It just takes one
What we loose focus of, between the momentary slips and recoveries of the Regime, is that absent an indictment of Dick Cheney, and absent a Republican caucus decision to replace the Speaker, and absent a written transmission by either George W. Bush, or Dick Cheney and a majority of the Cabinet, to Ted Stevens and Dennis Hastert, that George W. Bush is unable to discharge the powers and duties of the office of President, that there is no Constitutional means to escape from the fullest expression of the Bush, Cheney, Rumsford, Wolfowitz, Rice, Feith, Libby, Hadley, Bolton, Luti, Fowler, Perle, Negroponte, Bremmer, Garner conspiracy to use the armed forces of the United States to conduct one or more wars of aggression for interests other than those of the United States.
Amendment XXVSection 1. In case of the removal of the President from office or of his death or resignation, the Vice President shall become President.
Section 2. Whenever there is a vacancy in the office of the Vice President, the President shall nominate a Vice President who shall take office upon confirmation by a majority vote of both Houses of Congress.
Section 3. Whenever the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration that he is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, and until he transmits to them a written declaration to the contrary, such powers and duties shall be discharged by the Vice President as Acting President.
Section 4. Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President.
Thereafter, when the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration that no inability exists, he shall resume the powers and duties of his office unless the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive department or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit within four days to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office. Thereupon Congress shall decide the issue, assembling within forty-eight hours for that purpose if not in session. If the Congress, within twenty-one days after receipt of the latter written declaration, or, if Congress is not in session, within twenty-one days after Congress is required to assemble, determines by two-thirds vote of both Houses that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall continue to discharge the same as Acting President; otherwise, the President shall resume the powers and duties of his office.
So what are the real possibilities? How can the Regime be disarmed, legally?
One theory has it that the Regime and its co-dependents, if not co-consipirators, fail to retain an impeachment-proof minority in one or both of the lower and upper houses of Congress. Bush is impeached, then Cheney, then a Speaker other than Denis Hastert is President.
Another theory has it that the Regime and its co-dependents, if not co-conspirators, fail to retain a defunding-proof majority in the lower house of Congress. Funds for the Iraq War are zeroed out, and Congress, the Executive, and the Packed Court sort out whether Congressional may end the adventures of the Executive, or if the sense of Art. I, Sec. 8 has changed without anyone's notice.
These are theories brought under the Federal Constitution, and of course, they all posit successful outcomes of competitve races for the Federal Legislature -- the raison d'être of many of the blogs that make up, not only Blotopia (y!sctp), and its mirror, the Blogreich -- and some outcome of consequence, or at least a test of the theory, between January 2007 and January 2009.
But a Constitutional Crisis, or a conflict between the DeLay/Rehnquist coup conspiritors and elected authority can also arise outside of the Federal Legislature. Moreover, it need not wait until late January 2007 to manifest, it can arise today, or any day that any Governor of any State orders the deployed units of that State's National Guard to return home. Any Governor may raise the Art. 1, Sec. 8, cl. 15 issue, that the State's Militia was not called forth to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions, in Iraq. Simultaniously, any Governor may raise the Art. 1, Sec. 8, cl. 16 powers, which reserve to the States the Appointment of the Officers, and the Authority of training the Militia, and order the demission of the ranking officers of the deployed units of that State's National Guard who fail to obey the lawful order to remove themselves from an unlawful command, one that neither execute the Laws of the Union, suppresses Insurrections or repel Invasions.
Other than Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer's request of March 2005 to reduce the number of Montana Guard soldiers deployed in Iraq, pointedly ignored by the Pentagon, and the statements without recourse to authority made at Governor's Conferences, no State's Executive has cared to actually be responsible for the safety from injury and death, and the risk of liability for commission of, or being parties to, acts which constitute war crimes, of that State's enlisted men and women, and their commissioned officers, in the State's Militia Regiments.
There are two new Governors in 2005, Corzine in New Jersey and Kaine in Virginia, and 36 Gubernatorial Races will be held in the 2006 cycle. Any sitting Governor, and any competitive candidate, can put Art. 1, Sec. 8, cl. 15 on the national agenda, and any sitting Governor can pull the trigger of Art. 1, Sec. 8, cl. 16, to enforce the supremacy of the State's authority over the State's Militia Regiments (now known as "National Guards" after the French national militia), which originate in the charters of three militia regiments formed by the Massachusetts Bay Colony on December 3, 1636, when the Colony of Connecticut and the Pequot Nation moved towards war.
This isn't an idle cannonade over the walls of Ft. Sumter. The Senate of South Carolina ceded to the United States "all the right, title and claim of South Carolina to the site of Fort Sumter", on December 21st, 1836. Fort Sumter was Federal property, garissoned by Federal troops. The power of the Federal Congress, hence the Federal Executive, over the National Guards is not unconditional.
It just takes one. It just takes one candidate, either previously competitive, or made competitive by a pledge, that if elected, she or he will order the return of the Guard. The Regime, its co-dependents in Congress, and the Packed Court can either vacate the awkward bits of Art. 1, Sec. 8, cl. 15, ending the "dual jurisdiction" over the States' Militia Regiments, or revoke the Statehood Act, a neat trick if the State is one of the 13 original, or Maine or Vermont, or find some pretext to jail the Governor and her or his successors, until a suitably pliant acting Governor is found.
It just takes one.
Related Posts:
Canibalized Mechanics, November 4, 2005, Return the Maine Guard to Maine, August 4, 2005, and The Whites of our Eyes, April 19, 2005.