Bryson Crash Reveals Threat of Headless Government 308
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by
Soulskill
from the not-that-they-use-their-heads-much-anyway dept.
from the not-that-they-use-their-heads-much-anyway dept.
Hugh Pickens writes "According to Business Week, the traffic accident that left U.S. Commerce Secretary John Bryson unconscious and alone in his bashed-up Lexus on June 9 raises questions about why the 10th official in line to succeed the president was left so vulnerable. It also highlights potential gaps in security for senior U.S. government officials, who receive varying levels of protection. 'They lost track of him,' says James Carafano, a terrorism scholar at the Heritage Foundation. 'Post 9/11, that's a bit of a head scratcher.' Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who are high in the line of succession and have national-security responsibilities, are provided protection 24 hours a day, seven days a week, but other federal officials, even in cabinet-level positions or other top posts, often travel without the security details that even a big-city mayor or state governor would be provided. Threats to cabinet-level officials aren't overblown, says Norman Ornstein, a congressional scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, who has urged that the government revamp its succession plans and says a nuclear bomb hidden in a suitcase detonated in Washington could leave a headless government. 'The lack of interest in continuity may stem from the same reasons some smart people refuse to create wills, even though failure to do so leaves behind horrific messes for their loved ones,' writes Ornstein. 'Yet the threat is real. Our leaders' failure to establish plans to ensure that our Constitution survives is irresponsible.'"
lose track of all of them (Score:2, Interesting)
We would be better off if we could lose track of all those in line to succeed the president, and the president himself too.
And, all the congress critters.
And, the corrupt supreme court.
Time to refactor our government. Bonus, if it can be done without bloodshed.
Reminds me of "Debt of Honour" (Score:5, Interesting)
A book by Tom Clancy, from well before 9/11, which involved most of the US government being wiped out when a plane is crashed into the capitol building during a ceremony that put almost the entire legislative and executive branches in the same building. Was sort of interesting (horrifying?) to see that sort of attack played out a few years later, albeit without the coordination to hit that much of our government in one swoop.
Google Maps Coordinate (Score:4, Interesting)
If they'd had Google Maps Coordinate [slashdot.org] this wouldn't have happened.
Suitcase? Mice Nuts! (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Really 10th in line? (Score:5, Interesting)
During the State of the Union address there is always at least one official fairly high in the line of succession who does not attend the speech and stays in an undisclosed location specifically because of this issue.
Re:Really 10th in line? (Score:5, Interesting)
I remember reading (Apocryphal story alert.) that the Postmaster General (or Secretary of Veterans Affairs) was usually selected for this job, and they loved it. Usually it was an excuse to have a nice party offsite for the staff, but occasionally it meant a trip on Air Force One.
Re:Problem isn't that the Secretary of Transportat (Score:2, Interesting)
You really don't get out of your mother's basement much, do you?
There are neighborhoods in every major city where idiots with guns could, and would, threaten local civial authority without that protection, even at peacable speeches. They don't bring the guards all the time, but whack jobs with agendas happen at lots of big speeches, and a few guards to help make sure the doors open when they should and the person can get to their transportation without being tripped or shot with a tasser by a nut is basic security for any major public figure.
Members not seats (Score:4, Interesting)
From the article;
Each house needs half of its members to be present for a quorum to do any official business. The House of Representatives can replace deceased members only by special elections that take, on average, four months. The Senate, under the 17th Amendment, allows states (usually governors) to appoint replacements to fill vacancies, but neither house has a mechanism for replacing incapacitated members.
Members do not need to be replaced. Here is a quote from the Office of the Clerk of the US House of Representatives [house.gov].
A quorum in the House of Representatives is when a majority of the Members are present. When there are no vacancies in the membership, a quorum is 218. When one or more seats are vacant, because of deaths or resignations, the quorum is reduced accordingly. Because of Members' other duties, a quorum often is not present on the House floor. But any Member may insist that a quorum must participate in any vote that takes place in the House. If a Member makes a point of order that a quorum is not present, and the Speaker agrees, a series of bells ring on the House side of the Capitol and in the House office buildings to alert Members to come to the Chamber and record their presence.
Here are a few points that are important;
1. Quorum is calculated relative to the number of sitting live Representatives and not the number of seats. A dead Representative is considered a vacancy and is not counted toward quorum. If all but three of the Representatives were killed than 2 would constitute a quorum.
2. Quorum does not need to be present for a vote unless at least one Representative asks for one. In an emergency I doubt and Representative would make such a request.
3. As for incapacitated members, the House can declare a seat vacant by vote (Note: Unless a member requests a quorum is not required for a vote).
The same standards are present for the Senate [senate.gov].
A straightforward reading of the Constitution’s quorum requirement would seem to require a simple majority of Senators, or a minimum of 51 if there are no vacancies in the body, to be present on the floor whenever the Senate conducts business.
As the House and Senate would still be functioning after such a disaster, the House could elect a Speaker or the Senate elect a President pro tempore and the line of succession would be restored.
The article misrepresents the quorum issue. Basically, as long as there is one member of the House or Senate alive and not incapacitated an acting President will be legally found.
Just Some More Bullshit (Score:2, Interesting)
So what if the "10th in line of succession" has a seizure and his bodyguards lose him? So what? There are 9 other people before he matters to more than his family and his next morning's Commerce meeting. If those 9 are all out, then there's an 11th. There's an Acting Commerce Secretary. Who cares?
This is all bullshit. You can tell, because the bullshit is pushed by James Carafano [wikipedia.org], who wrote _Winning the Long War_ about how to defeat terrorism - and has helped the US get beaten by terrorism like nothing in our centuries of endless war. I argued with this jerkoff in a lobby of an NYC theater where he'd spent the previous two hours spouting bullshit about the US spending every last penny and life fighting his bullshit "long war". And he's done nothing but lose.
America is drowning in bullshit like this. Endless bullshit from a line of bullshitters like Carafano that's endless only because they get right back in line after bullshitting us and collecting their check.
This is a democracy. It depends on people swallowing this bullshit to keep the bullshit flowing. Stop believing it. Stop the endless war, the endless excuses for treating the country like it has to be at war every second of every day, every man, woman and child. Stop it already. It's bullshit.