Listen up, you Pocket Constitution, Tea Party, Birther types (and you know who you are)…
There is a brand new local host on at KKFT-FM in Nevada named Sean Patrick and he’s trying to be one of you – I bumped into his show because someone reported Laura Ingraham is not on the air any more.
He was spinning this line of thought – which I’ve heard elsewhere (Bill Cunningham and Rusty Humphries come to mind, maybe Sean Hannity)…. it goes like this:
– Barack Obama was born in Kenya or otherwise is not eligible to be President
– Once Donald Trump and Jerome Corsi prove that, Barack Obama will have to step down
– We’ll also kick out Joe Biden for something
– John Boener becomes President
– Every law that Barack Obama signed will be ruled null and void by the courts.
This was so stupid I almost called him, but I’m busy doing other things as you might guess…
Let’s assume for the sake of argument that the first four things all happened
A President does not have to sign laws for them to become the law!…. if that was the case, President Bush could have refused to sign everything the Democrats passed and keep it from becoming a law.
From Article I, section 7 in your Pocket Constitution
Every Bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate, shall, before it become a Law, be presented to the President of the United States; If he approve he shall sign it, but if not he shall return it, with his Objections to that House in which it shall have originated, who shall enter the Objections at large on their Journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If after such Reconsideration two thirds of that House shall agree to pass the Bill, it shall be sent, together with the Objections, to the other House, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if approved by two thirds of that House, it shall become a Law. But in all such Cases the Votes of both Houses shall be determined by Yeas and Nays, and the Names of the Persons voting for and against the Bill shall be entered on the Journal of each House respectively. If any Bill shall not be returned by the President within ten Days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the Same shall be a Law, in like Manner as if he had signed it, unless the Congress by their Adjournment prevent its Return, in which Case it shall not be a Law.
That last clause is the “Pocket Veto” provision which only applies when Congress adjourns and the President wanted to veto a bill. If Congress isn’t in session, the Veto is automatic since Congress isn’t there to override his veto. Had President Obama been in Hawaii on the beach for the entire first two years and never visited D.C. everything Congress passed would still be a valid law.
There is no provision in the Constitution for removing a President because Donald Trump stamps his feet and waves a Kenyan birth certificate in the air. The process for removal of the President requires an impeachment by the Senate (and a trial in the house) which will never happen.
Even if the Supreme Court decided to invent some new legal theory that allowed them to unilaterally remove the President, can you begin to imagine what the people who voted for Obama would do in response?
