President for Life?

   Donald Trump congratulated China for removing term limits for its president, and suggested that the U.S. do the same.
   "Maybe we should give it a shot," he said at a fundraiser in Florida.
   You're joking, right?

   Meanwhile, special counsel Robert Mueller is widening his investigatory net even as it draws closer to the Oval Office, which raises the question of whether a sitting president can be indicted for crimes and misdemeanors.
   The Constitution says a president can be impeached for "treason, bribery or other high crimes and misdemeanors," then face trial in the Senate and be removed from office after conviction.
   Even so, he could still face charges in a court of law for the same offences, since the only penalty for impeachment is removal from office. That's not double jeopardy.
   But can he be indicted on criminal or civil charges while in office and before impeachment?
   The president is the chief law enforcement officer in America, but only for federal laws. So can he be charged under a state law? And as chief executive of federal law, is he exempt from prosecution?
   Does that put him above the law?
   And can he pardon himself?
   We live in interesting times.

   As to becoming president for life, that would require deleting a constitutional amendment that limits a president to two terms. The Chinese did something similar after the death of Mao Zedong, who had been president for life. The Chinese recently overturned that rule so the current president, Xi Jinping, can remain as president.

   The American rule was put in place in 1947, in an effort led by Republicans after Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected four times. The move came back to bite them when it stopped the popular Republican Dwight D. Eisenhower from running for a third term.
   Now Trump wants to overturn that Constitutional amendment so he can be president for life.
   A joke?
   Yeah, it certainly is.
   Or as Molly said, "Tain't funny, McGee."