Hello Everybody,
Anybody watch Star Trek? Every Captain of a starship has to obey
Federation law. Or at least recite the Captain's Oath, swearing to
do so. But what happens if the Captain goes nuts and gives an
illegal order? What then? Is the crew obliged to follow and do
as the good Captain has ordered?
"That's civilian law, not military law. Military law is enforced by
all personnel. On a starship, if the Captain says, "I feel like bombing
this planet from orbit, charge weapons.", their number one can say
"Captain, you're nuts, I'm relieving you of command as per [insert
directive]. We aren't bombing this planet." The captain is then
detained by the crew and the planet is not bombed. Personally, I think
it would make a lot more sense if every ship computer had protocols
preventing it from breaking the general orders, but that would require
the Federation to do something sensible." ~Star Trek fan
As you know, the term Commander-in-Chief is a military term, or
designation. He/she is the chief officer, with everybody else being
under his/her command.
Although the Congress has the right to impeach and remove a
president from office, that is a political decision. The military
does not have to listen to anytning the Congress says or does.
If a president decides to declare a state of emergency, he/she
can do so on his/her own authority. If a president decides to
declare martial law, he/she can do so on his/her own authority.
If a president decides to suspend elections, he/she can do so
on his/her own authority.
With no elections, what is keeping a president from remaining
president for life?
There is the 25th amendment, which allows the vice president
and a majority of the cabinet to stage a coup d'etat, thus removing
a president from office. But what kind of a foolish president
would allow that sort of thing to happen?
The Special Counsel is still conducting his investigation as to
whether Donald Trump is guilty of anything. Maybe the president
is a Russian agent, and doing the work of Vladimir Putin. I can
only guess, the same as everybody else.
What if the Special Counsel's report shows that Donald Trump
is guilty as sin? Since he is president, he cannot be indicted.
Since he is commander-in-chief, he is not obliged to listen to
anything the Congress says or does. Well, he might choose to
do like Bill Clinton and allow the House to impeach him, and
the Senate to try him on whatever charges the House decides
to charge him with. But there is nothing that says he has to
leave. Even if convicted on all counts by the Senate.
Since Mike Pence is inept, he will choose to do nothing. Much
better to allow Donald Trump to remain in office. Like, forever.
Or at least long enough for Trump's 12-year-old son to take over.
Oh, Mike Pence is making me (and everybody else) pray.
Not just Christians, but also Muslims, Jews, and Atheists.
Remember the Prime Directive. Every Starfleet officer, both
commissioned and non-commissioned, are obliged to protect, not
to destroy ...
--Lee
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Nobody Beats Our Meat
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