The Daily Dish | By Andrew Sullivan

« Blacks vs Gays | Main | The View From Your Window »

The Constitution and Cheney

10 Feb 2007 08:49 am

Sandy Levinson wonders whether there is anything to be done about the risk of Dick Cheney becoming president.

Should our defective Constitution be amended to allow the removal of a vice president whenever, in the opinion of Congress, (s)he has demonstrated good cause for doubt about the capacity to fill the Oval Office? Many persons have attacked my argument for bounding a President on a "no-confidence" vote because, among other things, it would be destabilizing. I disagree, but reasonable arguments can be found on both sides. Why would any serious person, though, believe that it would be destabilizing to bounce a demented, delusional, quasi-fascistic vice-president whose habitation of the White House and gain of the vast powers of the presidency with regard to foreign policy and military affairs would quite literally threaten us all?

A more salient question is: what would be the real difference in policy between Dick Cheney being vice-president as he now is and his formally occupying the Oval Office? We may have to wait for history to tell us.

Permalink :: Trackback (0) :: Sphere It!

TrackBack URL for this entry:

http://www.typepad.com/t/trackback/2224950/16030844

Listed below are links to weblogs that reference 'The Constitution and Cheney'

Patrick Appel

Does Bush Believe McCain Was Tortured?
According to the Bush administration's definition of torture, McCain was not tortured.
Swift-boat? Moi?
It's worth noting that pursuing the cross-in-the-dirt evangelical parable as it might have happened to McCain is in no way impugning anyone's war record. No one is disputing in any way what McCain did in Vietnam, his heroism, his sacrifice or any jot and tittle of his combat in arms and time in captivity.
The Dirt In The Cross Story, Ctd
There is no way to know for sure what happened between two people in a prison camp in an incident to which no one else was a witness more than a quarter century ago. But when a candidate tells a story that doesn't really add up with his previous accounts, and when he runs a campaign ad whose imagery is closer to someone else's account than his own, when a life changing moment is forgotten for a quarter of a century until a critical campaign when an appeal to conservative Christians was vital, the question is worth fleshing out.
Responding To K-Lo
Her vision necessitates marginalization and second class citizenship. And she and others on her side of the debate need to acknowledge it as such and own it.
Did McCain Just Pop Off?
Is this a calculated attempt to make media bias an issue for the Obama campaign alone, while it is a matter of record that very very few politicians have cultivated the press as assiduously as McCain? Or is it just the senator blowing a fuse because someone accused him of cheating when he didn't (but could have)? Either way, it's awfully defensive and prickly.

The Conservative Soul: How We Lost It, How to Get It Back
Buy The Book (Amazon) Buy The Book (Barnes and Noble) The CSPAN Brian Lamb Interview

Essays	Archive
Why Not Seeing is Believing Green Conservatism The End of Gay Culture Debate with Sam Harris Goodbye to All That	Aug 17 - Aug 23 (171) Aug 10 - Aug 16 (273) Aug 03 - Aug 09 (223) Jul 27 - Aug 02 (261) Jul 20 - Jul 26 (248) Jul 13 - Jul 19 (248) Complete Archive