[Rhodes22-list] POLITICAL: FLASH-Ted Stevens Convicted-

Mon Oct 27 20:38:20 EDT 2008

If by "actually asking questions" you mean sitting still for insulting
suggestions that his running mate is a marxist, I don't think anybody
expects anybody to sit still for that nonsense. I have this wierd deja vu
feeling. Have I been here before?

As for your friend from UT, great football tradition; law school? not so
much. Seriously, Reynolds is a well educated respected academic. On this
issue though I think almost everybody disagrees with him.  Better not let
your comrades in arms on this list hear you citing Reynolds. Last time I
looked your Prof was pro-choice, pro gay marriage, and anti "war on drugs". 

Ben C.

Nobody agrees with him

Brad Haslett-2 wrote:
> 
> Ben,
> 
> "Then Joe Biden would take over. No worries."
> 
> That's pretty damn funny!  It was meant to be a joke, right?  Joe's
> running mate may not know how many states there are but at least Joe
> knows who was President in 1929 and when the TV was invented. Of
> course, if he blows off any more TV stations for actually asking
> questions he'll be hard pressed to hold a press conference.
> 
> Below is an opinion from my favorite blogger and law professor.  Seems
> Ole Joe v Caribou Barbie isn't so smart after all.
> 
> Brad
> 
> ---------------------
> 
> October 27, 2008
> Op-Ed Contributor
> Where Does the Vice President Belong?
> By GLENN HARLAN REYNOLDS
> 
> THE presidential campaign has taken a detour into a dispute over the
> constitutional status of the vice presidency. It all started when
> Sarah Palin asserted in her debate with Joe Biden that the vice
> president should play an important role in the legislative branch.
> 
> Ms. Palin has been roundly mocked for her claim. But she was probably
> right.
> 
> Article I of the Constitution, which describes the authority of the
> legislative branch, says that "the vice president of the United States
> shall be president of the Senate, but shall have no vote, unless they
> be equally divided." Aside from the job of replacing a president who
> dies or is unable to serve, the only vice presidential duties that are
> spelled out in the Constitution are legislative in character.
> 
> But if the vice president is a legislative official, then the exercise
> of executive power by the vice president raises important
> constitutional questions related to the separation of powers. The
> Supreme Court has held on more than one occasion that legislative
> officials cannot exercise executive power. The Court would likely dub
> this a "political question" that is beyond its purview, but Congress
> is empowered to remedy this sort of thing by legislation.
> 
> And Congress should do just that: pass a law to prohibit the vice
> president from exercising executive power. Extensive vice presidential
> involvement in the executive branch — the role enjoyed by Dick Cheney
> and Al Gore — is not only unconstitutional, but also a bad idea.
> 
> The most important function of a vice president is to serve as a spare
> president. Using the spare president in the ordinary course of
> business is as unwise as driving on one's spare tire. Spares should be
> kept pristine, for when they are really needed.
> 
> If the president resigns or is removed from office, a vice president
> who has been involved in the activities of the executive branch is
> also likely to be at risk for impeachment. Just as important, a vice
> president who is enmeshed in the affairs of the president cannot offer
> a fresh start for the executive branch.
> 
> The joke may turn out to be on Mr. Biden, who upbraided Ms. Palin for
> her reading of the Constitution. Presumably Mr. Biden thinks Barack
> Obama chose him for the same reason that George W. Bush chose Mr.
> Cheney, as a way of making up for a lack of experience in foreign
> affairs. Mr. Bush's choice led him to rely on Mr. Cheney in ways that
> were unprecedented — and unconstitutional.
> 
> Let's hope Mr. Obama disappoints Mr. Biden. The Constitution and the
> best interests of the country suggest that the best place for the vice
> president is in the Senate.
> 
> Glenn Harlan Reynolds is a professor of law at the University of
> Tennessee.
> 
> 
> On Mon, Oct 27, 2008 at 6:03 PM, Ben Cittadino <bcittadino at dcs-law.com>
> wrote:
>>
>> Bill;
>>
>> Remember, Stevens was not convicted of bribery.  The prosecutors were
>> smart
>> enough not to over-reach or over-charge. He was convicted of violating a
>> disclosure law which is much easier to prove.  Everybody and their
>> brother
>> seems to know about Obama's dealings with Rezko so I really don't know if
>> he
>> has the same non-disclosure problem as Stevens.
>>
>> If Obama were convicted of a crime, we would run into the same issues we
>> ran
>> into with Clinton (and Nixon for that matter). Impeachment (which is only
>> the charge, like an "indictment") is permitted only for "high crimes and
>> misdemeanors" and they are whatever the House of Reps says they are.
>> Conviction in the Senate would mean removal from office. Then Joe Biden
>> would take over. No worries.
>>
>> Best;
>>
>> Ben C.
>>
>>
>>
>> Bill Effros wrote:
>>>
>>> Ben,
>>>
>>> Stevens was convicted of doing exactly the same thing Obama did.
>>>
>>> Obama's house was not purchased by Obama, it was purchased by convicted
>>> political briber Antoin "My Political Godfather" Rezko and deposited
>>> into an "Illinois Land Trust" that named Obama as the beneficiary.
>>>
>>> Obama then took the house and grounds out of the trust, and claimed to
>>> have purchased them for 1/2 the asking price (in a rising market)
>>> leaving Rezko (who was simultaneously filing for bankruptcy) as the
>>> owner of record of a plot of land with no street access that was not
>>> buildable.
>>>
>>> Rezko is talking to the feds, the same way Steven's fixer, Allen, talked
>>> to the feds to get a reduced sentence.
>>>
>>> Seems to me political bribery is automatic Presidential impeachment
>>> according to the constitution.  Do I have that right?
>>>
>>> Bill Effros
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Ben Cittadino wrote:
>>>> This is important.  He will almost certainly not be re-elected this Nov
>>>> 4,
>>>> which will provide an opportunity another pro-Obama vote in the Senate
>>>> next
>>>> year. Talk about a bridge to nowhere.....
>>>>
>>>> Ben C.
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> __________________________________________________
>>> To subscribe/unsubscribe or for help with using the mailing list go to
>>> http://www.rhodes22.org/list
>>> __________________________________________________
>>>
>>>
>>
>> --
>> View this message in context:
>> http://www.nabble.com/POLITICAL%3A-FLASH-Ted-Stevens-Convicted--tp20196211p20198297.html
>> Sent from the Rhodes 22 mailing list archive at Nabble.com.
>>
>> __________________________________________________
>> To subscribe/unsubscribe or for help with using the mailing list go to
>> http://www.rhodes22.org/list
>> __________________________________________________
>>
> 
> __________________________________________________
> To subscribe/unsubscribe or for help with using the mailing list go to
> http://www.rhodes22.org/list
> __________________________________________________
> 
> 

-- 
View this message in context: http://www.nabble.com/POLITICAL%3A-FLASH-Ted-Stevens-Convicted--tp20196211p20199412.html
Sent from the Rhodes 22 mailing list archive at Nabble.com.