2020 US Election (Part Two)

[Timsup2nothin]

That’s when senile Joseph Biden will ride in on his white horse stuttering and stumbling over his words reading the teleprompter message of neoliberal corporate bailouts conjured up by Perez, Schumer and Pelosi with Obama and Clinton in the back seat.

It's amazing how hard it is to make that sound worse than "collapse into revolutionary anarchy, failure of basic services, Tim starts eating the neighbors," isn't it?

 

[Cloud_Strife]

never forget Biden wants to work with the gop

 

[Timsup2nothin]

never forget Biden wants to work with the gop

Never forget that unless we opt for some sort of epic mass executions plan the GOP isn't going away any time soon.

 

[Cloud_Strife]

Never forget that unless we opt for some sort of epic mass executions plan the GOP isn't going away any time soon.

He literally suggested having a member of the GOP as his vp, Like i don't know man, what are we supposed to make of this?

 

[Zardnaar]

He literally suggested having a member of the GOP as his vp, Like i don't know man, what are we supposed to make of this?

He needs to win in purple states.

In emergencies you often get national unity type government's or grand coalitions.

 

[Takhisis]

Tim starts eating the neighbors

For the last time, the cannibals forum rôle-playing game is over.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

For the last time, the cannibals forum rôle-playing game is over.

Didn't you wonder how I took so naturally to that role?

 

[Takhisis]

Suprised? By a USian? After seeing you lot elect Dubya and Trump? Nah.

 

[IglooDame]

He needs to win in purple states.

In emergencies you often get national unity type government's or grand coalitions.

Now try to picture Donald Trump inspiring unity...

Yeah, I can't either.

 

[Takhisis]

The only unification he can help is by being a Bob Kelso and having everybody unite against him. Except that Kelso was competent and doing it on purpose to manipulate people into being united, while Trump is just doing damage for damage's sake.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

Now try to picture Donald Trump inspiring unity...

Yeah, I can't either.

Unifying has always been a GOP specialty. GWBush was a uniter. Three vastly disparate groups in Iraq set aside centuries of grievances and united in their hatred of USian occupation.

 

[IglooDame]

Law enforcement. "Just does away with it" is open commission of a crime, unless somewhere in one of these "declared emergency" acts that he is invoking congress has foolishly empowered him to do it. Under that circumstance congress will have exceeded their own authority, but holding them to account for it would be messy. At the end of the day though the result would be in the hands of the military. They are sworn to defend the constitution, and the constitution very plainly states that election or no election, Trump's term ends in January.

If a President shall not have been chosen before the time fixed for the beginning of his term, or if the President elect shall have failed to qualify, then the Vice President elect shall act as President until a President shall have qualified; and the Congress may by law provide for the case wherein neither a President elect nor a Vice President elect shall have qualified, declaring who shall then act as President, or the manner in which one who is to act shall be selected, and such person shall act accordingly until a President or Vice President shall have qualified.

(bolding mine)

And with a split Congress, that worked so well together on the impeachment... The Democrats are going to claim that Pelosi is the third in line behind Trump and Pence. I have no idea what the Republicans are going to claim, certainly Trump will decide that he continues as President, but does McConnell play along at that point?

 

[Takhisis]

Perhaps they'll claim that a McConnell presidency is in order, or, maybe, that whoever presides the Supreme Court at the time should be acting president.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

(bolding mine)

And with a split Congress, that worked so well together on the impeachment... The Democrats are going to claim that Pelosi is the third in line behind Trump and Pence. I have no idea what the Republicans are going to claim, certainly Trump will decide that he continues as President, but does McConnell play along at that point?

The issue is that without an election there would be no qualified congress. Their term expires before Trump's does, and the constitution demands that state executives conduct elections to name their successors. It doesn't specify how those elections are done, and the when that is specified in federal law is the Tuesday following the first Monday in November...which is a date this discussion presumes will have somehow been ignored. I just don't see the military sitting still for all that.

 

[Takhisis]

Is it possible that they'd return to the days when federal legislators were appointed by their home states' governments?

 

[IglooDame]

Perhaps they'll claim that a McConnell presidency is in order, or, maybe, that whoever presides the Supreme Court at the time should be acting president.

Indeed. Though what's interesting is, Trump will be standing there insisting that he's still President, so it presents an intriguing scenario: how many Trump Administration folks are going to actually back their (at that point soon-to-be-former) boss, and how many are going to back whatever McConnell comes up with, and how many are going to just cheer when the Secret Service drags Donald out with a copy of the 20th Amendment in their back pockets?

Though, worth noting... The current Director of the Secret Service was appointed by Trump middle of last year. His boss, the current (acting) Secretary of Homeland Security was appointed by Trump late last year.

 

[Takhisis]

Yeah, and ‘acting’ means they need confirmation which the Senate could strategically choose to withhold.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

Is it possible that they'd return to the days when federal legislators were appointed by their home states' governments?

That is actually specifically prohibited by the constitution. Governors appoint interim senators not representatives to the house.

 

[Takhisis]

Yes, I know that, but that'd at least give the US a Senate which could, based on precedent from other countries, legislate on its own for a time.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

Yes, I know that, btu that'd at least give the US a Senate which could, based on precedent from other countries, legislate on its own for a time.

Nope. Seating a new congress requires both houses. Between January 3rd and March 20th there would be plenty of time to hold elections and get the winners seated, and the country would just have to go without legislation in the interim. The new congress could be seated as soon as a quorum was present, so even the hesitant GOP governors would perforce be getting elections done as quickly as they could. Then on March 20th when Trump was dragged out in chains the speaker of the house would be president until a proper successor got elected, if it wasn't done concurrently with the congressional elections (which it most likely would be).