StarfishSaver
StarfishSaver's JournalI'm old enough to remember when Kamala Harris called on Twitter to suspend Trump's account
and lots of people criticized her for raising such a supposedly "trivial" issue.
Well ...
NBC has obtained the draft Articles of Impeachment
Will post a link as soon as I get one - or hope someone else does if they get it sooner
FYI: Contrary to common parlance, the 25th Amendment doesn't provide for the removal of a president
When the 25th Amendment is invoked, the president remains president. But all of the powers and duties of the office are transferred to the vice president who will serve as acting president.
If Pence and the cabinet invoke the 25th Amendment, Trump will still be president of the United States and Pence will remain vice president performing as acting president with the authority to do everything a president ordinarily does.
The only way a president can actually be removed from office is through impeachment by the House and conviction by the Senate.
Not a big deal, but I thought it would be helpful to clarify this.
Trump just tweeted he wouldn't attend Biden's inauguration
And I'm sure that has ruined Biden's day ...
Folks PLEASE! STOP attacking the Dems for not impeaching TODAY
House rules have very strict processes for this and they must be followed. Pelosi cannot just draft a bill and put it on the floor today. There is an incredible amount of work that must be done to get an impeachment measure ready to be voted on. And there are very strict timelines and notice requirements that must be adhered to. Among other things, bills usually cannot be voted on until several days after they are drafted, introduced and circulated. The fastest track is about 2 days, not counting weekends.
The House Members, committees and staff are busting their butts, working around the clock to get this done. And they are doing it less than 48 hours after having to barricade against a terrorist attack, working in offices where they're still picking up glass and trying to assess damage. Many of these staffers are probably traumatized and getting counseling from Congressional Employee Assistance, yet they're still there working. And let's not even talk about the fact that they're doing it while trying not to catch a virus that could kill them.
Congressional procedure is very complicated and doesn't always occur on the timeline we want or plain view. So please don't assume that if you can't see the work happening or if they're not voting right this minute on the floor that nothing is happening, they're not doing their jobs, or they're not taking this a seriously as you are.
These people are working as hard and as fast as they can under conditions I doubt many of us would ever be able to withstand. So please stop criticizing and second-guessing them, especially if you don't fully understand the details of the rules and processes they're operating under.
Flashback: Two Capitol Police officers were killed defending the Capitol 23 years ago
Capitol Police Officer Jacob J. Chestnut, known as "J.J." to his friends, had a less glamorous post, standing guard at an entrance to the Capitol. He was "very diligent and precise," one colleague said. And as an 18-year veteran of the force, he was just months away from retirement.
Yesterday, Gibson and Chestnut were at their appointed posts, and congressional staff members said their presence turned out to be far more than comforting or precise. It was lifesaving.
Both men were fatally wounded by a gunman who had burst into the Capitol. After shooting Chestnut and a bystander, the man entered DeLay's office, where Gibson confronted him.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/shooting/stories/officers072598.htm
The two men lay in honor at the Capitol - Chestnut was the first African American ever to be accorded such a tribute.
I didn't know those men, but I've known and worked with numerous Capitol Police officers and have a great deal of respect for them.
Capitol Police brass deserve a lot of criticism for yesterday's massive failures. But, while a few may have been complicit or careless, most of the rank-and-file officers do not deserve the blame they're getting. They are on the front lines and their bosses let them down, leaving them outnumbered and unprotected and unprepared to push back and defend the Capitol against a raging mob.
WOW. Rachel is showing tape from 2017 of now Senator-Elect Warnock being arrested in the Capitol
for ... wait for it ... kneeling and praying in the Rotunda.
Two Americas.
I'm wondering something about Cabinet resignations and the 25th Amendment
This is just me pondering, not assuming, but ...
The spate of cabinet resignations is interesting and is leading some to speculate that the rats are deserting the sinking ship to avoid having to invoke the 25th Amendment. BUT
Resigning is not the only way to avoid invoking the Amendment. They could just not agree to it. It's not like they take a vote. There just needs to be a majority willing to sign the declaration. But if they stay, maybe signing it puts them in a difficult situation.
BUT, leaving may actually make it more likely the 25th can be invoked without putting these secretaries on the spot.
The 25th Amendment requires a majority, not of Cabinet secretaries, but of "principal Officers" of the departments. This language is interesting and important. The "principal Officer" is the secretary, if there is one. But if the secretary's office is vacant, someone else serves as the principal Officer of the agency.
That means that if, for example, Elaine Chao resigns, the acting Secretary - probably the current Deputy Secretary - will be DOT's principal officer and THEY would have the authority to sign the declaration
I think that it's probably easier for the lower level department officials to sign off on the invocation of the 25th Amendment than for the higher profile Secretaries like DeVos and Chao.
Could it be that they are resigning to make it more likely that a majority of department heads will step up and remove Trump?
Hmmm.
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