[content warning: sexual violence, Trump]
Section 3 of the 14th Amendment is a post-Civil War clause designed to keep traitors out of office. It bars anyone who’s sworn an oath to the Constitution and then engaged in insurrection or rebellion from holding public office ever again. After the January 6 incident, it’s not just a relic—it’s a tiny magic key, daring us to decide whether accountability still matters in American democracy.
We are taught to be ignorant.
Gisèle Pelicot is a woman whose brutal abuse has become a symbol of how social norms fail women and protect perpetrators. Women are tracking this case not because we like it. I am reading this like my life depends on it – because it does. My naivete when it comes to dark power games could well spell my death, and I’m just way over it.
The men involved tried to deflect blame, framing their violence as inevitable. Her story isn’t just about what happened to her—it’s about the reality that we are taught to be ignorant of how to protect ourselves from abusers. We are taught to accept things that are unacceptable. I, for one, am tired of wringing my hands on the sidelines like a nagging ninny and wondering how to get people to respect my basic humanity.
The excuses Democrats make for refusing to challenge Trump’s eligibility under the 14th Amendment have a haunting similarity to the justifications offered by the men convicted of raping Gisele Pelicot. In both cases, we see the same playbook: deflect responsibility, reframe harm as unavoidable, and prioritize self-interest over doing what’s right.
Most of the quotes below by the convicted men are from an article by The Independent, ‘Mr Everyman’: Who are the 51 men who sexually abused Gisèle Pelicot?
1. Deflecting Responsibility
* Democrats: They say it’s not up to us to decide—this is about the will of the voters. They position themselves as powerless bystanders, conveniently forgetting they have both the tools and the mandate to intervene when democracy is at stake. Forgive the scare caps, but scary times ask for extreme capitalization: YOU CANNOT JUSTIFY CERTIFING A DICTATOR IN THE NAME OF UPHOLDING DEMOCRATIC PRINCIPLES. Do you see the irony in this?
* Pelicot’s Abusers: “As long as the husband was present, there was no rape,” said Adrien Longeron, 34, site manager. They didn’t see themselves as active participants in a violent, systemic failure—they were just going along with the flow, right? You cannot justify raping a woman in the name of pleasing her husband.
2. Framing Harm as Unavoidable
* Democrats: They say challenging Trump would cause chaos, harm trust in institutions, and probably fail in court. They paint voting in a dictator as the more stable, adult choice—as if stability is a virtue when the house is burning down.
* Abusers: “I didn’t go there intending to rape,” said Fabien Sotto, father of four. They frame their actions as inevitable or justified by the circumstances. It’s a perverse kind of logic where abdication of power gets dressed up as rational plan any normal person would undertake.
3. Prioritizing Self-Interest
* Democrats: Their real fear is political—losing votes, alienating moderates, or adding fuel to Trump’s victimhood narrative. Protecting their own electoral viability becomes more important than protecting the Constitution. The irony here is their long-standing complicity when the chips are down is what lost them the election in the first place.
* Abusers: They prioritized their own desires over someone else’s humanity. Jérôme Vilela, 46, ex-volunteer fireman, admitted that he knew she was unconscious but returned to commit the same crime six times anyway. Letting themselves off the hook was easier than grappling with the damage they caused.
4. Fear of Making Drama
* Democrats: They’re terrified of the blowback—being labeled as overreaching, fueling Trump’s base, or being blamed for “undermining democracy.” So, they take the path of least resistance, even when it leads straight to moral failure. “Democratic leaders are saying publicly and privately they want a drama-free transfer of power,” says Politico.
* Abusers: They leaned on excuses like “her husband insisted” to sidestep accountability. They caved to an abuser and became abusers themselves. Simoné Mekenes, 43, their neighbor, said the husband “manipulated me and I fell into his trap.”
The Common Thread
Both cases are about power—and the refusal to wield it responsibly. Democrats have institutional power and the backing of the best intentions of the Founding Fathers, but they’re paralyzed by their fear of how it will harm their brand and possibly cost future elections. Pelicot’s abusers wielded personal power and used it to harm. Both groups cloaked their choices in the language of the status quo, hiding the deep cowardice of their decisions.
The truth is, they both had choices. They just didn’t want to deal with the discomfort of making the hard ones. Whether it’s protecting democracy or protecting a person, there’s no excuse for using the power that’s been invested in you to make a bad situation worse. There’s no excuse for certifying this election.
Democracy, like justice, doesn’t thrive on timidity. It thrives on bold action—and yes, on taking risks.
We have a Minority Whip people-pleasing a sociopathic dictator in the name of not looking like a sore loser. They are literally more concerned about the next mid-term and 2028 than the vote that’s days away. They literally think letting the country burn while pointing at the other side and saying “it wasn’t me, it was him” will get them elected next time.
They’re still playing middle school games and losing. They’re trying to play their same strategy game even though they were quite demonstrably out-strategized twice by a clown.
In middle school, the biggest bully always wins. This must stop, and it goes for Republicans too. They had their party taken away from them for a whole lot of the same reasons. Politicians of all stripes must grow up and define a new game.
The election in 2020 was the last election the Democrats were even going to win with politics as usual. Trump has been wagging the dog for how many years and they still haven’t had the come-to-Jesus moment of how to get it to stop.
Are the Peter Pans in office not exhausted of the blame game by now? The American people are. The downward trend on this graph shouldn’t surprise anyone. Congress’s approval rating sunk even further to 13% this year.
“The integrity of our democratic process depends on the peaceful transfer of power. Donald Trump has decided that the only valid elections are elections he wins,” Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D-Mass.) said in a statement to POLITICO. “He is the only President who has supported an insurrection rather than accept the will of the American people. Democrats will always ensure every vote counts and that we uphold our democracy.”
With all due respect, she’s lost her damn mind.
The Constitution makes it entirely clear that the President-elect's insurrection supersedes the people's vote.
If I wrote the statement, it would read: “The integrity of our democratic process depends on the integrity of those in positions of power, most especially in the highest office. Donald Trump has decided that the only valid elections are elections he wins, but the law does not allow him to be inaugurated [..] Democrats will always ensure every clause of the Constitution counts and that we uphold our democracy.”
It’s unethical to abide by the Constitution only when it’s convenient for your party’s marketing campaign. Our elected leaders must enforce the law of the land 100% of the time, even if that means they are unpopular and get voted out.
Their job isn’t to get reelected, their job is to govern.
That’s what we trust them for. That’s what we pay them for. That’s what they sign up to do when they take the oath.
The question of whether this tactic would hold up in the Supreme Court work misses my point entirely. They must uphold the law even if someone else later overturns them. They are not responsible for what others do later on down the line, but they are responsible for the votes they cast. This isn’t a gentlemen’s game of chess, this is the collapse of the biggest superpower on the planet because leaders on both sides of the aisle have forgotten that with great power comes great responsibility.
Politicians on both sides are basing their long game on a fantasy.
There ain’t no point in thinking about midterms when the vote on January 6, 2025, will change the course of the nation. If they do not find the time to make some drama about a despot there well may not be any election in 2028, y’all, or it may be so manipulated that it’s all for show.
“Christians, get out and vote! Just this time. You won't have to do it anymore! Four more years, you know what? It'll be fixed, it'll be fine, you won't have to vote anymore." — President-elect Trump
Do you really think he’s kidding?
This man is so addicted to vainglory that he never intends to leave office. He felt the pain of being ignored for the years he was out of office and out of the public eye, and he’s more emboldened than ever. You have to realize this man is incapable of feeling happiness, only a momentary respite from suffering when he gets a shot of ego validation. His hunger for it is infinite, and he will stop at nothing to prevent his narcissistic supply from being cut off again.
The truth of this situation stares Congress right in the face, but it is so big and horrifying that they can’t look at it. Being blind to the power games of narcissists has been deadly to individuals for a long time, and it’s now deadly to the human race. Do you really think we have four more years to wait for justice?
IF SOMETHING IS UNACCEPTABLE, THEN DO NOT ACCEPT IT.
IF SOMETHING IS UNACCEPTABLE, THEN DO NOT ACCEPT IT.
IF SOMETHING IS UNACCEPTABLE, THEN DO NOT ACCEPT IT.
The only day for justice is today.
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit crisbeasley.substack.com/subscribe
