According to Charlie Gibson ... John Kerry should have been Vice President

[Ichingcarpenter]

Does Gibson know the Constitution?



Charles Gibson and George Stephanopoulos are taking a lot of heat today for the questions they asked in last night's Democratic presidential debate. And we understand why some people are angry at them. But we've uncovered's a factual problem with their performance.

In the first question of the night, Gibson asked Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton whether they'd agree to former New York Gov. Mario Cuomo's suggestion that the winner of the delegate fight should be the presidential nominee and the loser should be the running mate. Neither went along with that.

So Gibson pressed: Just to quote from the Constitution again, "In every case" -- Article II, Section 1 -- "after the choice of the president, the person having the greatest number of votes of the electors shall be the vice president."

Alas, that part of the Constitution no longer applies. And it hasn't for more than 200 years. If it did, John Kerry would be vice president today.

It was superseded by the Twelfth Amendment, which was passed in 1804. The amendment says there will be separate elections for president and vice president. It was adopted after the mess the country went through as the result of the election of 1800, the first time we actually had two parties vying for the presidency.

[4themind]

1. Also, unless Hillary were running against Obama in the G.E.

it's not directly applicable imo.

[Ichingcarpenter]

2. But nobody has called him out on that bullshit statement

Another waste of airtime.

[Bolo Boffin]

3. 17 years after the Constitution was ratified, that part of the Article was scrapped.

And it applied to the Electoral College, anyway, not a political party.

Charlie Gibson, being an ignorant bonehead about the Constitution, right inside the Constitution Center itself. Dee dee dee!

[Exultant Democracy]

4. The Jefferson Burr tie was a big ol' fuck up so they fixed it.

[Bolo Boffin]

8. Yep.

Are you watching "John Adams" on HBO?

[Ichingcarpenter]

9. I am

Brilliant Acting, script and historical accuracies.

[Bolo Boffin]

18. Isn't it?

I'm really loving it.

I'm also reading the book now too, so I'm noticing when the series fudges somewhat on the history to tell a better story. But it's SO much better than most historical films.

And Laura Linney looked so much like the older portraits of Abagail last week that I was clapping with glee.

[Exultant Democracy]

12. Not yet, but I have heard a lot of good things about it.

[Bolo Boffin]

17. They just did the Jefferson-Burr fiasco last Sunday.

And then John Adams got on his public transportation and went home.

[Ichingcarpenter]

5. Also only Congress can raise or lower Taxes..Article 1 section 8.

The president doesn't have that power either.

[Connie_Corleone]

6. That's what I was hollering about last night.

Did this idiotic hack know that this was only for the general election (electoral college), NOT a primary election?

[AspenRose]

7. Dumbass.

Bet Peter Jennings would have known better.

[Tesha]

10. Yeah, but he was Canadian, ehh? They still know this sort of stuff. (NT)

[AspenRose]

14. He became an American before he died

And became a lay scholar of the Constitution.

He got a 100 on the citizenship exam

[TragedyandHope]

11. I guess Chuck has been watching the John Adams series lately

and thought he was in a time warp.

[karynnj]

13. Now that would have been motivation for impeachment as soon as the 2007 Congress began!

All you need is 50% in the House. In the Senate, by 2007 I would bet that with an alternative that gets rid of Bush for them and the ability to blame a Democrat for "losing the war", I wouldn't bet against it. (Not to mention - I bet some republicans would like it knowing it would annoy the Clintons.)

[MagickMuffin]

15. Gibson is an Elitist... He wanted to go into law, but he wasn't SMART enough

Born in Evanston, Illinois, Gibson moved to Washington, D.C., when he was 12. He attended the prestigious Sidwell Friends School, a private college-preparatory school in the city. Gibson graduated from Princeton University where he was news director for the university radio station, WPRB-FM and a member of Princeton Tower Club. He now serves on Princeton's Board of Trustees. Originally, Gibson planned to go into law, but reconsidered when he determined his grades were not sufficient for top tier law schools. Gibson joined the RKO Radio Network in 1966 as a producer, but then switched gears and joined the Coast Guard and worked as a reporter/anchor for WLVA (now WSET) in Lynchburg, Virginia as one of five employees. He then moved to WMAL-TV (now WJLA) in 1970, and took a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Humanities in 1973 before joining ABC in 1975.

Here's the REASON he kept the pressure on Capital Gains and Taxation


WNT salary is $8,000,000 per year, the same as his GMA salary

[hvn_nbr_2]

16. OMG! Gibson actually said that?!?! What a stupid fuck.

He shouldn't be allowed near a newsroom until he passes 8th grade civics.

[WinkyDink]

19. WTH?? Does Gibson think CHENEY HAD ELECTORAL VOTES??