From The Nation 2006 - Bush Postpones 2008 Election

[Bob Hubbard]

While posted (I think) as humor, some of the comments and characterizations seem pretty spot on given many of the actions of those named in the intervening time period.

Here' my questions: Can he do it, would it stand, and what could we do should it be tried?

posted July 31, 2006 (August 14, 2006 issue)
Bush Postpones 2008 Election

Cites Constitutional Power to Protect Nation's Security
What Did 'Four Years' Mean in 1789?
WASHINGTON, June 21, 2008. President Bush, citing his authority as Commander in Chief of the armed forces and his inherent constitutional power over foreign affairs, today ordered a postponement of the 2008 presidential election in order "to protect the American people in our war on terror."

Full article http://www.thenation.com/doc/20060814/gillers

 

[jks9199]

Don't think it's possible in any significant way.

The XXth Amendment specifies that the President's term of office shall begin and end on the 20th day of January. However, interestingly enough, the Constitution and its Amendments seem to leave the timing of the election up to the Congress.

I'm pretty confident that it's absolutely impossible under the proffered justification (power as commander-in-chief)... that would only apply to the military.

 

[grydth]

I think this article was some pretty well done humor - but only that.

Conservatives seriously told me in 2000 that Bill Clinton would never leave the White House voluntarily, so I'm not terribly surprised to see this suspicion applied toward Bush in 2007.

Let's not forget the nation held elections during the Civil War and World War II.

I would believe that only a scenario like Mars Attacks! where the enemy has vaporized Congress and is destroying the heartland would suffice to delay an election.... and even then, Slim Whitman would save us......

 

[tellner]

He certainly could do it. Between the Bird Flu laws, the Military Commissions Act, the Warner Reauthorization, his executive orders and the Lucky Strike Supreme Court ("so round, so firm, so fully packed") he has the power.

Who would stop him? Congressional Democrats? Not until their balls drop and they grow a spine. Congressional Republicans? Not even.

Would the people rise up? No. If they were going to do that they'd have done it. They're pacified. They're lobotomized. And if you tattoo 9-11 on it they'll let themselves be sodomized and euthanized.

The police? Not even.

The military? There you've come to the rub. Rumor has it that when Nixon's aides floated the idea of a Presidential coup the Joint Chiefs of Staff said they would never go along. The professionalism and apolitical nature of the military is one of the great unspoken checks against executive and legislative power. Unfortunately, we have seen a nearly unprecedented exodus of officers, especially senior officers, from the various branches in the last couple years. Those who remain are more personally loyal to the President than was the case in previous decades. The rise in the use of mercenaries whose loyalty is solely towards their paycheck and their use in civilian situations in this country is troubling.

So he could. Nobody will stop him. We have a pervasive national surveillance network in place, facilities to house large numbers of dissidents, widespread apathy, mercenary troops not subject to the Geneva Convention, Posse Comitatus, the UCMJ, US Law and so on.

Will he suspend elections?

He probably will not.

His core supporters, the very rich, would not be please with the disruptive effect it would have on their investments.

If it's Republican control of the White House that he wants it will be easy enough to repeat the Florida and Ohio vote fraud. An apocryphal saying attributed to Stalin goes "It's not the votes that count. It's who counts the votes."

He might have had some fears of being held accountable for his crimes. That is no longer an issue. Upon assuming the gavels Speaker Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Reid immediately and repeatedly announced that they would never under any circumstances seek impeachment proceedings. Unlike most of their Democratic constituents the DLC hates the idea of important people being subject to the Law.

Most of all, it's not fun anymore. Consider George W. Bush's entire career. He got a cushy (safe) job in the Air National Guard. When he wanted to do other things he didn't even bother to serve out his term. He just went AWOL. We'll leave the discussion of "desertion in time of war" for another time. He was given the Texas Rangers. When he mismanaged them and lost money he bailed getting a premium price bailout for his shares. His daddy gave him an oil company. When he couldn't make money at that he quit, incidentally running it into the hole and getting a bunch of personal loans from the sinking firms. His career as governor made a lot of headlines, but actual results were lackluster.

In short, his pattern has been to quit when a project requires real work and to leave the cleanup to someone else. His approval ratings are worse than Nixon and Truman. The economic and foreign policy chickens are coming home to roost. He's widely hated here and around the world. He's been photographed drinking in public again (beer with German President Merkel). He won't be held accountable. He might have to actually do some work and ride the pipe for his mistakes.

Nope. It's not fun. It's time to bail and let someone else fix his mistakes.

 

[newGuy12]

If it's Republican control of the White House that he wants it will be easy enough to repeat the Florida and Ohio vote fraud. An apocryphal saying attributed to Stalin goes "It's not the votes that count. It's who counts the votes."

Haha, exactly! And as soon as electronic voting becomes widespread enough, it will be A LOT easier to own an election. Haha -- no paper trail! Closed source code. Its over then.

 

[Big Don]

Tellner:How many were arrested for vote fraud in the last two elections?
Or are you just tossing more unsubstantiated condemnations around?
You might google the names Charles Powell, Jr.and Kelvin Ellis...

 

[Big Don]

Oh, don't strain yourself Just click HERE

 

[Big Don]

Or click here
Gee, its funny, the only people actually arrested, much less convicted of voter fraud don't seem to be republicans at all, I know you'll only see that as proof of vile conspiracies, but, try to be more honest than that. Sure, there are a ton of allegations of voter fraud from both sides, but, there are no republicans arrested?

 

[tellner]

Christ on a pogo stick, it was so predictable.

The voter roll purges were specifically, explicitly designed to get Blacks and other people who would vote for Democrats off the rolls. The number of actual voter fraud cases was, according to the FEC, less than a dozen. That doesn't include Ann Coulter who played her get out of jail free card after admitting that she didn't live in the house she registered at.

The owners of the Diebold and Sierra are both "George Bush Rangers" who went on record swearing to deliver the States, particularly Ohio to their Party "by any means necessary".

In every test case where votes on Diebold machines were checked against input the error was always in favor of the Republican slate. Even worse, the IP addresses for the machines that tallied the 2004 Ohio votes were not assigned to the Secretary of State's office. They were assigned to the Republican National Committee.

In Florida Katherine Harris was in charge of voter rolls and counts and saw no conflict between that and her job as a paid campaigner for one of the candidates.

The Republican Party owns the voting machines. They fight tooth and nail to keep anyone from auditing them or exercising independent control.

If that doesn't bother you, particularly if you would be angry if they were owned by Democrats, you are engaging in truly epic hypocrisy.

As for your current tag line - which I notice neither facts, history or logic can shake your iron faith in - it's the Republicans who spent the last ten years pulling Black people off the voting rolls. Actions speak louder than words. We can see who doesn't want them to be citizens in the 21st century.

 

[Big Don]

Funny how the only documented cases of actual voter fraud, (wrong address? give me a break) are committed by democrats. If Diebold and Sierra are so controlled by the republicans, why didn't the GOP retain a one or two vote majority in each house? Shoot, if they are as owned as you claim, there shouldn't have been one democrat winner in 2006.

 

[Big Don]

Supply proof republicans have been rampantly disenfranchising black voters. You make all kinds of fantastic claims, but, you never back up anything.

 

[michaeledward]

Suggestion ... Google "Caging"

 

[Big Don]

Posting a link to back up your argument really isn't that difficult. But, then again, you are liberals...
http://www.tunicatimes.com/default.asp?sourceid=&smenu=1&twindow=Default&mad=No&sdetail=3860&wpage=&skeyword=&sidate=&ccat=&ccatm=&restate=&restatus=&reoption=&retype=&repmin=&repmax=&rebed=&rebath=&subname=&pform=&sc=1018&hn=tunicatimes&he=.com
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/10/27/BABMT23D2.DTL
http://wfmz.com/view/?id=107279

 

[crushing]

He's been photographed drinking in public again (beer with German President Merkel).

Oh no! Not the ol' non-alcoholic Buckler beer coming to surface again! Oh the shame, the humanity! Impeach Bush! Impeach Bush! Impeach Bush! Impeach Bush!

 

[Bob Hubbard]

Sigh.
It was a Republican president who waged an illegal war, who issued a proclaimation freeing sslave in a foriegn nation (yet none in his own), who turned his own army against his own nation, and who had those who argued against him exiled. But that's over 100 years ago.
(and every bit of what I just said is verifiable, and has been discussed to death here, in the past).

Tellner's comments are spot on, and also were discussed to death in 2005.

Additionally, several states are actively stopping or radically modifying their use of those same machines for the 2008 election, a fact that has a number of "important" people rather upset.
Here's 2 links to start with. I'm sure they lead to many others

Ohio's Alternative to Diebold Machines May Be Equally Bad
December 29th, 2007 with 169 comments

Florida Election Ballots to be Printed On-Demand
December 29th, 2007 with 142 comments


As to Liberal....I'm somewhere between Libertarian and Green on the map.

 

[Big Don]

So is it that republicans are so smart they never get caught/convicted. If the republicans are smart enough to cheat and win without being caught, why do democrats control both houses of congress? You'd think anyone ambitious enough to cheat wouldn't lose both the house and the senate...
Or is it that the democrats are so stupid they get caught frequently?

 

[Bob Hubbard]

The democratic party hasn't really -stood- for anything in years, while the repulicans have been much more consistant. Consistancy has it's benefits, such as allowing your campaign head to count the votes and get away with it. Personally, I think the Bush administraton should be brought up in an international court on war crimes, but that's just my opinion.

As to the OP, mylong standing concern is exactly this senario. Under the excuse of "security" the election or the transfer of power is 'postponed' until the crisis is past. Not because GW Bush wants it though, because the power elite he is surrounded with want their financial gravy to continue. They've been crapping on the Constitution for 7 years now, what's a few more?

 

[tellner]

Welcome to Don's world. There are only two flavors - G-d vs. Devil, White vs. Black, Me vs. you, Conservative vs. liberal. You have to choose one brand and completely and without restraint. If you choose the right one you're Good. If you disagree even a little you are Evil, and everything you do is terribly, corrupt, dangerous and Bad. That's been his position on every single issue so far. It's impossible for people like him to do or be anything bad. It is impossible for anyone else to do or be anything good.

As for the Democrats? They'd need a spine to stand for anything. Their leadership gave it away years ago.

Me? I register Independent and vote Progressive. And I consider anyone who votes the Party Line - anyone's Party Line - to be an abject coward who has betrayed the duties of citizenship by turning off his or her brain.

 

[Big Don]

Welcome to Don's world. There are only two flavors - G-d vs. Devil, White vs. Black, Me vs. you, Conservative vs. liberal. You have to choose one brand and completely and without restraint. If you choose the right one you're Good. If you disagree even a little you are Evil, and everything you do is terribly, corrupt, dangerous and Bad. That's been his position on every single issue so far. It's impossible for people like him to do or be anything bad. It is impossible for anyone else to do or be anything good.

As for the Democrats? They'd need a spine to stand for anything. Their leadership gave it away years ago.

Me? I register Independent and vote Progressive. And I consider anyone who votes the Party Line - anyone's Party Line - to be an abject coward who has betrayed the duties of citizenship by turning off his or her brain.

That is the response garnered by asking you to back up your allegations and accusations?

 

[Ray]

The voter roll purges were specifically, explicitly designed to get Blacks and other people who would vote for Democrats off the rolls.

Wow. What's a stereotype?