Thursday, October 28, 2004

More Constitutional Loopholes

And I thought the Electoral College was a disconcerting election loophole in the Constitution. Unfortunately, the Electoral College only paves the way for the will of the majority to be subverted in the democratic process. Here, Slate explains a far more frightening loophole in our Constitution that makes it theoretically possible for George W. Bush to, on his own and entirely legally, assure his second term. Sure, things have to line up just right for it to happen, but the scary thing is that there aren't that many things to line up for it to happen:

1. Chief Justice Rehnquist becomes permanently incapacitated by the condition which currently has him recouperating in the hospital.
2. President Bush uses his Constitutionally-granted authority to make recess appointments to name a replacement to the bench while the legislature is in recess. Per the Constitution, whomever Bush appoints stays in at least until the Senate reconvenes in January.
3. In Florida II, contentious elections get thrown toward the Supreme Court again.
4. The Supreme Court, now with one Justice who is there on the sole authority of one of the candidates, takes the case up.
5. The Court, except for the new Justice, splits 4-4 on the decision, and the newly appointed Justice, having been chosen by Bush, is the tiebreaker for Bush.

Believe it or not, the weak links in this chain of events are steps 1 and 4: whether Rehnquist recovers from his thyroid cancer surgery and the Court decides to get involved again. Another Slate article here explains why the Supreme Court, with or without Rehnquist, will probably be reluctant to decide another election.

1 comment:

Naked Girls said...

first of all it seems too much hypothetical. second of all Rehnquist would most probably vote for Bush as he did in 2000, so nothing would change! Seems to me that Ohio could be disputed this time. Gallup says that Bush has almost a 10-point lead in FL, though Zogby reports a dead heat!! I dont know which poll is reliable.