Much is being written about Donald Trump and Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, specifically about his suitability for office. So much is being written that it can seem pedantic and rather confusing.

My working-class family pushed hard for us to get a college education. Such an education was to provide work opportunities, as well as more learned ways of understanding society.

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In those days, a liberal arts degree meant you had studied history, politics, philosophy and East/West cultures. Such teachings were intended to enhance civil and civilized discourse on topics affecting us all as individuals and national citizens, often in search of beneficial compromises.

Since that time, learned opinions have been devalued, considered equal to common conspiracy theories. This has not been good for the country. However, with the current musings of legal scholars, I can see how this might happen.

Do we really need to determine if the president is an elected official or an officer in our government to decide if constitutional law applies to the office and holder? The patently obvious meaning and intent of the 14th Amendment gets lost in all the minutiae of scholarly abstractions.

Sometimes scholarly discourse enlightens reasoning and debate. Sometimes such discourse seems intended to obfuscate and paralyze. Clearly, simply the purpose of Section 3 is to protect us and the Constitution from political abuses from within; abuses evidenced in our current political crisis.

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Section 3 says simply you cannot be an authoritarian in our government. It reflects that political freedoms do not flow from small or large cabals nor the barrel of a gun in our country. Elected office ― past, present or future ― does not protect participation in or advocation of overthrowing the government. Certainly violent acts in particular are to be excluded.

The president is an elected official. Section 3 says he or she cannot be that and advocate insurrection, or engage in the protection thereof. The nightmarish part is Trump not only advocates the overthrow of our government on his word, as any amateurish authoritarian would do, but also by violence. Trump is the personification of tyrannical forces in a form unique to our political system. The 14th Amendment protects us from his delusions and the misconstructions of those advocating for him.

In 2024, let’s get this matter resolved within the constitutional frame, and get on to addressing the misguided thinking and values that support him. In 2024, Republican and Democrat, let’s vote for a candidate that believes in and supports our Constitution and governmental processes. It is the American way.

Michael Lock is a retired clinical psychologist in Norman.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Section 3 says you cannot be an authoritarian in our government.