If Bush were to die, would Cheney or Obama be sworn in?
Posted by Lyrhawn (Member # 7039) on :
Cheney, who'd serve until January 20th.
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
Exactly. The election of Obama isn't even technically complete yet - the Electors haven't met.
Posted by Lisa (Member # 8384) on :
If Obama picks Hillary as SecState, will people start referring to that position as "Four heartbeats away from the presidency"?
Posted by Elmer's Glue (Member # 9313) on :
She would.
Posted by James Tiberius Kirk (Member # 2832) on :
Wouldn't it be three?
--j_k
Posted by Lyrhawn (Member # 7039) on :
I can't imagine Biden, Pelosi and Robert Byrd will be that hard to knock off.
Posted by The Rabbit (Member # 671) on :
But there is the timing issue. She would have to knock them all off before there was time to act to fill in the vacancies. Its not like if Obama dies, the VP moves to President, the speaker of the house moves to VP, the President pro tempore of the senate becomes speaker of the house and the Secretary of State becomes senate President pro tempore. The VP spot would remain empty until the President nominated a replacement and that replacement was confirmed by a majority vote of both houses. The speaker of the house position and the senate president position, could be filled very quickly by a simple majority vote in the relevant legislative body. So in the event of Obama's untimely demise, Biden, Pelosi and Byrd would all have to die in very rapid succession in order for the Secretary of State to assume the Presidency.
Posted by Mucus (Member # 9735) on :
Perhaps an attack by Cylons.
Posted by Lyrhawn (Member # 7039) on :
In that case I think you have to kill them in the right order.
The spot that would be filled the quickest is the Speaker, because it's a fairly powerful position. The VP spot would require vetting and hearings on the Hill, so you can kill him off and rest assured that it'll take awhile to fill his seat. Likewise, killing Byrd won't really garner much interest as far as presidential succession goes, because most people don't even know he's in line after the Speaker, and his position isn't one of great influence or power.
I imagine how she kills them would also have a big role in how quickly the spaces are filled. If they are all snipings, obviously someone will catch wind and they'd never let Obama out of the White House. It'd have to be clever, like lacing Byrd's Viagara with something to make it look like a heart attack, which will look perfectly expected given his age and health problems. Then you orchestrate Pelosi's plane crashing when she's headed home to meet with constituents. It'll look incidental. Do that fast enough, and then within a day or two pick off the VP and P, maybe with a well placed bomb that takes them both out at the same time during a joint appearance.
.....did I put too much thought into that?
Posted by dantesparadigm (Member # 8756) on :
No more thought than Clinton. It's not like she hasn't killed before.
Posted by kmbboots (Member # 8576) on :
Shhh...stop giving them ideas.
Posted by Selran (Member # 9918) on :
Her best bet would be to have Obama and Biden killed before December 15th then lobby the electors to vote fore her.
Posted by dantesparadigm (Member # 8756) on :
What is the protocol for the death of a president elect? I'm off to wikipedia, I'll edit if I find it.
Edit: Looks like it's all covered in the twentieth amendment.
Posted by The Rabbit (Member # 671) on :
Here is a truly morbid question. If the President Elect died between the meeting of the electoral college and the inauguration, would the VP elect be inaugurated? Would there have to be another meeting of the electoral college or perhaps a Senate vote to make the decision? Is this something that is clearly defined in law or something that's unclear because the situation has never arisen (and hopefully never will).
Posted by The Rabbit (Member # 671) on :
Dante beats me to the question.
Posted by Lisa (Member # 8384) on :
quote:Originally posted by James Tiberius Kirk: Wouldn't it be three?
--j_k
Nope.
President Vice-President Speaker of the House President Pro-Tem of the Senate Secretary of State
Posted by Lisa (Member # 8384) on :
quote:Originally posted by The Rabbit: Here is a truly morbid question. If the President Elect died between the meeting of the electoral college and the inauguration, would the VP elect be inaugurated? Would there have to be another meeting of the electoral college or perhaps a Senate vote to make the decision? Is this something that is clearly defined in law or something that's unclear because the situation has never arisen (and hopefully never will).
In First Citizen, both POTUS and VPOTUS were killed, and the Speaker took over without taking the office of POTUS. I know that's not helpful, but this discussion made me think of that book.
Posted by Artemisia Tridentata (Member # 8746) on :
Kind of like Alexander Haig did when Reagan was shot?
Posted by James Tiberius Kirk (Member # 2832) on :
quote:Originally posted by Lisa:
quote:Originally posted by James Tiberius Kirk: Wouldn't it be three?
--j_k
Nope.
President Vice-President Speaker of the House President Pro-Tem of the Senate Secretary of State
Huh. Not sure how I missed Byrd.
--j_k
Posted by Lyrhawn (Member # 7039) on :
Don't worry, everyone else outside of West Virginia missed him too.
Posted by Blayne Bradley (Member # 8565) on :
The Obama Administration is once more making history by being the only place in America that is still hiring -Stephen Colbert
Posted by Sterling (Member # 8096) on :
quote:Originally posted by The Rabbit: She would have to knock them all off before there was time to act to fill in the vacancies.