Nancy Pelosi Is Third In Line?

Some things in life and politics are just plain scary. One such example is the idea of the current Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, being third in line to the presidency. Fortunately, it's just an idea and not necessarily cold, hard reality. I started thinking about this again because I was watching a re-run of "Hannity" on Sunday and heard something interesting from the "Great American Panel" segment.

Sean Hannity had been asking the panel questions about the so-called "Stimulus" bill and was making a point that maybe the government should tighten its belt. One example he gave was the enormous cost of an airplane dedicated for the use of Nancy Pelosi. Never before has the Speaker of the House had a dedicated aircraft. What do you think the token liberal on the panel said? He said that it was appropriate for her to have the aircraft because "she's third in line to the presidency."

Wow. That's seems wrong on so many levels. Yes, I know that theoretically she could be third. But is that a reason to spend several million dollars of taxpayer money each year on an aircraft, crew, maintenance, and fuel? Because she might be third? What about number four - President Pro Tempore of the Senate (Harry Reid)? Number five - Secretary of State (Hillary Clinton)? How about number six in line - Treasury Secretary (tax cheat Tim Geitner)? Where would it stop?

Besides, Nancy Pelosi can only be third in line if both the President and Vice-President die or become incapable of holding office at the same time! This is very clear in the 25th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and 3 USC 19. For instance, if the President were to die in office due to lung cancer from his continued smoking...the Vice-President becomes President automatically. Does that mean that Princess Nancy becomes Vice-President? No, it does not. The Constitution is clear that the new President may choose anyone who is constitutionally eligible to become Vice-President subject to majority vote approval by both houses of Congress. Do you think Joe Biden chooses Pelosi? Yeah, I'm laughing at that one too.

Ok, what if Vice-President Joe Biden died in a horrible Amtrak accident on his way home? Again, the 25th Amendment is clear that the President may choose anyone constitutionally eligible as his new Vice-President. Pelosi? Not a chance.

So, for Nancy Pelosi to become President of the U.S. and have the slimmest of justifications to keep wasting our money on a very expensive, wasteful, and polluting mode of transportation she'd pretty much have to personally stage a coup. Good luck with that Nancy, now ditch the plane.