• CosmicTurtle@lemmy.world
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    9 months ago

    I have a feeling that if Biden dies in office, suddenly there will be this concern whether Harris was born in Kenya and can’t be president and the Speaker of the House should be elevated instead (assuming the GOP maintain their leadership).

    • winterayars@sh.itjust.works
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      9 months ago

      I think a lot of the “concern” over Biden’s age is really because they’re terrified of a black woman getting the presidency. They hate her more than they hate him.

    • FlowVoid@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      If the president dies in office, the constitution requires the vice president to become president. It doesn’t matter if anyone has concerns, there is no mechanism to prevent the VP from taking over.

      • CosmicTurtle@lemmy.world
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        9 months ago

        The constitution also requires that the vice president to meet all the conditions for a president. The constitution also requires that the president appoint judges and that the Senate confirms them.

        Look, I’m not disagreeing with you. But at the end of the day, the constitution is just a piece of paper. Its power is in the individual people who swear to honor, uphold, and protect it. One party has definitely shown that they won’t do that.

        I’m not holding my breath that the Republicans will do the right thing if power is to be had.

        • FlowVoid@lemmy.world
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          9 months ago

          My point is that there is no opportunity for Republicans to do the right thing, wrong thing, or anything at all. Succession is automatic.

          LBJ was sworn in only two hours after JFK died. While he was flying home on Air Force One.

          Unlike appointing judges, there was no need for action on the part of Congress and therefore no way for the GOP to stop him. LBJ didn’t even need the SCOTUS, a lower judge administered the oath and it was all over. If the GOP had a problem with LBJ’s qualifications, the only recourse would be impeachment after the fact.

          • beardown@lemm.ee
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            9 months ago

            there is no opportunity for Republicans to do the right thing, wrong thing, or anything at all. Succession is automatic.

            Not if SCOTUS disagrees

            Precedent has no binding control over what they will do

            • FlowVoid@lemmy.world
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              9 months ago

              The SCOTUS can’t hear a case on two hours notice. So if they have anything to say, it would be after the succession.

        • stoly@lemmy.world
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          9 months ago

          Any claims of her ability to be president were satisfied the moment she was seated as vice president.

          • beardown@lemm.ee
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            9 months ago

            Their point is that Republicans will claim she doesn’t. And they control the Supreme Court. Which means they are the final arbiters of this, not you, and not me. And not the plain text of Constitution either

            This isn’t about textual interpretation and this isn’t about what the Constitution says. This is about power. That’s it.

            The Republicans will control the judiciary for a generation. That means they have sole authority over what the Constitution means and does not mean. Their rulings can be as arbitrary as they want and it won’t matter. There is no oversight of the Supreme Courts rulings and there is no appeal from their orders.

            SCOTUS has been captured by a domestic terrorist organization masquerading as a political party. That is a problem that needs to be solved before we ever start seriously talking about how process and procedure can save us. Hopefully law enforcement can prosecute some of the GOP Justices for their obvious corruption, but even that is unlikely as federal law enforcement has also been infiltrated by Trumpists.

            This is a very bad situation. But you can’t put your trust in the rule of law. Because Republicans control the rule of law, and they will achieve their desired outcomes by any means necessary

    • MudMan@kbin.social
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      9 months ago

      Well, they can be concerned all they want, but ultimately things work how they work. So no, that scenario is complete fiction and there is no valid equivalence between a Supreme Court Justice and a President in terms of succession.