Friday, June 04, 2004
The Drudgery of Selective Vision
Since he just can't leave Clinton's cock alone, Matt Drudge can't help but tossing up the headline indicating that Bill Clinton is a contender to be Kerry's running mate. He makes his motive obvious, though, in following this up with a quote from the Constitution (Amendment XII), "...But no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States."
Now, honestly, there are a whole bunch of reasons Kerry wouldn't offer the VP slot to Bill Clinton, and a lot more reasons Clinton would not accept. So all Drudge is doing is trying to wave a red flag at the conservatives, as if to say, "Ooh, look. Slick Willy is still evil."
Putting aside the little detail that Dick Cheney was an illegal running mate, by virtue of actually being a resident of the same state as W, let's take a look at Drudge's claim. Is Bill Clinton "constitutionally ineligible to the office of President"?
Actually, no. And that's not despite the 22nd Amendment. It's because of it. Here's what it says:
So -- is Bill Clinton ineligible to the office of President? Not if he becomes President by virtue of succession. Or, in other words, he could legally become President if he were elected Vice President and then had to replace the Prez; ergo, per the Constitution, while he cannot run for President again, there is no bar to his running for Vice President. Note that the 12th Amendment does not say "inelegible to be elected". It just says ineligible. That makes all the difference, doesn't it?
Of course, to prove that this is a double-edged sword, since W was not elected the first time around, he could theoretically run again in 2008 if, all the gods forbid, he finally is elected for the first time in 2004. But don't tell them I said that. Let's let the Republicans think presidential term limits apply.
Although, given the latest polls and the "one disaster after another" modus of the current Administration, I think W is going to experience the same term limits his father did -- a pissed-off electorate.
Now, honestly, there are a whole bunch of reasons Kerry wouldn't offer the VP slot to Bill Clinton, and a lot more reasons Clinton would not accept. So all Drudge is doing is trying to wave a red flag at the conservatives, as if to say, "Ooh, look. Slick Willy is still evil."
Putting aside the little detail that Dick Cheney was an illegal running mate, by virtue of actually being a resident of the same state as W, let's take a look at Drudge's claim. Is Bill Clinton "constitutionally ineligible to the office of President"?
Actually, no. And that's not despite the 22nd Amendment. It's because of it. Here's what it says:
No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once.(Emphasis added.)
So -- is Bill Clinton ineligible to the office of President? Not if he becomes President by virtue of succession. Or, in other words, he could legally become President if he were elected Vice President and then had to replace the Prez; ergo, per the Constitution, while he cannot run for President again, there is no bar to his running for Vice President. Note that the 12th Amendment does not say "inelegible to be elected". It just says ineligible. That makes all the difference, doesn't it?
Of course, to prove that this is a double-edged sword, since W was not elected the first time around, he could theoretically run again in 2008 if, all the gods forbid, he finally is elected for the first time in 2004. But don't tell them I said that. Let's let the Republicans think presidential term limits apply.
Although, given the latest polls and the "one disaster after another" modus of the current Administration, I think W is going to experience the same term limits his father did -- a pissed-off electorate.
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