There's a WOMAN in the White House (nearly)

[ReallyRatherNerdy]

Finding this very emotional. Dancing round the kitchen. Anyone else?

Biden quoting the Bible in the press today. Can we get an explanation from those upset by any involvement with religion. Is he going to be condemned!

No, America is a strongly Christian country. Yes that Christianity varies considerable in how it is practised and in aspects of doctrine but the bible is still important to the majority of Americans. It is why during one set of protests Trump’s agents cleared a space in front of a church of protestors in order for Trump to pose awkwardly with the bible (and was strongly criticised for looking like he was handed a dead fish). It is why when Barack Obama did a ‘TV Christmas Special’ walking with Bear Grylls in the wilderness, with just a few hundred special forces for company, they ended with Bear praying for Obama. It is also why the president swears on the bible at his inauguration.

@OhHolyJesus

Can I ask those in the know...

I realise that if a president does the VP becomes default president - but for how long, the remainder of the term? Would there be another election? Obvs the U.K. is different as there can be a call for a lack of confidence that leads to a snap election.

I probably need to check the Constitution as I'm just thinking back to Bartlett getting shot at in the West Wing so my knowledge of this is based on a fictional character!

The procedure for replacing the President with the VP is under the 25th Amendment of the Constitution. Whether it is reversible depends on the reasons it was invoked in the first place. It's pretty complicated and involves agreement between the VP and the executive:

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.

You can have a voluntary situation - say, if Biden needed two have an operation requiring a general anaesthetic - he could voluntarily sign a declaration temporarily handing over powers to the VP. Or it could be hostile, say he went a bit doolally, the VP would have to get together with the House leaders and cabinet members to oust him. Or it could be pragmatic, if he dies mid term! The appointment lasts as long as the declaration stays in place, up to the election of a new president, or re-election of the existing one.

If the VP is not fit to take the place of the President for whatever reason, then there is a line of succession. The next in line I think is the leader of Congress (currently Nancy Pelosi) and then so on down the ranks. I don't think you have a presidential election though until the 4 year term is up.

Just wanted to add, in case it wasn't clear, the Georgia Senate run off elections are national ballots, not just for the citizens of that state. It's potentially huge!

@BlueCatRedCat

Just wanted to add, in case it wasn't clear, the Georgia Senate run off elections are national ballots, not just for the citizens of that state. It's potentially huge!

Why?

Thanks Blue, excellent insight and explanation on that, and your earlier post. Thank you.

I wonder if this appointment will help inform the proposed changes to the Equality Act in America?

www.out.com/politics/2020/8/12/kamala-harris-picks-out-lesbian-karine-jean-pierre-chief-staff?fbclid=IwAR2oaTit4GPClXS4A5LsmVtjYjUEoyaNZYOY5oEm-9fuWRwrpaRqAYpEpwk

BlueCatRedCat

Thanks for your informative post re: Georgia! I hadn’t quite clocked that GA could hang the senate (really hand to Dems) if it went totally blue.

Alas, I suspect there will be massive $$$pumped into this race from lobbying groups, and well funded womens groups in the US are likely to lobby for Dems due to the contraception and abortion issue alone.

Are you aware of any organized lobbying efforts on the GA runoff from womens groups supporting sex based rights?

I tend to think option 2 is better because we can continue our efforts, and this is how the current dogma got into the party - by the back door lobbying efforts of TRA groups (sadly the lobbying money that was raised to help get marriage equality is now being used to abolish all rights based on sex including gay rights! Now everyone can be “queer”!)

Just that whatever the state of Georgia decides, the balance of the Senate will be the prize. The whole nation will have their eyes on this. I imagine the coverage will be massive.

Just because Britain sleepwalked into complicated trans issues doesn’t mean America will. One of the most influential political blocs - evangelical Christians - are deeply against trans rights to the point of banning them from the military.

I don’t think MNers with limited knowledge of American government should act as though their issues are the same. They are not.

FWRLurker, I'm just an interested Brit, I'm afraid. I've learned from watching and reading, but have no direct knowledge. I don't know what groups are on the ground in Georgia, sorry.

Would the results as things stand favour the republicans in the senate race? In that anyone with republican leanings would be keen to have a check on the democrates? If you are a swing voters then you might well decide you want to ensure democratics do not have a free hand? The republicans can’t make changes by controlling the senate alone can they?

Wasn't Sarah McBride the one that Posie Parker and Julia Long interrupted and asked lots of questions of on their controversial visit to America last year?

Oh yes it was, I just checked www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/ncna966061

are deeply against trans rights to the point of banning them from the military.

Banning people with a reliance on medication from the military seems a sensible thing to do whatever the condition. And given factors like dysphoria, surgical complications, need to dilate ‘neovaginas’ and high rates of suicide/suicidal thoughts, it would suggest they are exactly the sort you do not want in your fighting unit where men’s lives depend on each other’s actions. That is before you add in things like requiring commanders to ensure the usage of ‘correct’ pronouns when issuing orders in extremely tense/extreme risk situations.

I don’t know what point you’re arguing.

America is not Britain.

America is deeply religious and conservative.

Fighting Democratic candidates in Georgia on behalf of women’s rights is nonsensical. Focus on your own country and let Americans vote based on their own concerns.

I have lived in the US and UK, trust me when I say if you haven’t lived there you have no idea how deeply entrenched Christianity is in how people view sex and gender issues. It’s part of why they’ve never had a woman president and just barely elected a woman VP.

Thank you, so you've said. This is why we we're asking questions.

Here's another: How does this lobbying of Democrat candidates happen? For example, there is lobbying by vested interest groups in the UK too, but a lot also happens through local constituency parties. Also the candidate and party members go door-to-door canvassing before an election, which means they have to talk to voters who don't share their views and, provided they listen, they can get a feel for what policies are and aren't popular. Are there similar processes for Senate candidates?

@BlueCatRedCat

Just wanted to add, in case it wasn't clear, the Georgia Senate run off elections are national ballots, not just for the citizens of that state. It's potentially huge!

This is incorrect. Only residents of the state can vote on their senators. These run-off elections are limited to Georgia voters and Georgia voters only.

@Aesopfable

are deeply against trans rights to the point of banning them from the military.

Banning people with a reliance on medication from the military seems a sensible thing to do whatever the condition. And given factors like dysphoria, surgical complications, need to dilate ‘neovaginas’ and high rates of suicide/suicidal thoughts, it would suggest they are exactly the sort you do not want in your fighting unit where men’s lives depend on each other’s actions. That is before you add in things like requiring commanders to ensure the usage of ‘correct’ pronouns when issuing orders in extremely tense/extreme risk situations.

Exactly. There are a number of conditions which prohibit people from serving in the US military including but not limited to: diabetes, ADHD, sleep apnea, psoriasis, just for examples. If the military can not guarantee a timely shipment of insulin to service members in Afghanistan, they certainly cannot do the same for hormones.

BlueCatRedCat
Just wanted to add, in case it wasn't clear, the Georgia Senate run off elections are national ballots, not just for the citizens of that state. It's potentially huge!
This is incorrect. Only residents of the state can vote on their senators. These run-off elections are limited to Georgia voters and Georgia voters only.

Both of these have some truths. 1. Yes. It's only Georgia residents voting for their 2 senators. 2. Yes while limited to Georgia voters, it's huge because it WILL have national impact as it can tip the balance of the Senate to Dems which means we'd have House/Senate and Executive under Dem control.

Also, if Biden hadn't brought some religion into his speech, he'd be generally seen by a majority of Americans as immoral. I personally don't like religious creep into politics but claiming atheism or any religion not Abrahamic is political suicide here. Many Evangelical Christians here don't think Biden's a real Christian because he's Catholic. France's secularism would never fly in the US (which I think a shame as we were founded on the principles of the separation of church and state).

In some parts of the country, a regular question when you meet someone new is "what church do you go to?"

This is incorrect. Only residents of the state can vote on their senators. These run-off elections are limited to Georgia voters and Georgia voters only.

Sorry, I didn't want to give the impression it was. That was clumsy wording on my part. I was trying (and failing) to reference the fact that this is not an election of state legislators only, but gives the winners a national platform, and therefore their actions will effect people nationally.

The democrats are already mobilising - Andrew Yang (stood in the Democratic primaries, seems like a decent bloke) announced today he is moving to Georgia for the duration, to start door to door canvassing and signing up voters. I have no doubt that there will be an intense focus and effort from national democratics in Georgia.

I don't really understand how trans rights not being a thing in the US squares with the latest Equality Bill and all the previous attempts by the Democrats to amend the Civil Rights Act to make gender identity a protected class at federal level. The democrats have been attempting to do this for many years (since Clinton). It's partisan politics that has stopped this from happening thus far. The Supreme Court has already ruled that gender identity is a protected class under the CRA as far as employment is concerned (ironically in a case that was against Clayton County in Georgia, the county that voted heavily democrat). The latest Equality Act bill, which includes making gender identity protection a federal Civil Rights law, passed in Congress by quite some margin (it had bi-partisan support). It is currently sat in a dusty pile in the Senate. I assume Mitch McConnell is ignoring it. What happens to it if the Dems get control of the Senate, and MM is no longer head honcho? Will it be heard? Will it be passed into federal law? If it is, where does that leave women?

@ClarenceBoddicker

The guy has serious dementia issues. I know it was a Republican attack slur but doesn’t mean it’s not true. Doesn’t know where he is or who he’s speaking about half the time and is being held up on a stick. Was a choice of a deranged person or a dementia one. President is a hard non stop job. Not saying Trump was ever normal but it took its toll and diminished him further. No way Biden can manage the workload and will have to be propped up and you can’t fake or re-record live broadcasts

What you think is dementia is really Joe Biden's stutter which he has struggled with his whole life. Go listen to his speeches from 20-30 years ago and you will heart the same pauses and falters as he struggles not to stutter.

Delphinium I cross posted with you, thank you for trying to clarify my clumsy words. I'm not great at getting thoughts onto page.

@BlueCatRedCat haha! We must have both have been typing the same time!

Here's GLAAD talking about the Bill's journey

www.glaad.org/amp/equality-act-how-we-got-here-and-how-we-move-forward

If the military can not guarantee a timely shipment of insulin to service members in Afghanistan, they certainly cannot do the same for hormones.

Exactly, though we are not just talking about soldiers neatly located in overseas bases. We are also talking about soldiers who are having to route march forty miles over rough terrain, pinned down by enemy combatants, potentially taken prisoner or held hostage for months. Places where there is no chance medication could be delivered, in stressful situations where even those with good mental health will find themselves stretched to their limits, where having to ‘carry’ a weak member of the team could be the difference between life and death of the whole team, or the success of the mission.