If we could impeach shrub and darth cheney then, Nancy

[illinoisprogressive]

will be president!

[havocmom]

1. Not unless it was an instantaneous double conviction immediately after impeachment.

Ah, hate to burst your bubble, but if Cheney gets impeached the removed, the chimp names a new bloke for the post. If the chimp goes first, Cheney moves to the oval and HE gets to nominate a new VP. And Impeachment is NOT removal from office, it is like an indictment in a criminal case. After the indictment would come the trial - by Senate. There would be plenty of time for Cheney to get his successor enthroned to pardon the lot of them if the Senate convicted.

Don't get your hopes up. The system was set up to maintain order. Only a real fluke would knock them both out at at the same time, preventing a new VP from being nominated.

But hey, with meteorites and space junk falling out of the sky, I suppose it could happen.

[bmcatt]

2. Advice and consent, though?

Doesn't the appointment of a VP require the advice and consent of the Senate, however? If there were impending impeachment proceedings against the other of the two (Bush/Cheney), I don't see the Senate falling all over themselves to move that process along, no matter who's nominated to replace the VP.

I'm not saying that this process is *likely*, but I don't think it's as completely impossible as you're suggesting.

[havocmom]

3. Yes, and it goes fast track owing to the importance of the situation.

Agnew went down and was replaced by Ford. The Senate got that done fast. Ford went on to pardon Dick. Rockefeller got the nod for VP pretty damned fast as I recall.

The Senate would have to put the confirmation process ahead of any second impeachment trial or they would face charges of endangering the republic by not securing an orderly secession to the presidency. They would be accused, by many people, of a coup. Sure, it would be poppycock, but senators would have a hard time defending against it come election time. Same reason it is hard to vote against $$ for DOD and get branded as not supporting the troops.

Black and white would be nice, but the world is shades of gray.

And it just about WOULD take a ton of space junk landing on Cheney and the chimp together to get Madam Speaker into the Oval before the next scheduled inauguration.

Let's just work our asses off fixing as much of what the GOP has broken so we can claim the Oval the old fashioned way.