Saturday, September 01, 2007

Warner for 'Caretaker' President?

By Robert Parry
September 2, 2007

A political system that was right-side up – rather than upside down – would be debating the need for a “caretaker” U.S. president, not the identity of the likely “caretaker” senator from Idaho.

While few tears will be shed over the resignation of Larry Craig – for allegedly soliciting sex from an undercover policeman in an airport men’s room – there’s a far stronger case for sequenced resignations from Dick Cheney and George W. Bush over a host of misjudgments and misdeeds.

Read on.
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4 comments:

profmarcus said...

i've said this before, mr. parry, but thank you from the bottom of my heart for stepping up and saying what so desperately needs to be said... perhaps, some people who REALLY have the good of the country at heart will summon the courage to tell george and dick that they simply must go...

Sat Sep 01, 04:33:00 PM 2007
HEK said...

Greetings:

This lurid, lascivious media obsession over Sen.Craig's self-inflicted humiliation -- during which no sex took place -- is pathetic.

The nation is facing far greater and awful circumstances than the outing of a hypocrite. So, I agree with Mr. Parry. But as was said during the First Gulf War by Colin Powell and others, if we knock off Saddam Hussein, where will the Jeffersonian democrat spring from to take his place?

You oust the Bush-Cheney regime, then who will take over in their stead? This gets us back to Nancy Pelosi, who has taken this impeachment option -- in her public statements -- off the table.

This is to assure/appease the 28 percenters who still support this administration so they won't get mad at the Democrats -- by the way, these are people who think Bush is just great and would be willing to vote for him again, or install him as President for Life. They will never, ever vote for a Democrat. Period.

So. I don't know what the Dems are waiting for. Fact is, the two-party system is a debauched, over-compromised mess. As DeGaulle said of France, in a nation of 30 different kinds of cheese, how can you have just two political parties?

The U.S. is far more complicated (and contradictory) than France. We need more and better options in our political system.

Sat Sep 01, 05:11:00 PM 2007
SirScud said...

Robert.....surely you jest! John Warner in the White House! With all do respect Good Sir, you are a better historian than to suggest such a thing! This man is a pandering, pontificating hypocrite of the first order; he does not even have the distinction of being the first rat to abandon this foundering ship of state that he has blindly supported since it's conception.
We certainly should find a way to rid ourselves of the Bush Cabal before the 2008 elections, but we definitely do not need to saddle ourselves with the likes of a John Warner for the next year and a half.
"Caretaker" indeed!

Wed Sep 05, 11:48:00 AM 2007
Vierotchka said...

According to the Presidential Succession Act of 1792, the Senate president pro tempore was next in line after the vice president to succeed to the presidency, followed by the Speaker of the House.

In 1886, however, Congress changed the order of presidential succession, replacing the president pro tempore and the Speaker with the cabinet officers. Proponents of this change argued that the congressional leaders lacked executive experience, and none had served as president, while six former secretaries of state had later been elected to that office.

The Presidential Succession Act of 1947, signed by President Harry Truman, changed the order again to what it is today. The cabinet members are ordered in the line of succession according to the date their offices were established.

Prior to the ratification of the 25th Amendment in 1967, there was no provision for filling a vacancy in the vice presidency. When a president died in office, the vice president succeeded him, and the vice presidency then remained vacant. The first vice president to take office under the new procedure was Gerald Ford, who was nominated by Nixon on Oct. 12, 1973, and confirmed by Congress the following Dec. 6.

The order of Presidential Succession is as follows:

* The Vice President
* Speaker of the House
* President pro tempore of the Senate
* Secretary of State
* Secretary of the Treasury
* Secretary of Defense
* Attorney General
* Secretary of the Interior
* Secretary of Agriculture
* Secretary of Commerce
* Secretary of Labor
* Secretary of Health and Human Services
* Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
* Secretary of Transportation
* Secretary of Energy
* Secretary of Education
* Secretary of Veterans Affairs
* Secretary of Homeland Security

***

Therefore, the concept of choosing a "caretaker president" is a groundless fantasy.

Thu Sep 06, 12:39:00 PM 2007

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