In Honor of Tonight's Episode of 24
A Potentially Relevant Provision
By Dan McLaughlin Posted in Hollywood — Comments (18) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
I present to you a provision of our Constitution:
Section 4 of the Twenty-Fifth Amendment:
Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President.
Thereafter, when the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration that no inability exists, he shall resume the powers and duties of his office unless the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive department or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit within four days to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office. Thereupon Congress shall decide the issue, assembling within forty-eight hours for that purpose if not in session. If the Congress within twenty-one days after receipt of the latter written declaration, or, if Congress is not in session within twenty-one days after Congress is required to assemble, determines by two-thirds vote of both Houses that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall continue to discharge the same as Acting President; otherwise, the President shall resume the powers and duties of his office.
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In Honor of Tonight's Episode of 24 18 Comments (0 topical, 18 editorial, 0 hidden) Post a comment »
I love 24, but this season has killed me... Most unrealistic thing 24 has given us? Maybe...
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I have watched the show from the get go but Star Wars is more based in fact than this thing.
For example...
A character gets a hole drilled into his shoulder and is back at work typing away in less than two hours (this season). Jack has a heart attack (couple seasons back) and is back jumping bad guys in less than two hours. Jack calls back to CTU and gets complete building plans wirelessly downloaded to his PDA in less than 15 minutes (every season). Any number of characters get satellites moved in less than an hour and the get real time video streamed to a laptop (every season).
And the completely over the top thing that REALLY TRULY NEVER happens is everything is a 20 minute of less drive away from everything else in Los Angeles (every episode).
Waking up a comatose president to stop a nuke strike at the last second is probably the most believable thing they have ever done.
Loyalty to the country always. Loyalty to the government when it deserves it.
Mark Twain
in order to have him stop WWIII is rather "out there". Has 24 jumped the shark this year? I'm beginning to think they're coming very close...
President Jellyfish is back.
and of course, we can't offend the perpetually offended, so Nadia's innocent (though I like Nadia, if they were going to implicate her, it should have been right)
After last week's episode when some here were crowing the 'I told you so' about Nadia I suggested Doyle might be the mole. There are some issues between Doyle and the other guy in that unit. We could see a dark side of Doyle coming out in future episodes.
You’re a persistent cuss, pilgrim.
John Wayne to Jimmy Stewart in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
Nadia is innocent. It's possible that "finding the tap" was engineered to protect such a valuable source inside CTU.
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“The trouble with our liberal friends is not that they're ignorant; it's just that they know so much that isn't so.” – Ronald Reagan
How can the President all of a sudden just take back the helm?
So after watching 24 I of course went on Google to see if the Vice-President "could do that." And I find a path that leads to RedState. Very clever guys..
The best show to come on tv in the last 5 years has been Rome on HBO. Nothing better than watching a guy ask if he can have your peaches before he stabs you in the neck.
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"Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it."
-Thomas Paine: The American Crisis, No. 4, 1777
This season... it's one thing to be "out there" it's another to go completely daft. This season may lack the most internal logic of any "24" season.
I guess my first inquiry stems from not knowing the details. Does the VP need to take the Oath of Office - be sworn in - to discharge the duties of the president? ie. can the VP order a military strike or worse without having taken the Oath. VP Daniels was never shown being sworn in to the Office. What authority does he actually have (at least, would have in the real world)? Why wouldn't VP Daniels and members of the Cabinet notify Congress and have Daniels sworn in immediately, once Pres. Palmer was incapacitated? No one had any reason to expect Palmer to regain conscientiousness, in fact, there was more reason to suspect he would remain comatose or even die.
Another example of poor logic that has bugged me this season, is why Palmer didn't declare martial law after the nuke detonated. Wouldn't that be the most basic and immediate response to a nuclear bomb?
R.J.
if the VP as Acting President would need to take the oath (probably, but there's no reason to assume, if that's the case, that he didn't and it just wasn't shown) rather than actually assuming the office. and I'm not sure how much difference there was in the circumstances between Logan and Daniels taking power (eg, the condition of POTUS and likelihood of recovey).
why would Palmer have imposed martial law when every other decision he's made today has been weak and impotent and stupid (working with Assad excepted, though many disagree with me on that point)? not doing the smart thing is totally in character for Jellyfish.
I suppose a reasonable argument could be made that they don't need to take the oath, as the VP and anyone else serving as Acting POTUS has already taken an oath of office (which, if not identical to the presidential oath, is pretty close). In other words, if they're just serving as acting POTUS, it might make sense that they don't have a Presidential swearing-in.
Reads more like the back of a used car purchase contract. I am not surprised. As for you dips above who think parts of 24 are unbelievable, just what parts do you find BElievable? What part is supposed to be BElievable? It is less BElievable than Star Trek? Now there is a bit of reality to benchmark against. Guys,IT IS A TV SHOW. Sheeeeesh.
Envisioning when all that is Left is the Right.
Why so much over analyzing? Sit back, enjoy the show; the twists, the turns, and 'interrogations' by Jack.
Geeeezzz.
...but could someone explain to me how a wishy-washy, bleeding-heart liberal and a callous, bloodthirsty sociopath end up on the same ticket?
I love 24, but this season has killed me... Most unrealistic thing 24 has given us? Maybe...