[GCFL-discuss] who was president 12:01 pm yesterday

Sun Jan 25 20:33:14 CST 2009

"Because of the constitution's separation of powers" doesn't mean jack
unless a specific clause of the constitution can be applied to a specific
set of facts. Separation of powers is a nice philosophical treatise by
Montesquieu, which I have never read, and neither has 99.9% of anyone
else in America. The separation of powers in the U.S. Constitution is
established in Article I, II, and III, which don't address presidential
succession beyond the vice-presient at all. Succession to the office of
president, beyond the vice president, is established by a congressional
statute, adopted under the authority of Amendment XX (1933) and Amendment
XXV (1967). No cabinet member is in line to be president, at all, until
it is determined that the vice-president, the Speaker of the House, and
the President Pro Tem of the Senate, are unavailable or disqualified, so
as long as Pelosi is alive, succession never got to Rice. It is true that
if any of the above actually became president, they would have to give up
whatever office they previously held. That is why it really is not true
that anyone "became president" for fleeting minutes. Nobody becomes
president without being fully aware of the fact.

The problem when Reagan was shot was that George H.W. Bush was out of the
country on some diplomatic mission, and had to fly back when he got the
news. Al Haig was trying to simply let the world know that the U.S.
government was intact and functioning while the president was under
anesthesia being operated on, but Haig put his foot in his mouth the way
he did that. Once Bush got back in the country, he was acting until
Reagan was fully conscious.

Siarlys

P.S. I don't think congress would have had any trouble confirming
Condoleeza Rice as vice president, for a term of about one month,
especially if they knew Cheney was going to resign upon her confirmation.
She and Colin Powell were the only ones in the Bush adminstration with
any sense at all. Then she could have gotten a present from Michelle
Obama, instead of Laura Bush.

P.P.S. About ROFL, I once worked with a woman who literally would roll on
the floor laughing when something struck her as really funny, crying
"Sto-o-o-p" over and over. Laughter caused pain in her stomach too.

On Sat, 24 Jan 2009 23:53:15 -0500 "Discussion of the Good, Clean Funnies
List" <gcfl-discuss at gcfl.net> writes:
> ROFL = Rolling On Floor, Laughing
> 
> One interesting point raised is not at all moot.  Because of the
> constitution's separation of powers, a member of Congress cannot be 
> part
> of the administration.  Before Pelosi can become president, she 
> must
> first resign from Congress.  The Secratery of State has no such
> restriction.  So if the Speaker should ever need to step into the
> presidency, it would seem that the Secretary of State would have to 
> be
> Acting President until (s)he does.
> 
> When Reagen was shot, wasn't GHW Bush VP?  Why wasn't he in charge?
> 
> In the Siarlys' speculation, it would be in Bush's hands to resign 
> to
> allow Cheney to become VP for a day, but there's no way that 
> Congress
> would have confirmed Condi for VP.
> 
> greenBubble
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> Subject: Re: [GCFL-discuss] who was president 12:01 pm yesterday
> 
> I think its not only moot, but boring and irrelevant. I'm also not 
> sure
> its true. It is equally likely that George W. Bush was president 
> until
> Barack Obama took the oath of office, or that Barack Obama became
> president at 12:01 am, with or without the oath, or that America had 
> no
> president for a couple of minutes. Also, remember that the Secretary 
> of
> State is in line for the presidency AFTER the Speaker of the House 
> and
> the President Pro Tem of the Senate. (That's the error Al Haig put 
> his
> foot in his mouth over, when Reagan was shot and Haig announced "I 
> am in
> charge as of now..." He wasn't.) So if anything, it wasn't 
> Condoleeza
> Rice who was president, it was Nancy Pelosi. Now that is a nightmare 
> to
> frighten anybody!
> 
> I heard a much better speculation though:
> 
> George Bush should have resigned around January 1, which would make
> Cheney president, then Cheney should nominate Condoleeza Rice to be 
> vice
> ident, and once she was confirmed, Cheney should also resign. THEN,
> the first black woman president would indeed have been a 
> Republican.
> 
> Siarlys
> 
> P.S. What does ROFL stand for?
> ____________________________________________________________
> 
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