My neighbor, a die-hard Bush supporter...

[hiaasenrocks]

believes that Negraponte was moved to State to take the SecState job when Cheney resigns and Condi moves to VP. Of course, this neighbor of mine has no insider info or anything - I just thought it was interesting.

[salin]

1. I think * would be afraid to be pres without cheney.

Condi is a sycophant - she can't dictate positions to take for shrub like Dick does.

[hiaasenrocks]

4. I agree with you. There's always the possibility, though,

that Cheney would be advising Bush from the outside.

I honestly think my neighbor's prediction is kind of far-fetched, but with this crowd in the White House, well, nothing is out of the realm of possibility.

[Cooley Hurd]

21. True, but couldn't Cheney still do his thing from the sidelines?

There's no way they can let ANYONE from outside the NeoCon circle become President in '08 - to do so would risk exposure of their entire network of evil. Condi's a good choice for them because she's proven herself to be a good little girl who follows orders. However, running Condi is mighty risky because: A) her immediate ties to the very unpopular Bush admin, and B) running a black woman would completely destroy their "southern strategy."

I think Condi as a brand name will be severely tainted once she's put under oath in the upcoming congressional hearings...

[Booster]

32. I think it's because Bush knows the American people hate

Cheney even more than they hate Bush, and somehow that makes him feel better.

[Squatch]

2. Can the President appoint a VP?

What is the Constitutional mechanism to replace a VP?

[hiaasenrocks]

5. Nixon picked Ford.

[Crabby Appleton]

7. yes the pres can, but the choice has to be confirmed by the

senate. cheney will not resign, he is spectacular impeachment insurance if nothing else

[LA lady]

8. The President nominates and Congress approves

This is how Nixon got Ford.

[wakeme2008]

10. Yes Nikon picked Ford

:)

[many a good man]

13. 25th Amendment

New VP requires approval by simple majority of both Houses.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twenty-fifth_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution

[Bitwit1234]

17. Congress approves it

Mostly they approve a party's choice. The president might suggest but it is not a done deal.

[radfringe]

20. Listening to some stuff on Ford last night (NPR radio)

according to the story - Ford was about 4th on Nixon's list of replacements for Agnew

Nixon was basically told by repub and DEM Senate leaders who they would find acceptable.

so applying the same sort of scenario - bush wouldn't necessarily have a blank check in choosing a VP

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

30. I say the Dems should demand Rick Santorum.

We want the least electable possible person as VP!

[radfringe]

38. well, part of the reason

the Dems wanted Ford as VP - at the time Ford had no Presidential aspirations...

He was seen as being "caretaker". However, that changed a couple of years later.

As far as Santorum goes - in the event of bush prematurely leaving office do you really want Santorum running the country - even for a few months?

[Viva_La_Revolution]

3. does he smoke crack?

Shrub would lose 75% of the 25% that still support him if he did that.

[hiaasenrocks]

6. Why would that happen?

[Viva_La_Revolution]

23. putting a black woman in that position...

the knuckle-draggers heads would explode!

[jedr]

9. Just in the fact that your neighbor is a Bush supporter;

Takes away any credibility to any thing he/she says.....I find that in the last few years if I find out someone is a Bush supporter I dismiss anything they say as invalid. Hey Karl , thanks for dividing the country...it makes Holiday meals so much more tense!( sorry for the rant. need more coffee!!!!)

[The Backlash Cometh]

11. No way would they make Condi VP

Condi will be destroyed under the media scrutiny and second round of analysis that would crome from such a position.

Let's face it. The lady has screwed up multiple times. She is a political disaster. As Mrs. Bush implied, Condi won't make it without close friends covering up for her and I don't think the Republicans are going to stand behind her once the Bushes no longer have leverage to help her.

[salin]

19. I missed the Mrs. Bush reference... what did she say/suggest

am guessing it was Babs - as Laura doesn't seem to have enough substance to even make verbal inferences.

[The Backlash Cometh]

26. Here it is:

Mrs. Bush referenced Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and noted that while she would be a "really good candidate", Rice is not interested in the job.

"Probably because she is single, her parents are no longer living, she's an only child. You need a very supportive family and supportive friends to have this job," the First Lady said.

DU had a thread going when Bush said it to read between the lines. Mostly, "supportive family and supporive friends" was the tip-off. It's one thing to be an orphan, but for someone to imply that Rice won't have supportive friends if she runs for president, is pretty telling.

[annabanana]

29. Well.. She DID say that Condi is

single, and implied that she doesn't have a sufficient personal "support system" to be President..
(Bless Her Heart)

[pretzel4gore]

12. did neighbor notice the iceberg, the big hole and the bow in the air?

all the changing of chairs while the vessels sinking?
no wonder geeb (that's jeb's brother, bush family nickname) is in a mess! his die hard supporters won't even tell him to 'start the pumps!'

[speedoo]

14. This may be a desperate freeper rumor.

Second time I've heard of it. It makes no sense at all.

[POAS]

15. Plausible!

[asjr]

16. It makes as much sense as anything else

coming out of this administration. I think Cheney is the president. I have always felt Bush was the puppet. The neo-cons started this. They probably told Bush he could be president if he followed their orders. Whatever they do it will not bode well for the rest of us.

[kevinmc]

18. I was thinking Rice will be leaving to spend more time .....

with her piano and shoes. I have a feeling she is going to be leaving.

[NNN0LHI]

31. You are correct n/t

[smoogatz]

22. I think they moved Negraponte because Condi is thoroughly

over her head at State, and nobody there takes her seriously. None of her foreign counterparts do, either. Just look at her record of public statements on pretty much any national security or foreign policy matter: she's been wrong about literally everything, every step of the way.

As to Cheney resigning--I think it's actually pretty likely. He's in considerable legal jeopardy now, and one way to deflect some of the heat is to resign for "health reasons." His replacement, though, is likely to be someone who polls well and can be presented as an "outsider," not tainted by Bushco's looming legal troubles. That would be either McCain or Giuliani. That's my guess, anyway.

[notadmblnd]

24. maybe he's standing over your shoulder while your are here reading DU?

That scenario was speculated on here several times this past week.

[Bitwit1234]

25. Checked my post

The president nominates a vice president, (it could be one he picked or one the party picked) and it has to be voted on and approved by both houses of congress. So even if he did pick Condi that does not mean she would be approved. And with her record she sure wouldn't be.

[driver8]

27. A freeper on my veterans' board tried to tell me that Condi would win in a

landslide if she ran for President against Wes Clark.

I told him, "Oh please, God...let Condi run for President against Wes Clark. I would love to watch her fold like a cheap card table and get her ass kicked at the same time."

That lady is about as useful as a rubber crutch. I cannot think of one positive thing to say about her except that she is quite a piano player.

[pretzel4gore]

28. i don't blame condi...

though she has made it hard to defend her, what with her carbon terror background-still, she never seemed to be the infighter type, who achieved alliances with a lift of an eyebrow etc. she seemed an earnest, 9 to 5 school teacher who lugged armfulls of homework home every night. the real bastards are the pigs in the msn etc who aided abetted the bush crime family, not condi (though she might have considered that they were a crime family before devoting herself to them)

[driver8]

34. You are right -- she does seem like the earnest school teacher.

However, I have no sympathy for that woman at all. She is not stupid -- she knew what was up when she got involved with these clowns.

As far as I'm concerned, there should be a place at The Hague for her, as well.

[wryter2000]

33. A liberal friend of mine thinks the same thing n/t

n/t

[cool user name]

35. How does Condi "move" to VP?

Seems unconstitutional.

[Bucky]

37. Nah. It's the same process by which Ford was appointed VP.

The 22nd Amendment allows the president to appoint a VP, subject to majority approval from both houses of Congress, when there's a vacancy in the vice president's office. It's not a move so much as a political appointment that the House of Representatives gets to vote on too. It's all spelled out in the Constitution.

[leftchick]

36. I heard this same point brought up on NPR yesterday

does anyone really think cheney will leave before he has the final "big one"? Cheney IS the prez.

[Justice]

39. If he picks Rice for VP, again shows he is all done, not picking possible 2008 candidate

Rice could never win in 2008; remember all the talk about Cheney possibly stepping down and him picking someone who would run in 2008 -- someone like McCain - to give them a leg up so to speak.

No one wants to be his VP.

[Catchawave]

41. How about Jebbie ?

Cheney could easily step down due to "health reasons". And Jeb's looking for a job now.

[MiniMe]

40. Isn't Condi from Texas? That would make it unconstitutional for her to be VP

Not that it made any difference with Cheney, he just set up a PO box in Wyoming just before he declared. The President and Vice President cannot be from the same state.