Palin v. Constitution

Check out this frightening video (below). Sarah Palin has made this mistake before, but it was caught and corrected and she's still asserting it.

At issue is the job of the Vice President. Shades of Cheney's claim that the VP was neither part of the Executive branch nor the Legislative, Palin asserts that the VP is "in charge of the U.S. Senate so if they want to they can really get in there with the senators and make a lot of good policy changes that will make life better for Brandon and his family and his classroom."

The truth is that the Constitution is clear, "The Vice President of the United States shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no vote, unless they be equally divided." That does not mean control, it means the ONLY time such officer has any control in the Senate is when the vote is exactly split, he or she casts the tiebreaking vote. That's it.

The definition or role of "President of the Senate" is not further defined and is thus left to the discretion OF the Senate. The Senate web site makes it clear that although early code of conduct rules for the Senate gave the VP (as President of the Senate) great power in shaping the agenda OF the Senate, currently the role is considered largely ceremonial, except for those critical tie-breaking votes.

And because it is defined by the rules of the Senate, it does not appear that a Vice President could change that back without agreement of the Senate, or one must surely conclude Dick Cheney would already have done it.

This is at best a level of misunderstanding of the way the job works that should give serious questions about Palin's fitness for the job, and at worst a statement of intention to further shift the balance of power in favor of the executive branch, until we end up with a monarch instead of a President.

Scary.

Liam.