• jordanlund@lemmy.worldM
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    10 hours ago

    In before “We are asking all patriotic Americans to open their homes to our brave soldiers restoring order to the unlawful Democrat hellhole that is Los Angeles!”

    https://constitution.congress.gov/constitution/amendment-3/

    Third Amendment

    No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.

    • Nightwingdragon@lemmy.world
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      10 hours ago

      nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.

      And here are the words that concern me.

      First, I don’t want to hear “This would be a bridge too far even for the Trump administration! ______ would not let that happen! _____ would not allow Trump to get away with this!”. My rebuttal would be to simply gesture broadly. Because he’s been getting away with it for the past six months and counting. Every time <fill in the blank> was expected to put up resistance to the Trump administration, that entity has simply rolled over and died at the first hint of political pressure. Right now, the law is whatever Trump says it is until someone finally stands up. And I haven’t seen anybody willing to get their asses out of their seat yet.

      “Nor in time of war”

      This is a problem easily rectified in the Trump administration by declaring a “war on immigration”, and then justify it by saying that the Constitution doesn’t require us being at war with an actual country. Given the other justifications Trump has gotten away with using, this would probably be more than enough for the GOP, rank-and-file MAGA voters, and probably even some courts.

      “but in a manner to be prescribed by law.”

      Guess who’s making the law right now? I don’t care about the whole legal process. Right now, and until the GOP and the court system grows a collective spine, the law is whatever the last EO Trump signed says it is. And there’s nothing stopping him from saying “Raid the houses, deport the illegals *, and use their homes to shelter the troops.”. I will guarantee you that Trump’s MAGA base would absolutely eat that up and ask for seconds.

      • (Definition of “illegals”: Undocumented immigrants, along with anyone else too brown for Trump’s liking.)

      Depending on who’s doing the interpreting, the 3rd amendment could just as easily be used as a sword or a shield. And right now, I don’t like who gets to do the interpreting.