Clinton could still become president if Russia probe finds conspiracy evidence

[L. Coyote]

Link to tweet

[Wounded Bear]

1. Really? This shit again...

[WillowTree]

89. Gotta give 'em credit for the hope springing eternal thing. Sigh..........

[sakabatou]

2. That's not how it works

If Trump leaves office, Pence gets the seat.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

4. I say give it to Bernie!

[Wwcd]

23. He couldn't even win a primary

[Eliot Rosewater]

28. I want my next president to fully release all tax returns and to support sanctions

on russia. This would leave Bernie out.

[Wwcd]

34. He'd have to resign when his wife answers for the BC problem.

Especially if he's dragged into it.

No, better stick with someone who's not under indictment. Especially bank fraud.
Kinda shoots one's credibility to hell. He'd have a big trust problem.
Hypothetically speaking, of course.

[Bucky]

52. There's a clear compromise here! Bernie for president

And the Big Dog for first gentleman.

[JCanete]

54. until that story has anything new to it, there's no reason to give the accusations any

credibility, beyond that a person was subpoenaed for grand jury testimony back in October. Nobody is under indictment. But yes, of course, Sanders is hardly in line to be handed the Presidency, so it was a moot point in the first place.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

65. Well, he did win several primaries.

Not enough to win the nomination, but he still did win them.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

69. I'd say the most popular politician on our side today would have an excellent chance in 2020.

[Demsrule86]

74. He won't win the primary...honestly, I know many of you are convinced he will be president but given

his age, his wife's issues and the fact he has made Democrats very angry with some unwise comments, he won' win. We need him in the Senate. I heard him on Chris Hayes show today, he was excellent about the government shutdown...and why the Dems won't budge. Also, you know Vermont has a GOP governor who would appoint a Republican.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

77. There's only one way to know for sure... but, of course, we'll have to wait and see if Bernie

decides to even run in 2020 - I'll respect his decision either way - and who else is running.

[Wounded Bear]

87. Mostly, he won caucuses, not many actual primary elections...

Hillary won the popular votes.

[maryallen]

86. Your remark is ...

Rude and unappreciated.

You may not know -- since you are a relatively new member -- but Sen. Sanders was the first U.S. congressman to appear every week on the newly created satellite radio station, Air America. It came into being shortly after the ill-fated presidential election of 2000 and the attack of 9/11/01. Prior to that time, progressive-minded people were severely limited in their ability to listen to decent political news and commentary on the radio. In my locale, there was only Limbaugh, Hannity, and their ilk.

Bernie came on Air America every Friday at noon for one solid hour and took questions from the listeners. I don't recall his ever refusing to answer any question. He was always respectful, never rude, never angry. To this day, he has the greatest handle in congress on the American progressive political agenda and how to make it work in this country.

When he began his radio appearances, he was the congressman from the state of Vermont. After his election
to the Senate, he continued his weekly Friday shows until he entered the Democratic presidential primary, still making appearances, but, sadly, not as frequently.

[Demsrule86]

72. He wouldn't be the one who was cheated out of the presidency, Hillary was.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

75. True... okay, fine, give Bernie the VP slot.

[Wwcd]

5. Pence is going down with trump. Among others.

It could happen!
Be ready

[Wwcd]

3. Sweet. That would twist a few heads right off the face of the earth

Waiting for the omg noooo crowd.

[shanny]

29. Also known as the reality-based community.

[pnwmom]

6. Any scenario that depends on Paul Ryan's integrity is a no-go. n/t

[triron]

21. Unfortunately true.

If OTOH if this were a sporting event Hillary would likely become POTUS.

[delisen]

22. or whether Paul Ryan agrees to deal to look good to a sentencing judge.

[Wwcd]

27. Paul's going down with the trumptanic along with the rest

Russian money & media. A fated ticket to prison

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

7. Oh, dear lord.

Do you -- or whatever ignoramus sent that tweet -- still have no idea whatsoever how our system works?

If for any reason whatsoever Trump stops being President, there is an orderly chain of replacements, and Hillary Clinton is absolutely nowhere on that chain. Honest.

[handmade34]

35. Lessig

purports this, but with a caveat... that people act with integrity (i.e. Republicans )

[L. Coyote]

47. And it is posted here with the mistaken impression people read it before they comment.

as if

[Sparkly]

78. It's astonishing, really.

[Bucky]

61. then Lessig is on drugs

Sorry, but you don't get to just Improv a democracy. We have an actual Constitution that we all have to live by.

[Lucky Luciano]

71. Isnt it the case that the speaker of the house technically doesnt have to be a congress critter?

If so, the dems could take the House and make HRC speaker...then impeach and convict both Fuckface and pence simultaneously.

That has a probability of 0.0000001 of occurring. She has better odds at winning the 2020 Election!

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

64. Lessig? Who or what is Lessig?

And there is still ABSOLUTELY NO WAY in which Hillary Clinton becomes President. She lost the Electoral College, the only vote that really matters. We have no do-overs in our system, no way of elevating the loser to be President.

This is such bullshit.

[handmade34]

67. conversation begins with

information... must read the article that accompanies the tweet

Lessig talks about what COULD be if we had people of integrity in Congress

this is Lessig:

Link to tweet

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

94. So Lessig is someone who tweets.

Gotcha. Except that no article accompanies the posted tweet. There is a link to what looks like a TED talk, but I don't often take the time to listen or watch something that, if a transcript, I could read in three minutes.

[Thomas Hurt]

8. Sure if the DOJ manages to indict and convict all the GoP Congressional leadership....

and all the Robber Barons on the cabinet....

[SoCalMusicLover]

9. President Pelosi

If the Democrats win control of the House in November, and both Drumpf & Pence get caught up in Mueller's investigation, then the Speaker Of The House is next in line.

[ProudLib72]

16. I'd be ok with president "Do the women get to talk" Pelosi

Oh man, all the conservative men would hate that. Think of how many t-shirts and coffee mugs with that phrase would sell!

[SoCalMusicLover]

17. It Would Be Something If Pelosi Took What Hillary Had Wanted - 1st Female President nt

[Wwcd]

32. What a vindictive way to say it. Geez.

I doubt HRC would care. She & Hillary are friends & collegues from long ago.
Imagine the appointment Pelosi would give to her friend Hillary.
They'd be a powerful team.
Human rights & all..

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

70. I'd be the first to salute her as Madame President... PLEASE let that happen!

[lastlib]

84. Suppose Hillary ran for Congress?

If she got elected to a seat and Dems gain control of the House, she'd be a lock for the Speaker's post. Then Pence gets indicted and hauled out in irons, causing dRumpf to stroke out--voila, Madame President Hillary Clinton!

Of course, I'm dreaming now. Won't happen..... more's the sadness.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

10. This scenario depends on Paul Ryan doing the right thing,

and I would expect a whole herd of swine to go winging past my windows before that happens. It's a strictly theoretical idea that will occur no sooner than when we see Satan driving a Zamboni.

[brooklynite]

15. OK, what is the right thing that will result In Clinton being President?

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

19. According to the article cited in the tweet:

If Trump did conspire with Russia, the president “should resign, or, if he doesn’t, he should be impeached,” Lessig wrote in his essay. Vice President Mike Pence would also have to either resign or get impeached, which would make House Speaker Paul Ryan the president of the United States, Lessig wrote at the time.

Given that there is “no mechanism in American law for a new election,” nor “a mechanism for correcting the criminal results of the previous election,” Ryan ought to nominate “the person defeated by the treason of his own party, and then step aside, and let her become President,” Lessig went on to say.

http://www.newsweek.com/hillary-clinton-president-trump-russia-probe-lawrence-lessig-784081?utm_campaign=NewsweekTwitter&utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=Social

It's ridiculous. Trump and Pence would have to resign or get impeached at the same time as Trump; otherwise Pence would become president when Trump is impeached and he would appoint another vice president. The only way Ryan becomes president is if they both go together. And if that highly unlikely event did occur and Ryan became president, does anyone seriously think Ryan would nominate Hillary as his VP and then step aside? Seriously?

[delisen]

24. and if Pence must resign Trump can nominate Clinton as vp

People can do the strangest things to make make themselves look better to justice authorities when they may likely be sentenced for a crime.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

26. Do you really think Ryan would do that

and thereby destroy his dream of achieving his Randian Objectivist paradise, the destruction of the social safety net he's worked for all these years?

[delisen]

43. Only if his lawyer tells him he is facing serious jail time

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

44. If he's facing criminal prosecution, nominating Hillary as his successor

would not save him; it would be seen as a political act and an overt act of pandering. If he committed a crime he should be prosecuted regardless.

[delisen]

91. I'd see it as an attempt to set things right, similar to voluntary restitution

Who specifically would see it as a political act or an overt act of pandering? and would they or anyone care?

What would be wrong with acting politically?

Such an act would not have to substitute for prosecution. General Flynn is still being prosecuted although he is also engaged in cooperating in setting things right.

If there is proof that there was a successful illegal conspiracy to make Trump/Pence the winners in Election 2016, the demand should logically be made that the the actual winners should be in office.

The Democratic Party surely is the party of seeking justice for all. We do not refuse to demand justice just because it may seem unlikely that justice will be done. We pursue justice because it is the right thing to do.

I would think that if the situation was reversed, Mitch McConnell and Republicans would demand that Trump/Pence be declared the rightful winners, and then would present strategies for making it happen.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

95. Maybe if all the other GOPers had been abducted by aliens,

pigs were soaring through the skies and I finally got the pet unicorn I always wanted. The GOP has always, always, always been party before country and there is no power on earth or in Hell that would persuade Ryan to appoint Hillary to any position above dogcatcher. Haven't you been paying attention? To the GOP Hillary is anathema. We can "pursue justice" until we're purple in the face and our pussy hats have unraveled but we won't get it that way.

[L. Coyote]

49. If Pence and Trump have top leave office, Pence can quit first and Hillary can become VP

before trump quits. Or Pence can select Hillary after Trump quits. A VP nominee only has to be approved by majority votes in both the House and the Senate.

Either way works for me. ...

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

66. Oh, really?

In what fantasy world might that happen?

In other words, no it won't. Hillary Clinton will never be nominated as VP by Republicans, even if they are all tied to the stake with the fires about to be lit. And in reality, that's not how it will play out.

If Trump resigns or is removed from office, and Pence becomes President, some reliable Republican (and I honestly don't know enough to make a sensible suggestion here) will become VP.

Not Hillary Clinton. Not any other Democrat you can possibly name.

Jeez, you'd think people posting on a site called "Democratic Underground" would have a basic understanding of party politics.

[delisen]

92. No need to be insulting or judgmental. Politics allows for many possibilities.

You, I assume, are unable to tell the future, and are presenting your opinion of what is likely to happen should Pence become president.

You have no idea of what course of action persons facing prosecution and possible prison time may decide is in their own best interests or what the make up of the Congress will be in 2019.

[democratisphere]

11. Our rightful elected President is HRC.

PERIOD!

[triron]

41. So true

In sports she would almost surely take the office.

[melman]

56. In sports?

This is not sports.

[NCTraveler]

12. No. No. No. nt

[lapfog_1]

13. I can find ZERO credible law

that would somehow elevate Clinton.

Even if it was proven that foreign powers actually change voting machines in key districts to give the election to Trump.

At best right now we could see some other Republican named President... like, say, President Tillerson (assuming Trump, Ryan, and Hatch were all found guilty of something).

If we wait to impeach until after the start of 2019... it would be possible to see President Pelosi (wouldn't THAT cause the deplorable heads to explode!)

[L. Coyote]

50. Here is how a new VP is chosen:

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/explainer/2001/03/how_is_a_new_vice_president_chosen.html

[lapfog_1]

62. so remove Pemce first (via impeachment)

then get the House and Senate to put in Hillary as Trump's VP... and then impeach Trump?

All with a current Republican controlled House and Senate...

Right.

[MichMary]

82. If Pence goes first

then Trump nominates a new VP, which is how we ended up with Ford. Agnew resigned, Nixon nominated Ford, Nixon resigned, Ford became president.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

79. I could live with that!!

[BigmanPigman]

14. I read this last March and saved it from Daily KOS.

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/3/5/1640478/-Line-of-Succession-How-is-this-going-to-work-when-Trump-is-impeached

Since March, it seems that Pence will go down and possibly Ryan since he and McConnell took campaign money from Russians. Since Ginsburg is staying on the Supreme Court and it ends up there who the Hell knows how this will turn out. One thing is sure...WE MUST WIN THE MIDTERMS!!!!!! There is NO impeachment whatsoever if that doesn't happen.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

80. Yup, gotta keep our eyes on the prize!

[bluestarone]

18. maybe RUSSIA"S plan was win win get tRump elected OR

Get our WHOLE fucking republiCON congress in a quagmire? THIS could be a complete constitutional crisis?

[Ace Rothstein]

20. LOL

[shanny]

25. Codswollop. Again .

[Squinch]

30. I'd love it but no. That won't happen.

[Drahthaardogs]

31. No she cannot unless we reformed the election

Eom.

[GulfCoast66]

33. That not how it works. That not how any of this works.

[handmade34]

37. Lessig

explains how it could, not that it would... there is no integrity within the Republican Party

[Wwcd]

45. She'd be a great President. Our credibility around the World would be repaired.

She is much admired.
And she'd destroy Vladimer Putin.
And end Citizens United like she vowed to do in her campaign.

We'd be back to good standing and a free society again.

[longship]

36. Stupid, stupid Newsweek!

[lunasun]

38. The candy man making rules now?

Who can take tomorrow
Dip it in a dream
Seperate the sorrow
And collect up all the cream?
The candyman can

The candyman can cause he mixes it with love
And makes the world taste good
And the world tastes good cause the candyman thinks it should

[Orange Free State]

39. Dumbest thread on DU

Kristjen Nielsen would be President before Hilary. As Secretary of Homeland Security, she’s only 18 heartbeats away from the Presidency!

[oberliner]

40. One of the dumbest articles I've ever read

In any major publication.

[MelissaB]

42. I really don't believe this as much as I'd like for it to be true.

[Awsi Dooger]

48. And tomorrow Apple will be worth one penny

That's actually more likely

[customerserviceguy]

51. Were you born in a foreign country?

Because you're definitely a dreamer.

[left-of-center2012]

53. What happened to Oprah?

I thought we all had to line up behind her?

Geeze !

[MineralMan]

55. Utter nonsense...

Why do we waste our time with such?

[Mike Nelson]

57. There are a few ways she could...

...become President:

Pence resigns, Trump appoints Hillary VP and resigns himself.
Trump is impeached, Pence becomes President, picks Hillary as his VP, then leaves office himself.
Trump and Pence resign together, speaker Ryan declines and picks Hillary.

...if Pelosi were speaker - as in after 2018 - she could pick Hillary, too.

But none of this is going to happen!

[melman]

58. Ridiculous

Newsweek has really gone to shit lately.

[HopeAgain]

59. To quote Wayne's World...

Yeah, and monkeys might fly out of my butt.

[jalan48]

60. That really is water shimmering on the edge of the desert.

[solara]

63. Here's a theory on how it could work out:

Dems take control of the House in November. ( Hopefully the Senate as well) Ryan would have to step down as Speaker and the Democratic House can nominate any one they want as Speaker, and, since the nominee doesn't have to be in Congress, they nominate Hillary. Hillary becomes Speaker. Then, when the House impeaches and removes PINO trump and VPINO pence from office.. Third in line is the Speaker. Hillary becomes President.

Just sayin'

[zaj]

81. This is the only realistic path...

And it's amazingly simple, actually.

[Tracyjo]

90. Yes!

This is it.

[Sparkly]

68. The very possibility gives me some hope for democracy.

And hope is scarce.

[Fla_Democrat]

73. I'm not gonna waste my fantasy time on this....

I'm going back to spending my billions I plan on winning from the mega-lotto. I think the odds are much better on that happening, anyway.

[Fiendish Thingy]

76. Nope

This is an embarrassing act of desperation in Newsweek's part.

The Constitution spells out how this works, and HRC is not going to become speaker of the house next year.

[Pisces]

83. No

[Sparkly]

85. I'm just amazed at the hostility

... again.

"Oh, but the rules say..."

"Yeah but the constitution says..."

Okay -- given the power imbalance right now, and the blatant lack of integrity (we can only guess why) of the majority, invalidating the election is a great big "IF." But these are extraordinary circumstances. The Constitution has failed its stated goals; the Electoral College has failed its stated purpose; and once the levers of power are given over to a foreign (let alone hostile) country, America is over.

That's how dire this is.

If the presidency was hijacked by a foreign government -- especially if the victor was in conspiracy with that government -- then absolutely, let the Constitutional Crisis ensue, because what's left to lose otherwise?!?

Contesting this election could be our last gasp at democracy. WHY is this a hard concept -- however fantastic or not -- to imagine, hope for, or see as just?

[brooklynite]

93. Nothing wrong with hostility towards stupidity.

If for no other reason than, a minute spent dreaming that this ridiculously implausible idea could come about is a minute not spent one of the one solution we have: winning the 2018 and 2020 elections.

[delisen]

96. Mitch McConnell kept us from having a Supreme Court Justice

despite the fact that it was the constitutional duty of the senate to "advise and consent" to the president's nominee. Mitch McConnell used a political approach to not fill that vacancy until a president of his party was in office.

McConnell did not go against the Constitution. Instead he invented his own rule that the constitutional clause regarding fill vacancies did not apply to a president in the final year of a presidency. He was both creative and relentless in pursuing injustice. He won.

Should we be less creative and less relentless in pursuing justice?


If Hillary Clinton was in fact the winner of the 2016 election, I want her in office.

If Gorsuch was installed as Supreme Court justice by an illegitimate president, I want him off the Supreme Court. If the many unqualified right-wing judges being nominated now are installed, I want them out. If the policies being put in place are being put in place by an illegitimate president, I want those policies reversed.

In order to have a democracy the will of the people cannot be ignored.

If I stand for justice, I don't expect to win every battle but if I don't stand for justice I will definitely lose.