2005-10-20

Thinking the unthinkable - Dick and Dubya impeached

Let's make the assumption (no matter how far fetched it might seem at the moment) that the Plame Affair reveals even more than just Lewis Libby and Karl Rove's wrongdoings. Let's say that Cheney and Bush himself are called upon to testify on oath, and it is
proved that both of them approved the leaking of Plame's name to Judith Miller. Let's also assume that the White House Iraq Group is proven to have misled the nation's media into thinking that Iraq had WMDs, and that both Cheney and Bush were involved in its decision making.

So not only would Cheney and Bush be jointly responsible for the leaking of Plame's name (a felony that could get them both jailed) but also jointly responsible for lying to the American people in order to send US forces into war - a war that has cost nearly 2000 American lives, not to mention the tens of thousands that have died in Iraq as a consequence of the invasion.

And now, let's think that wonderful, wonderful dream - that of an official impeachment of both President and Vice-President. With Republicans now very unhappy with the White House, let's assume that support for Bush evaporates in Congress, and both Dick and Dubya are removed from office.

So - all that being the case, who will then become President?

According to the Wikipedia article, speaker Dennis Hastert is next in line to the throne, with Ted Stevens possibly getting to live at Number One Observatory Circle. But from what I can gather, these appointments may only be temporary, according to the 25th Amendment about the "Acting President."

This means that Hastert may only be in a short while. Does Congress then have the power to appoint a President and Vice-president while Dennis keeps the Oval Office from gathering too much dust? Or will the removal of Dick and Dubya simply mean that the line of succession stays where it is?

Constitutional experts: Please leave comments...

From the One Salient Overlord Department

© 2005 Neil McKenzie Cameron, http://one-salient-oversight.blogspot.com/

Frequently Asked Questions about the Author

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License.

No comments: