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Clinton Ineligible For Secretary of State!

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BxgrlJeri
12/04/08

In reply to Clinton Ineligible For Secretary of State!
Wait. Does she or does she not answer the phone at 3 am. That's all I care about. And what is Bill doing when she is answering the phone. Or should I say who.
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Tart of Darkness
12/04/08

@JLynRedux: My guess is that before she answers the phone at 3 am, she checks the caller I.D.

And who cares what Bill's doing (or whom)?
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jfruh
12/03/08

In reply to Clinton Ineligible For Secretary of State!
You notice that the clause actually reads "during the Time for which he was elected". *HE*, people! It totally doesn't apply to Hillary, so she can raise her salary all she wants.
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ShishirkanaLemming
12/03/08

In reply to Clinton Ineligible For Secretary of State!
I wonder what percentage of senior executives at places like Bear Stearns, AIG and the rest of the bailout-benefitted buffoons have Yale and Harvard diplomas on the walls of their gorgeous offices that smell of rich wood and leather-bound books?

This only once again proves that those people are, indeed, smarter than the rest of us stayte kollege egukated idiuts. They take big gains when times are good, and big handouts when times aren't so good (and still circumvent the constitution during their free time. Yeah!)

Oh, if daddy had only earned enough caddy scholarship money to go to Harvard, instead of BC.
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Tart of Darkness
12/04/08

@ShishirkanaLemming: As a stayte kollege egukated idiut, I two lack the connections to be "in" on Wall Street.
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Notyourmother
12/03/08

In reply to Clinton Ineligible For Secretary of State!
But Ian McKellan has white wizard powers. He doesn't need those paddles!
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Aaron Altman
12/03/08

@Notyourmother: Hah!
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StaunchCharacter
12/03/08

In reply to Clinton Ineligible For Secretary of State!
It says "for which HE was elected" so pending medical confirmation, she's all set, no?
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Oy Veh (Informality Reigns)
12/03/08

@StaunchCharacter: fUNNY--AND THE MOST VALID PIFunny--and the most valid point made in this post's comments. :)
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Oy Veh (Informality Reigns)
12/03/08

@oyvehisyou: I don't know how that glitch happened--I SWEAR.
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nyphotog
12/03/08

In reply to Clinton Ineligible For Secretary of State!
The point is to prevent the creation of offices to curry favor from sitting members of Congress. Clearly that is not what happened here.

I got yer emoluments right here, pal.
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CaptainFantastic
12/03/08

@nyphotog: Problem is, it is usually not about the point of the amendment, but exactly what was written.
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lalalina
12/03/08

In reply to Clinton Ineligible For Secretary of State!
So you're telling me that a 4th year associate at a big law firm
basically makes more than the Secretary of State? For reviewing
documents at a warehouse and writing a paragraph of an appellate brief
every so often? What economic collapse?
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Tart of Darkness
12/04/08

@lalalina: Oh, absolutely. One only takes the job or any other high level job for the power and the goodies it confers later.
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Aaron Altman
12/03/08

In reply to Clinton Ineligible For Secretary of State!
If he uses those paddles he'll set the Constitution on fire. Has he learned nothing from House?
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Heneage
12/03/08

@Aaron Altman: If National Treasure has taught us anything, it's that 200 year old scraps of parchment are *very* resilient.
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aurorabora
12/03/08

@Aaron Altman: And if we can't learn from House, what CAN we learn from?? Besides Rock of Love Charm School, I mean.
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Aaron Altman
12/03/08

@Heneage: Heh! Say, didn't your avatar have a supporting role in the first film? Or is that not who I think it is?

@aurorabora: The Real Housewives of Atlanta taught me how to hate myself. Does that count? :-)
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Iceland Spar
12/03/08

@Heneage: Only to conveniently placed bowls of lemons though. I'm not sure even Ben Franklin Gates could hit it with a couple thousand volts from a defibrillator and leave no damage. (Though I do believe the National Treasure series of movies is and will continue to be the greatest movies ever made.)
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Aaron Altman
12/03/08

@Iceland_Spar: I enjoy them. The idea that there's a whole cavern of treasure just, oh, say 50 blocks south of me as the crow flies is pretty neat.

@Heneage: There is no getting away from powdered wigs for the foppishly dressed, is there? :-)
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Iceland Spar
12/03/08

@Aaron Altman: If you ever want to test the theory about Trinity Church, just let me know and I'm totally in. Mount Rushmore though is too far away and seems to have more dangerous traps involved. I'm also willing to Amtrack to DC for an exploratory mission at the library of congress.
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Aaron Altman
12/03/08

@Iceland_Spar: Manhattan is one big-ass lump of schist. Hard as fuck. (They call it Manhattan schist, in fact.) The likelihood of naturally-occurring "caverns" 'neath Manhattan - such as those depicted in National Treasure and in Gangs of New York are all but impossible.
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Aaron Altman
12/03/08

@Iceland_Spar: But yes, FUCK, I would love to go treasure-hunting in America. Even though AMERICA ITSELF IS A TREASURE.
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Sarcastro
12/03/08

In reply to Clinton Ineligible For Secretary of State!
My favorite hand cream is rich in Emoluments.
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Private Hangnail
12/03/08

@Sarcastro: Slick politicians with their greasy spin.
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Urbania
12/03/08

@Sarcastro: Her Hands Were Soft As Butter.
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aurorabora
12/03/08

In reply to Clinton Ineligible For Secretary of State!
We have a Constitution?
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MissNormaDesmond
12/03/08

@aurorabora: I know, I forgot, too.
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howYOUdoin
12/03/08

@aurorabora: No, we have a constitutional.

That's a walk or an enema or something.

And you can only do it in a cardigan.
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Tart of Darkness
12/04/08

@howYOUdoin: And it should be done daily if possible.
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shaithis
12/03/08

In reply to Clinton Ineligible For Secretary of State!
But if Hillary's not Secretary of state, who will Obama ask what to do when he doesn't know what to do? Like when the economy was collapsing and asked Bill what would he do. LOL. The next four years are going to be tragically funny with this guy.
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braak: You are, as usual, completely correct.
12/03/08

@shaithis: Yes, good point. Let's go back to the guy who--when he wasn't sure what to do--never asked for advice from anyone but God.
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Nic Fit
12/03/08

@shaithis: Yeah, he's so incompetent, ha ha. Right. Listen, whomever you supported LOST. Get over it.
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Iceland Spar
12/03/08

In reply to Clinton Ineligible For Secretary of State!
Actually, this will be my back-up job. Lawyer to insane people who believe that the President and the Senate are incapable of deciding what the Constitution means.

Dear well-funded lunatics,

I am available to file frivolous Constitutional violation claims on your behalf, despite your complete and total lack of standing, until Hilary Clinton is stripped of office or my bar license is revoked for filing such ridiculous claims. If you are also in need of a PR person to handle your media image, I'm sure another Gawker commenter will be willing to join up. We will be extremely costly and will need to be paid, up-front, in cash.

Yours in right-wing conspiring,

Spar & Associates.
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pacific_reporter
12/03/08

@Iceland_Spar: Hmm ... right wing conspirarists are the ones who think the courts should decide the interpretation of the Constitution not the President and the Senate? The transformation of positions from when Democrats argued that the President and Congress couldn't decide how to treat Gitmo prisoners and warrantless wiretapping is now complete?
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Iceland Spar
12/03/08

@pacific_reporter: Heh - that is a great point. I should take on a left-wing conspirator as a partner, just in case the political climate swings back and republicans rediscover their love of deferential courts.
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Trixie from Toronto
12/03/08

In reply to Clinton Ineligible For Secretary of State!
There are 100 ways around this.
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Little Green Frog (Wise Latina)
12/03/08

@Trixie from Toronto: I know. Someone in the NYT comments pointed out that the Constitution says "for which HE was elected". This clearly does not apply to MRS. Clinton.
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Thatcornellguy
12/03/08

@LGFrog: Two lefts don't make a right.
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j.blo
12/03/08

In reply to Clinton Ineligible For Secretary of State!
This has come up before. Members of Congress appointed to positions as to which salaries had gone up have simply taken the pre-raise salaries. Although there have been strict constructionists who have complained each time.
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Bitter Poor
12/03/08

@j.blo: But that's not a good solution! It doesn't cause tons of drama and hand wringing and wide-eyed reports of the eminent demise of all that is good and holy!
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Hiphopopotamus
12/03/08

@j.blo: Yeah, but the constitution doesn't say that its OK as long as the person takes a pay cut - it says it's not allowed. Period.

I think she will be great in the job when no one actually gives a damn and lets her in without a single raised eyebrow... but how exactly is this any sort of change from the years of growing executive power at the cost of the constitutional integrity? I bet most Obama supporters thought to themselves "You know how I hope Obama interprets the constitution? The same way that Nixon did!" (See: Saxbe, Ed)
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calculatrix
12/03/08

@j.blo:

Just so I have ammo when arguing with my dad later, do you know any specific examples of this? I love burning my dad with facts he didn't anticipate.
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braak: You are, as usual, completely correct.
12/03/08

@Hiphopopotamus: Does it? I think that it says specifically that they can't be appointed to positions whose salaries have increased over their congressional ones. So, if the salary is equal to the congressional one, why isn't it okay?
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pacific_reporter
12/03/08

@braak: You're right on what it says. The thing is it did increase. That problem isn't solved by the fact that it later decreased, the emoluments clause would already be triggered (at least in the strict-constructionalist interpretation).
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naugahydeinplainsight
12/03/08

@calculatrix: Burn Baby Burn. Times reports it happened for Nixon's appointment of Senator William Saxbe of Ohio as attorney general and when Bill Clinton made Senator Lloyd Bentsen of Texas his treasury secretary. [thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com]
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braak: You are, as usual, completely correct.
12/03/08

@pacific_reporter: That doesn't seem like it makes any sense. The point of the clause is to prevent people from promoting their buddies to higher-paid cabinet positions--there wouldn't be an practical difference between appointing to someone to a position that had never increased and appointing them to one in which the salary increased and then went back down.

Oh, this is a grammar question, right? Is "shall have been" past perfect, or past imperfect tense?
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Hiphopopotamus
12/03/08

@braak: When you start stating that you know the intent of the Framers and that your interpretation carries more clout than the actual words of the Constitution... well, that's dangerous ground.
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braak: You are, as usual, completely correct.
12/03/08

@Hiphopopotamus: Even giving up "intention," the issue of "practical difference" seems to be a sound one.

Also, I'm not satisfied that the syntactical analysis doesn't support this theory. Does "shall have been" mean "during the course of the future, it will have been increased at least once," or does it mean, "during the course of the future, it will be increased (i.e.: larger) from the congressional salary"?
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CaptainFantastic
12/03/08

In reply to Clinton Ineligible For Secretary of State!
Sinister Rouge is not going to be happy. Or she is going to be happy, I can't remember.
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allyzay
12/03/08

@CaptainFantastic: either way, i'm pretty sure this post is sexist.
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SinisterRouge
12/03/08

@CaptainFantastic: Oh hello! I'm happy as a clam. This dude is a right-wing nutter. My girl is SoS! And there's nothing any of the right-wingers or Clinton-haters can do about it. And she'll be good. And that will really really burn their asses.
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CaptainFantastic
12/03/08

@allyzay: The post or my comment? When I thought of Gawker comments re: H. Clinton, SinRouge defending her came to mind. Then I didn't trust my memory and hedged my bet.

@SinisterRouge: Hi! At first I thought it was going to be a serious issue, but I guess not.
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TheHonJudgeSmails
12/03/08

@CaptainFantastic: I think Mz. Zay was making a joke.
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SinisterRouge
12/03/08

@CaptainFantastic: No way. It's been done dozens of times. I think pareene here is just trying to get everyone all riled up and give Clinton-haters a true glimmer of hope. Alas, there is none. She in there boys! Cross your legs and hide your balls!
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PICKLES_IN_MY_TUNA
12/03/08

@SinisterRouge: I knew I'd find you in here. Get back to work.
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SinisterRouge
12/03/08

@PICKLES_IN_MY_TUNA: Sorry, Mama. :( Going....
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allyzay
12/03/08

@CaptainFantastic: haha sorry, i was just making a "pareene is sexist" joke. i'm sure you are as feminist as they come!
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CaptainFantastic
12/03/08

@TheHonJudgeSmails: @allyzay: Gotcha. I needed to zoom out a bit further.
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MissNormaDesmond
12/03/08

@allyzay: Your mom is a sexist.
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