Sarah Palin INELIGIBLE To Be Vice President...?

[JFN1]

I think it is pretty clear:

Article 2, Section. 4.

The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.

It seems that Sarah Palin, having been found to have VIOLATED STATE LAW, is ineligible to be VP. It is not clear if she has violated criminal law (though I wonder if RICO might eventually apply), it seems clear to me this type of violation of the law classifies as a high crime or misdemeanor, and thus disqualifies her for consideration for the office of Vice President.

[speedoo]

1. Excellent point! nt

[Fridays Child]

6. Your pic has me wondering how Molly would have reacted to Palin.

Whatever she might have said on the subject would have been a beautiful thing to behold.

[speedoo]

10. Yeah, she would have had a lot to say about Palin, for sure. nt

[Jackpine Radical]

2. Wanna bet the Scalia Gang will see it that way?

[renie408]

4. It'll never get that far. n/t

[truthisfreedom]

3. They didn't make it that easy. They specifically state that she didn't violate state law.

I think they wanted her to not be able to get off the hook so easily, and to be stuck as a boat anchor/albatross around John's neck.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=3538696&mesg_id=3538696

[JFN1]

8. They also say she did.

They said the FACT that she fired him is lawfully within her powers as governor, and they said she followed the legal procedures required to fire him, and thus fired him in a lawful way.

But the REASON she fired him violated the Alaska Executive Branch Ethics Act. Don't forget that.

Saying she did some stuff legally is like saying Cheney didn't recklessly endanger the guy he shot in the face, because it was legal for him to own a gun and he discharged the gun where it was legal for him to discharge a gun. He still shot the guy in the face...

[johnnydrama]

11. 100%

The exact same thing in the US Attorney firings, that some people can't or aren't willing to understand.

[Essene]

19. They explicitly DID say she violated state ethics law

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

24. Please read the report. She did violate the law.

[Condem]

5. Keep her in there, JFN1

I'd rather her get buried. Put an end to her career.

[Berry Cool]

7. She hasn't been elected yet, so she can't be removed from office.

So I think saying she's disqualified to even run for election is going a bit far.

To keep her on the ticket, though, speaks volumes about the judgment of the person who put her there to begin with and is keeping her there now. Says a whole lot about the vetting she DIDN'T undergo.

[On the Road]

9. Not At All

It says the VP shall be removed from office "on impeachment for and conviction of...."

No one's impeached her, and can't because she doesn't hold the office.

[greenvpi]

12. She didn't violate the state law

Did you actually read all of the ruling? Maybe you should before spouting uninformed crap. From the document:

"Governor Palin's firing of Commissioner Monegan was a proper and lawful exercie of her constitutional and statutory authority to hire and fire executive branch departmen heads."

She did something ethically wrong, not legally wrong.

[BigAnth]

13. Yes, she did violate state law. Not by firing Monegan, but

by abusing her power as govenrnor by trying to have her ex-BIL fired. "Branchflower said Palin violated a statute of the Alaska Executive Branch Ethics Act." This is a violation of state law.

[pointsoflight]

14. You're wrong here.

Firing Monegan was not against the law, thus the finding the "firing of Commissioner Monegan was proper and lawful." She has the authority to fire Monegan for any reason whatsover. BUT, using her position to try to get the TROOPER fired as a personal vendetta, that's a violation of state law in Alaska and an abuse of power.

There are two separate things being examined here. Did she do anything wrong by firing the commissioner? There, the answer is no because her position allows her to fire Monegan for any reason.

The second issue, though, is did she do anything wrong by using her office to bring pressure to bear and go after her former brother-in-law, the trooper that Monegan was asked to fire. There, they said that she DID violate Alaska law and abused her power.

[Essene]

20. report explicitly said she violated state ethics law

[Higher Standard]

21. She did violate a state law, just not the one you're thinking of

See the responses above mine for that.

[Mz Pip]

15. Inciting hatred

should be included in this.

She's a hate monger and hasn't any business anywhere near DC.

[eyesroll]

16. Sigh.

I haven't read Alaska's constitution. Maybe she committed an impeachable offense for her current position. Dunno.

But Palin is not President, Vice President, or any other "civil officer" of the United States. She has no federal position from which she can be impeached, convicted, and removed.

Plus, remember--even if someone commits an impeachable offense, doesn't mean he or she will be impeached.
Even if someone is impeached, doesn't mean he or she will be convicted. (Remember Clinton?)
Only if convicted will that person be removed from office. (No President has been convicted or removed.)

Nowhere in the U.S. Constitution does it say someone who has committed a crime prior to taking office cannot hold office later. (Some state constitutions do say that, but that only applies to state office.)

Palin is prima facie qualified to be Vice President--she's over 35, and a natural born U.S. citizen who meets residency requirements. That's really all the Constitution requires. Everything else is up to the voters.

[unblock]

17. constitutionally, a finding by a legislative committee is meaningless

were she to become vice president, congress could then impeach and remove her, on that basis or any other, should they be inclined to do so.

[EstimatedProphet]

18. Uh...no

She hasn't been in the VP office yet, therefore she can't be guilty of high crimes and misdemeanors while in the VP office.

[slackmaster]

22. Until there is a conviction, this is no better than people going after Obama's birth certificate

It's just petty mud-slinging. There are much better ways to attack Sarah Palin on real issues that matter to real people.

[jpgray]

23. It will be just as ineffective, but at least this is documented behavior Palin willfully engaged in

The birth certificate nonsense isn't quite that on Barack's part, but I get where you're coming from.