What if the POTUS is taken hostage...

Originally posted by greenfruit
As the president is only a person. Should they live or die would make no real difference as another person would be sworn in, in their place.

If that were true we would not spend billions (with a B) every single day to maintain safe houses, bunkers, legions of behind the scenes personnel, stockpiles of food, self contained breathing apparatus for the limo, body guards, standby and decoy aircraft, body doubles and look alikes - for the express purpose of ensuring his safety.

We have spent trillions to ensure continuity of government and it all is centered around saving the life of the POTUS. Sure there are back-ups, redundancies and a chain of succession but it is very much at the forefront of the government's daily business to keep him alive and kicking every day.

Originally posted by greenfruit
Its the office of the President that is important not the person in it? am I wrong

In theory sure... In practice I think we see something different. I firmly believe that attacking the SOTU is the perfect time for an attack that would paralyze the nation. Or inauguration day before while the new POTUS is in the process of swearing and the old one is getting on AF2 to head home. The dick dance and panic of the bureaucrats as they struggle to get their "boss" his rightful place at the top of the heap would be priceless.

What an interesting topic. S&F.

- I think the security of the President is important from a perceptual standpoint. Psychologically, it's a humiliation and depredation to which no US-American can relate to have one's head of state publicly accosted, even if you don't like him. Humiliation of the head-of-state may be more potent to a nation than all but the largest-scale attacks. I certainly don't think it was an accident was Saadam was photographed in his underwear and those photos were printed on the front page of the world's newspapers. It's a ritual form of domination, like public rape.

- The security of the President of the US is somewhat practically important because the office combines the functions of head-of-state and chief-of-government. Unlike, for instance, Germany where the head-of-state powers are invested in the President and the chief-of-government powers are invested in the Chancellor. And, further, with a parliamentary system there is an essentially unlimited supply of successors (or at least hundreds deep, if not unlimited). Unlike the congressional system in the U.S. which has a limited supply of successors and is fairly brittle due to the inflexibility of the constitution.

reply to post by walliswallis


--- the current order of succession to tyhe Presidency during any
Conflict or Upon decimation of the Cabinet is the following:

1 Vice President of the United States Joe Biden (D)
2 Speaker of the House John Boehner (R)
3 President pro tempore of the Senate Patrick Leahy (D)
4 Secretary of State John Kerry (D)
5 Secretary of the Treasury Jacob Lew (D)
6 Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel (R)
7 Attorney General Eric Holder (D)
8 Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar (D)
9 Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack (D)
-- Acting Secretary of Commerce Rebecca Blank (D)[3]
-- Acting Secretary of Labor Seth Harris (D)[3]
10 Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius (D)
11 Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Shaun Donovan (D)
12 Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood (R)
13 Secretary of Energy Steven Chu (D)
14 Secretary of Education Arne Duncan (D)
15 Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki (I)
16 Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano (D)

Kinda distrubing though to see that the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
or Secretary of Transportation is ahead of the Secretary of Homeland Security in the succession line!

SOURCE:
en.wikipedia.org...

reply to post by greenfruit


Wouldn't it suck if he was kidnapped and there were civilians that were able to save him, BUT COULDN'T because they aren't allowed to own guns??

That would be a nice slap in the face!!

Originally posted by StargateSG7
reply to post by walliswallis

 

--- the current order of succession to tyhe Presidency during any
Conflict or Upon decimation of the Cabinet is the following:

1 Vice President of the United States Joe Biden (D)
2 Speaker of the House John Boehner (R)
3 President pro tempore of the Senate Patrick Leahy (D)
4 Secretary of State John Kerry (D)
5 Secretary of the Treasury Jacob Lew (D)
6 Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel (R)
7 Attorney General Eric Holder (D)
8 Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar (D)
9 Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack (D)
-- Acting Secretary of Commerce Rebecca Blank (D)[3]
-- Acting Secretary of Labor Seth Harris (D)[3]
10 Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius (D)
11 Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Shaun Donovan (D)
12 Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood (R)
13 Secretary of Energy Steven Chu (D)
14 Secretary of Education Arne Duncan (D)
15 Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki (I)
16 Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano (D)

Kinda distrubing though to see that the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
or Secretary of Transportation is ahead of the Secretary of Homeland Security in the succession line!

SOURCE:
en.wikipedia.org...

Yeah it's extremely fragile. The WHCO is supposed to monitor the travel schedules of the cabinet to make sure they're not all in the metro DC area at the same time but there were at least two times during the 1980s, of which we know, that the system failed.

The Supreme Court can be completely reconstituted as long as someone claiming to be President and at least one Senator is left living, and Congress can be temporarily reformed by gubernatorial appointments but the executive branch is the jugular - once those 16 are eliminated it's game over.

Vice President.

Speaker of the House.

...then I believe it would be Senate Majority Leader, I think. After that? Not at all sure. Though if it gets to that level of succession, we've got bigger issues than who's President...IMHO.

I recall a few years ago there was a proposal to extend the order of succession beyond the 16 cabinet members to then flow to the governors by population of state ... though everyone was horrified once they realized California would be first in line. In any case, that would enhance the succession line to 56 deep from 16. Though, still less than the order of succession to the British throne, which is 4,973 deep ... ending with Karin Vogel, a nurse in Rostock, Germany ...

Karin Vogel wakes up in this graffiti-pocked east German city and drives to the hospital where she is a therapist who counsels elderly people in chronic pain. If a few thousand people would just disappear, Ms. Vogel would be leading a far more enchanting life. She would be the queen of England.

online.wsj.com...

Originally posted by Chrisfishenstein
reply to post by greenfruit

 

Wouldn't it suck if he was kidnapped and there were civilians that were able to save him, BUT COULDN'T because they aren't allowed to own guns??

That would be a nice slap in the face!!

That would be poetic justice. Now If I was in charge after the president was kidnapped id wait for the terrorist to call. I would give them a ultimatum telling them we will not negotiate and a time to release the president or else. Then when the time is up I would drop a MOAB on the whitehouse and say the terrorist blew it up. Showing to the world even if you are the president we will not bow to your demands.

reply to post by yuppa
Yuppa, I would vote for you to be in charge!
You are my hero!

Originally posted by Magister

Originally posted by littled16
reply to post by greenfruit

 

I would say let them keep him, and they can have Biden too so they can have a matching set! The "man behind the curtain" will pick out a replacement puppet quickly enough that the government wont even skip a beat.

I believe the next person to be President, in the line of succession, is the Speaker of the House of Representitives.
Currently John Boehner.

Vice president first...then the Speaker of the House. From there the succession is as follows:
President pro-tempe of the Senate
Secretary of State
Secretary of Treasury
Secretary of Defense
Attorney General
....
The list goes through the various departments within the Federal Government.

Originally posted by littled16
reply to post by yuppa

 

Yuppa, I would vote for you to be in charge!
You are my hero!

Aww thank you! Would you be my first lady? heehee. Imagine the scandal! lol.

Originally posted by yuppa

Aww thank you! Would you be my first lady? heehee. Imagine the scandal! lol.

Oooooh- scandalous!!!!!
I would be honored! But you must promise that we can turn the oval office into a man cave so I can watch football in there while you play video games with heads of states!

sh*# just got real ... Eric Holder planning a doomsday bunker -- www.abovetopsecret.com...

Originally posted by littled16

Originally posted by yuppa

Aww thank you! Would you be my first lady? heehee. Imagine the scandal! lol.

Oooooh- scandalous!!!!!
I would be honored! But you must promise that we can turn the oval office into a man cave so I can watch football in there while you play video games with heads of states!

Yes. I agree. We would do that. Turn it into a man cave and play X box games for decision making. Example. Ill bet you a ban of imports from china ill kick your tail in madden.

Originally posted by yuppa

Originally posted by littled16

Originally posted by yuppa

Aww thank you! Would you be my first lady? heehee. Imagine the scandal! lol.

Oooooh- scandalous!!!!!
I would be honored! But you must promise that we can turn the oval office into a man cave so I can watch football in there while you play video games with heads of states!

Yes. I agree. We would do that. Turn it into a man cave and play X box games for decision making. Example. Ill bet you a ban of imports from china ill kick your tail in madden.

get a room already

reply to post by greenfruit



Ever read the Ransom of red chief
He seems like the most unpleasant person in the world to be around. Arrogant, rude...
Our Negotiating power would kick in when they tried to give him back.

This is a COMPLETE FAIL and will NEVER HAPPEN. Why?
There is no way to know how many of the Obami there are. I've seen LOOK ALIKES, CLONES, and lord only knows what else there is. Key to knowing what to look for. Just watch Micheles reactions to THEM. One of them REALLY makes her uncomfortable. Your guess is as good as mine. Is it the CYBORG or the HUMANIOD?

When the unthinkable and atrocious happens, the next person authorised to govern will immediately take over, and every policy and constitution remains intact.

For the fool who thinks that kidnapping or killing the president of a democracy will serve 'humiliating' or personal agendas, it would have served no purpose, except to get himself and his aquaintances in deep hot soup.

That's the beauty of democracy in a world ruled by law. No man is indispensible. The kidnappers or the killers will have to kidnap or destroy EVERY american to win for his insane agendas, because if even ONE American is alive, USA STILL EXISTS.

And there is NO weapon - chemical, atomic or biological that can wipe out 300 million humans at one go without the killers themselves equally being wiped out long before.

Every means will be used to track and rescue kidnap victims, regardless of their status - from the president to the cleaner, for in a democracy, all are equal. There will be no negotiations, for there is nothing negotiable for killers, as their intentions is to kill, or to obtain concessions to kill even MORE humans.

Should any harm come upon the victims, then the killers will be held accountable, and there will be NO place to run or hide, for they will be hunted down across time and space - wherever they or their bones are to face justice. That is the least we can do for the victims' families, nation and a democracy where none are left behind.

Originally posted by SeekerofTruth101
When the unthinkable and atrocious happens, the next person authorised to govern will immediately take over, and every policy and constitution remains intact.

For the fool who thinks that kidnapping or killing the president of a democracy will serve 'humiliating' or personal agendas, it would have served no purpose, except to get himself and his aquaintances in deep hot soup.

That's the beauty of democracy in a world ruled by law. No man is indispensible. The kidnappers or the killers will have to kidnap or destroy EVERY american to win for his insane agendas, because if even ONE American is alive, USA STILL EXISTS.

And there is NO weapon - chemical, atomic or biological that can wipe out 300 million humans at one go without the killers themselves equally being wiped out long before.

Every means will be used to track and rescue kidnap victims, regardless of their status - from the president to the cleaner, for in a democracy, all are equal. There will be no negotiations, for there is nothing negotiable for killers, as their intentions is to kill, or to obtain concessions to kill even MORE humans.

Should any harm come upon the victims, then the killers will be held accountable, and there will be NO place to run or hide, for they will be hunted down across time and space - wherever they or their bones are to face justice. That is the least we can do for the victims' families, nation and a democracy where none are left behind.

So ... to summarize SeekerofTruth's post ...



LOL

Originally posted by Yule C Mann
This is a COMPLETE FAIL and will NEVER HAPPEN. Why?
There is no way to know how many of the Obami there are. I've seen LOOK ALIKES, CLONES, and lord only knows what else there is. Key to knowing what to look for. Just watch Micheles reactions to THEM. One of them REALLY makes her uncomfortable. Your guess is as good as mine. Is it the CYBORG or the HUMANIOD?

A question to your logic then. If you cannot recognize or "know" how many of President Obama there are; how do you know you are seeing a "look alike" or "clone"? Or are you the only person who has cracked the knowledge of seeing what the unwashed cannot?

And furthermore, if my guess is "as good as yours", why should I believe anything you have written above? Are there doubles? Probably; but doubles are not a well known phenomenon in American politics as they are in nations where a known and professed dictator is seated. It is probable but no likely.