I am issuing an executive decision. Tomorrow all M4C members must log off the website and may not post for 12 hours.
Now everyone wait to see if I can actually enforce it.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Four terms in office, President from March 4, 1933 – April 12, 1945.
You realize of course, the constitution was changed afterwards. See Twenty Second Amendment.
Yes, I also realized Constitutions can be changed or completely disregarded. See SCOTUS ruling regarding Eminent Domain for “private use.”
The constitutional leader? My oath of office was/is to the Constitution of the United States itself, not to any individual person.
One of the most important features of our constitution and the system of government that it requires is the separation of powers with checks and balances. As someone mentioned earlier, Lincoln suspended Habeus Corpus and it wasn’t until 5 years later that SCOTUS ruled on his unconstitutional actions, but don’t miss the fact that they did rule. So our system of governing was forced to act slowly and deliberately due to the separations delineated by law, and eventually there was a redress of a grievance. It is one of the exceptional aspects of our constitution. It was designed to be a bulwark against knee jerk grabs at consolidating power, but it does not and will not stop those attempts. However it can correct them.
Uh, no. I don’t think it takes much imagination to think what would happen if Barry tried to stay in office.
To use a clichéd term, IG points out the other aspect of American Exceptionalism. That being the willingness of the people to enforce rule of law over their government. Republics have generally collapsed throughout history and degenerated into autocratic rule. As of now, the United States is an exception. The bullseye was nailed when Benjamin Franklin asserted that our system of government is “A republic if you can keep it.” It lands on your lap, and my lap, to “keep it.”
I would contend that the POTUS would himself be attempting the coup, and certainly not the people fighting to reinstate the rule of law. Ultimately it is speculation on what this POTUS may or may not do outside the rule of law, and not within it.
You can certainly imagine what mayhem can ensue in a five year period. Redress is great but five years is a long time! To have something “unconstitutional” occurring for that length of time is mind-boggling to say the least. Lives lost, lives destroyed, etc., and can’t be undone. I would hope redress of grievances (the correction of the problem) would occur MUCH more quickly than five years.
That is also a valid way to look at it. If elections were suspended as part of the national emergency then POTUS and VPOTUS would both be done on the date the new swearing-in should have taken place and the Speaker of the House would occupy the White House until elections were held and a winner sworn in. (given that the SoH is third in line for the presidency that is how I came to that conclusion)
I would also prefer that the executive in Lincoln’s day and our own could be held accountable with greater expediency than five years. I can’t help but wonder if that lengthy time of five years was due in part to the environment brewing during the civil war era.
This link examines Lincoln’s suspension of Habeus Corpus and its constitutionality:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/813646/posts
Maybe it is why he wants Iran to have the bomb so bad… Who knows.
Very interesting rulings on the nature of Martial Law:
http://law.onecle.com/constitution/article-2/14-martial-law.html
He can try, I guess…but I don’t think he’s last very long…
Idiots were saying the same crap about George W. Bush. Now idiots are saying the same crap about Barack Obama. Your friends are idiots.
I think they were discussing hypotheticals, rather than actually thinking Barry would try this. Read the OP again- he admits it is far fetched.
Not what I gathered. I got the impression that the OP himself didn’t take it seriously. Friends were another matter.
I stand by my previous statement.
Anyone who complains will be called a racist?
I see a Hillary / Obama ticket and Hillary gets to meet Vince Foster early in the first term and Obama assumes of the office.
:sarcastic:
Let’s just say they see it as more possible (not likely) than I do. They wouldn’t put it past Obama, I don’t think even he’s that stupid.