The eligibility line of succession

I think it’s safe to say I have been ahead of the curve on the issue of Barack Obama’s eligibility.

In the interests of staying there, I think it’s time to talk about what happens if Obama continues to refuse the rising chorus of calls for him to prove his eligibility – or, if he is found to be outright ineligible.

As usual, the geniuses who crafted our Constitution have already thought this through and made provisions for a time such as this.

First of all, Article 2, Section 1 explains who is eligible for the job: “No person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty-five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States.”

And if the person is found not to be eligible?

Amendment 20, Section 3 applies: “If, at the time fixed for the beginning of the term of the President, the President elect shall have died, the Vice President elect shall become President. 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.”

But what if the vice president knew about the fraud perpetrated on the American people and the Constitution through the illegal assumption of office by an unqualified president?

Think about this: Do you believe Joe Biden actually believed Barack Obama was constitutionally eligible? Biden was the man who joked about Dick Cheney leaving a copy of Obama’s birth certificate in his drawer. If Biden was part of the conspiracy, the next in line for the job is Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.

But we know there is a problem with Pelosi’s complicity. After all, she was one of the few people who swore an oath affirming Obama was constitutionally eligible for the job. Did you know that?

She did so on behalf of the Democratic National Committee Aug. 28, 2008, in Denver, Colo., following the convention.

Image courtesy Count Us Out

 

So who’s next?

Next in line would be Senate Pro Tempore Robert Byrd. And that’s how quickly we could go from the first black president to the first Klansman president.

I don’t suggest Byrd was aware of the questions surrounding Obama’s eligibility, but, if he had his wits about him, he should have been. Byrd touts himself as a constitutional expert – and some of his colleagues in the Senate actually take that self-description seriously. Did Byrd decide to look the other way?

If he did, the next in line is none other than Hillary Clinton, the secretary of state.

No, I don’t suggest to you the prospects for a transition are very bright, given the line of succession. But, no matter who succeeds Obama, I think it’s safe to say the Democratic Party would have an uphill fight keeping the presidency in 2012 – and maybe even the Congress, if it’s not lost in 2010.

Am I dreaming?

Maybe, but this is a column I could not have imagined writing even two or three months ago.

The wind is shifting. The campaigns to bring the question of eligibility to the awareness of the American people has been successful. It’s no longer impossible to imagine that Obama could be forced from the office he illegitimately assumed Jan. 20.

What do I mean he illegitimately assumed office?

He did so with no intent on proving he was qualified. He still has no intention of doing so. If we had a Congress and a Supreme Court with guts and convictions and believed in the oaths they swore to uphold and defend the Constitution, Obama would already be out on his ear.

I’ve said all along the only way to ensure the Constitution is respected now is through the people demanding it. We are a lot closer to that consensus today than we were a few weeks ago.

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