As you might have expected, here are the rest of the Amendments to the U.S. Constitution.
It's another quick read and quite a mixed bag, everything from the most noble of ideas (13th through 15th) to nitwitted social engineering (the 18th), from clarifying succession (20th, 25th) to dubious notions (16th, 17th) and one of my favorites, the 19th. Or did I scramble those references? You'll have to read it to find out!
For those who were dreaming up crazy outcomes if impeachment and trial by the Senate were to remove President Trump from office, food for thought from Section 2 of the 25th Amendment:
"Whenever there is a vacancy in the office of the Vice President, the
President shall nominate a Vice President who shall take office upon
confirmation by a majority vote of both Houses of Congress."
Find me a prospective Veep who can pass through the eye of that needle, and you'll have found one heck of a politician.
Why would the Speaker of the House help make himself/herself demoted back to second in line.(This really applies to whoever is SotH, no matter which party they are, unless they happened to be named Cincinattus.)
ReplyDeleteGerald Ford had no problem with that, but it was a different era. It's not just that the Dems and Reps cooperated better, but could you find one decent man or woman in the Senate these days?
ReplyDeleteJeffrey Smith: following your line of reasoning, why would any Congressperson bother to follow any of the rules, ever? Shouldn't they at all times act in such a manner as to maximize their personal power?
ReplyDeleteI have published your comment an an illustrative example of why I have not published many of the comments received on this series of posts about the Constitution and, indeed, why I write them: the Speaker, any Speaker, and the President Pro Tem of the Senate, would follow the rules for selecting a new Veep because that's how it works. Most Congressthings are attorneys; nearly all Congresswhatevers have a deep and abiding interest in The Rules. Mostly they want to write them; they're very good at finding gaps and exceptions in them, but they believe in the whole notion of "rules." Oh, to be sure, you can count on the opposing party in either body making a huge fuss over the incoming President's choice of V.P. They'll *game* the rules high, wide and Sunday. But despite what the talking-head opinionaters claim, we're not yet at the stage of competing warlords and private armies.
The public -- Right, Left and Center -- is being sold deeply divisive BS in order to sell newspapers and get eyes on screens.