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<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=447002700-01022009><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=2>done, your honor.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=447002700-01022009><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=447002700-01022009><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=2>i have no position on roe .v. wade. i personally
don't approve of abortion (unless the mother's life is in danger, in which case
it should be mandated) but i don't think it's my place to tell the rest of the
country what to do about it.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=447002700-01022009><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=447002700-01022009><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=2>there was a book that started with the premise of a bomb at
joint session or a party where the entire govenment was wiped out except for one
person at the end of the line of succession who was sick that day.
something like that. i can't remember who wrote it.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=447002700-01022009><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=447002700-01022009><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=2>thank you for the detailed answer to my question. i
knew you'd come through.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=447002700-01022009><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=447002700-01022009><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=2>greenBubble</FONT></SPAN></DIV><BR>
<DIV class=OutlookMessageHeader lang=en-us dir=ltr align=left>
<HR tabIndex=-1>
<FONT face=Tahoma size=2><B>Subject:</B> Re: [GCFL-discuss] who was president
12:01 pm yesterday<BR></FONT><BR></DIV>
<DIV></DIV>
<DIV>OK, I'll answer the question, but greenBubble, if you ever become
president, you have to appoint me to the Supreme Court. I promise to turn down
any arguments that equal protection of the laws entitles anyone to a license to
marry anyone or anything except a human being of the opposite sex, and I'll also
uphold <EM>Roe v. Wade</EM>. 50:50 ain't bad. I'll keep everyone amused the way
I do it, sort of a cross of Hugo Black and Antonin Scalia.</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV>Before those two amendments were adopted, the constitution basically said
nothing about presidential succession, except of course for the vice-president.
As John Adams said, when he became the first chosen for that office "I am
nothing, but I may be everything."</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV>The first thing Amendment XX did was set the term of a president to being
Jan 20 instead of in March. It used to take 4-5 months for a president to pack
up his stuff and get to Washington anyway. Even if someone declared war on us in
the meantime, it would have taken three months for an official declaration to
arrive. With improved transportation, communication, etc. it seemed a good idea
to shorten the time. This was 1933, and the economy lost a whole lot of ground
sitting still under Hoover, before Roosevelt finally got his hands on things.
Since Roosevelt didn't have the foggiest idea what the New Deal would look like,
just a determination to try things until something worked, time lost was a real
set-back.</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV>Next, Amendment XX tried to anticipate various things that might go wrong
with presidential succession. What if the president-elect died before taking
office? What if he didn't qualify? In that case, the vice president would take
the office. Seems obvious, but it wasn't in the constitution, so it couldn't
just happen. The amendment also authorized congress to provide by law for what
happens if one of the people from whom the House can choose a president, or from
whom the senate can choose a vice-president, died before the decision was made.
That is important, because unless the constitution says congress may pass a law,
congress simply has no power to do so. They can try, but the Supreme Court will
declare the law exceeds congress's constitutionally delegated powers, and
nullify it, just like Alexander Hamilton and James Madison said it should do
(its in <EM>The Federalist Papers</EM>).</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV>By 1967, there were all kinds of new worries. What if the president dies,
the vice president succeeds, then the vice-president dies? We need a way to
choose a new vice president. What if the president has a stroke, or goes insane,
and is unable to perform his duties? Basically the vice-president and the
cabinet are authorized to report this to the president pro tem of the senate and
the speaker of the house, and the vice president will take charge until the
president is ready to take the job back. Sort of like Raul Castro taking over
for Fidel while he was in the hospital. If the president and vice president
disagree, a majority vote of congress decides it. (What if the president is too
crazy to know he is too crazy to perform the duties of the office).</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV>But I'm wrong about where Congress gets the authority to decide succession
beyond the vice president. That was there all along, in Article II, Section [6]:
Congress may by law provide for the Case of Removal, Death, Resignation, or
Inability, both of the President and the Vice President, declaring what Officer
shall then act as President..."</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV>As far as I know though, it was sometime since WW II that congress actually
provided the chain of succession through the speaker of the house, president pro
tem of the senate, cabinet officers in order of seniority of their office,
starting with secretary of state. The thinking became, what if we have a nuclear
war and half the government is incinerated or out of communication, who's in
charge?</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV>That's enough for one email.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Siarlys</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>On Thu, 29 Jan 2009 00:22:23 -0500 "Discussion of the Good, Clean Funnies
List" <<A href="mailto:gcfl-discuss@gcfl.net">gcfl-discuss@gcfl.net</A>>
writes:</DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-LEFT: 10px; MARGIN-LEFT: 10px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid">
<DIV><SPAN class=356201505-29012009><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2>Point taken. This was an interesting exercise in what-it, although it
turned out that the premise was flawed. but the exercise was
fun.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=356201505-29012009><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>Now
a new question, inspired by -- but independent of -- the previous
discussion.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=356201505-29012009>
<P><FONT face=Arial><FONT color=#0000ff><FONT size=2><SPAN
lang=en-us>Siarlys</SPAN> <SPAN class=356201505-29012009>(our resident
constitutional scholar)</SPAN><BR><SPAN lang=en-us>Please elaborate on this
statement:</SPAN> </FONT></FONT></FONT></P>
<UL>
<P><FONT face=Arial><FONT color=#0000ff><FONT size=2><SPAN
lang=en-us>Succession to the office of president, beyond the vice president,
is established by a congressional</SPAN> <BR><SPAN lang=en-us>statute,
adopted under the authority of Amendment XX (1933) and Amendment XXV (1967).
</SPAN></FONT></FONT></FONT></P></UL></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=356201505-29012009><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>What
does the amendment say and what does the statue say? i thought there
were several layers of congressional leaders in line before the cabinet, not
just two.</FONT></SPAN></DIV><!-- Converted from text/rtf format -->
<P dir=ltr><B><SPAN lang=en-us><FONT face="Brush Script MT" color=#0000ff
size=5>Zvi Freund</FONT></SPAN></B><SPAN lang=en-us></SPAN></P>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2></FONT> </DIV><STRONG><FONT
face="Brush Script MT" color=#0000ff size=5></FONT></STRONG><BR>
<DIV class=OutlookMessageHeader lang=en-us dir=ltr align=left>
<HR tabIndex=-1>
<FONT face=Tahoma size=2><B>From:</B>
gcfl-discuss-bounces_milton.freund=siemens.com@gcfl.net
[mailto:gcfl-discuss-bounces_milton.freund=siemens.com@gcfl.net] <B>On Behalf
Of </B>Discussion of the Good, Clean Funnies List<BR><B>Sent:</B> Tuesday,
January 27, 2009 10:58 PM<BR><B>To:</B> Freund, Milton (H
USA)<BR><B>Subject:</B> Re: [GCFL-discuss] who was president 12:01 pm
yesterday<BR></FONT><BR></DIV>
<DIV></DIV><!-- Converted from text/rtf format -->
<DIV>My point is, until they either DO resign to become president, or pass,
the office does not fall to anyone else. So talking about the Secretary of
State or any other cabinet officer (they are all in line, in order of how old
their position is), becoming president for a few minutes, is nonsense.</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV>If a major crisis had erupted on Jan 20 around noon, either Bush or Obama
or both would have handled it. Nobody else.</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV>Siarlys</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV>On Tue, 27 Jan 2009 00:29:16 -0500 "Discussion of the Good, Clean Funnies
List" <<A href="mailto:gcfl-discuss@gcfl.net">gcfl-discuss@gcfl.net</A>>
writes:</DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-LEFT: 10px; MARGIN-LEFT: 10px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid">
<P><SPAN lang=en-us><FONT face=Arial size=2>Siarlys</FONT></SPAN> <BR><SPAN
lang=en-us><FONT face=Arial size=2>Please elaborate on this
statement:</FONT></SPAN> </P>
<UL>
<P><SPAN lang=en-us><FONT face=Arial size=2>Succession to the office of
president, beyond the vice president, is established by a
congressional</FONT></SPAN> <BR><SPAN lang=en-us><FONT face=Arial
size=2>statute, adopted under the authority of Amendment XX (1933) and
Amendment XXV (1967). </FONT></SPAN></P></UL>
<P><SPAN lang=en-us><FONT face=Arial size=2>The congressional statute you
refer to (which I saw before starting this thread but thought was part of
the amendment), states explicitly that the Speaker or President pro temp
must resign before assuming the presidency. </FONT></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN lang=en-us><FONT face=Arial size=2>greenBubble</FONT></SPAN> </P>
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