No matter what, unless things get “extrajudicial”, at noon today the presidential term of Barack Obama and Joe Biden ends. It doesn’t matter if North Korea launches a nuclear ICBM at the country or a million protesters storm the capitol building. The terms of the current president and vice president end at noon.
The president elect Donald J Trump becomes the president at noon. The oath of office is a formality before he can take any official actions as president, but he WILL become the president at noon no matter what.
On January 6 2016′ Congress reviewed the votes of the electors and certified that Donald J Trump IS the president elect. Joe Biden clarified it for anybody who still is unclear – “it is over”. From that moment, he and Mike Pence are under the control of the constitutional rules of succession, and the supporting federal laws.
If Donald J Trump dies before noon, Vice President elect Mike Pence becomes president elect, and he becomes president at noon. If Donald Trump is injured but not killed, The 25th Amendment is in full force. Vice President Pence would declare President Trump is unable to perform his duties as president and Mike Pence would become acting president. He would remain acting president with all of the legal authority of president until either Donald Trump declares “i’m OK, I will take the helm now” or the vice President and a majority of the senior cabinet agree that the situation is hopeless. In that case, the issue is sent to Congress within 48 hours and two thirds of both houses would have to agree that Donald Trump is unable to carry out the duties of president and Mike Pence becomes the permanent president instead of the acting president. In the absence of that, Mike Pence remains acting president.
There are several dangers here if you want to explore the worst case scenarios like Alex Jones likes to fret about. Mike Pence will take the oath of office first, effectively becoming the vice president exactly at noon. If something happens to Donald Trump and also happens to Mike Pence, then the law of succession kicks in.
Given what happened at the The Deporaball last night, I think the safety of the two man is more important than the pageantry of the TV show. However, not going through with the TV show would communicate weakness, and you do not want to show weakness when a bear is charging at you.
I would be completely comfortable with Mike Pence taking the oath of office at 11:30 or earlier, excusing himself, hopping on the presidential helicopter and flying to Andrews Air Force Base, and hopping on Air Force two to go to an undisclosed location. That mitigates most of the scenarios that which would create a very bad outcome, while still maintaining the pageantry of the presidential swearing in ceremony.
So keep your fingers crossed and whatever you do to makes you believe that some force is protecting us from evil. I would have no problem if at 12:01 PM agents of the US government arrested George Soros. He is the seditious and needs to be stopped. It’s time to find out who is on the wrong side. 1918 could result in the white Russians (us) being chased out of our country.
Don’t be fooled – during the Vietnam war, the peace activist of the left wore machine gun belts as part of their political statements. They do not hate guns. They hate you having guns. Fidel Castro loved showing off his power with his guns.
It is 1000 times easier to destroy a society than to build one. Our increasing dependence on electricity and technology just makes us that more vulnerable. In 2003, a single tree falling on a powerline sent a large portion of the north east United States into a complete electrical blackout for days. That was an accident.
A large number of people working together in a coordinated way could do a lot of harm in a short period of time, especially if The forces in place to protect the country did not intercede.
So stay alert, don’t do anything stupid, but don’t be like the people on the beach on Christmas Day watching the tsunami wave approaching and think that you are just watching a TV show, until you realize that it is too late to run.
I really really hope that I am overly pessimistic and overreacting.
Just a reminder that we already picked out our meeting spot if we get separated and anyone wants to find each other. Since I forgot where the place was, a baseball bat statue in Louisville Kentucky in front of the slugger museum is the location. Sorry for the last-minute change if you were already on the way
The New York Times has filled in several important answers about the worst worst case scenarios
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/19/us/trump-cabinet-picks-inauguration.html
In the “debt of honor” scenario where everyone at the capitol is killed at the same time, The president would be the most senior member of the cabinet. Only two members of Trump’s cabinet have cleared the confirmation hearings and are ready to be sworn in. They are James Kelly head of the department of homeland security, and James “mad dog” Maddis, Secretary of Defense.
At noon, all of the members of Barack Obama’s cabinet cease to be cabinet members. President Obama has invoked the continuity of government (COG) provisions Alex Jones has been warning about for weeks.
President Obama has named “temporary” appointments to fill the positions not yet through the nomination process. John Kerry will not be Secretary of State after Noon. Secretary of state is the most senior member of the cabinet for succession purposes. Barack Obama’s temporary secretary of state is Thomas A. Shannon Jr. I do not know if a lower ranking Trump appointee outranks a temporary Obama appointee.
Mr. Shannon is a lifetime state department career officer and strikes me as not a dangerous person in the event that he became an accidental president
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_A._Shannon_Jr.
Hold on tight – we are starting to climb the lift hill. Remember to keep your hands inside the cars at all times and do not stand up.
kentucky. good choice.
I hear they have good fried chicken there.
Wheeeee! The first drop is the most fun
Last Breakfast under Obama
interesting cutlery … but where’s the spork? you know, for the mashed potatoes.
They are instant, by the way – those 99 cent type from Walmart (on sale for $.90) that are actually fairly OK, with a little butter. I have some real potatoes in the refrigerator for special occasions.
I tried using a spork once, but it was made of cornstarch and ground wallboard so i had to thrown them away.
Remind me to tell you the story of how I bought a bag of potatoes once and put them away in the closet, and wondered a yeat later why trees were growing out of the closet.
I have an endless supply of stories – some of them are even true
12:01 pm , Whew !
parrott
dear parrott: well said, friend.
Joe Biden is heading home on Amtrak
dear fred: maybe his plan is to change trains somewhere and head for kentucky.
As Senator, he commuted every weekend to his home in the former slavery state of Delaware. I think you can see Delaware from Pennsylvania on a clear day.
I would not be surprised if Trump hopped on the high speed train bandwagon – just not built by China and negotiating a better deal. Biden would definitely sign on to that.