogant to assume the authority to “remove” the President. But the 25th Amendment clarifies how that might 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…
Are we finally ready to test this process? I mean, for more than 60 years, the Vice President (with the cooperation of a majority of the Cabinet officers) has had the ability to pull an insane or incompetent President down off his high horse and “assume the powers and duties of the office.”
How many insane or mentally incompetent Presidents have we had in those 60 years? More than a couple?
If I’m not mistaken, it took a lot of work — and political scheming — to get the 25th Amendment ratified. And it’s only been used once, when Richard Nixon resigned following the Watergate debacle. But it’s never been used to remove an insane President. (I’m assuming Nixon wasn’t insane, but I could probably be convinced otherwise.)
Now the chance has been presented to us. Or rather, it’s been presented to Vice President Vance and the Cabinet officers. We might never have another opportunity that’s quite so clear-cut and obvious.
We’d be crazy not to go for it.
In my humble opinion, no previous President has provided so much evidence of insanity as our current President. And to make things even more convenient, the evidence has been posted by the President himself on his social media account.
Anyone who doesn’t jump at this chance to finally use the 25th Amendment should have their head examined.
In my humble opinion.
And assuming that I’m not, myself, insane.
Underrated writer Louis Cannon grew up in the vast American West, although his ex-wife, given the slightest opportunity, will deny that he ever grew up at all. You can read more stories on his Substack account.