Who Was the First 44th President of the United States?

Beyond the fact that it provided a small amount of humor in an otherwise boring inauguration (American Idol beat coverage of the inauguration), the "flub" by Chief Justice Roberts and President Elect Obama during the swearing-in ceremony may have had much deeper significance.

According to a comment posted by "Ted" on my Blog earlier this week, Joe Biden was actually the President for a short period of time, may still be President and this whole mess with whether or not Obama is actually even eligible to be President is going to end with Hillary Clinton as the next President.

The full text of Ted's post is as follows:

FIRST QUESTION: Who IS the actual and lawful 44th President of the USA?

ANSWER: Joe Biden.

Biden was initially the Acting President for at least 5 minutes under either the Constitution’s Article 2 or the Constitution’s 20th Amendment, from 12:00 Noon 1/20/09, having already taken his Oath of Office and before Obama completed his ‘oath’ at approximately 12:05 PM, 1/20/09. Under the 20th Amendment if the President-elect shall have failed to qualify, or alternatively under Article 2 if the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties, at the time fixed for the beginning of the term, being 12:00 Noon 1/20/09, which ability and/or qualification includes that he take the Article 2 oath “before he enter on the execution of his office,” then either the Presidency shall devolve on the Vice President under Article 2 or the Vice President shall act as President under the 20th Amendment. (The importance of the oath in ‘commencing’ an ‘Obama Presidency’ — rather than merely the 1/20/09 Noon time — is confirmed by the re-take of the ‘oath’ by Obama at the White House on 1/21/09 after the first ‘oath’ was NOT administered by Justice Roberts NOR recited by Obama in the words as required under Article 2.)This is significant because at such time that the Supreme Court finally rules on the merits on Obama’s disqualification as not being an Article 2 “natural born citizen” (clearly he is NOT), Biden’s automatic status (without needing to take a separate Presidential Oath) of being President would be predicated upon four different bases: First, having been Vice President under Article 2; second, having been Vice President-elect under the 20th Amendment; third, having been actual President in the hiatus before Obama took the ‘oath(s)’; and fourth, retroactively deemed President during the full period of the Obama usurpation so that the acts of the Federal Government under the usurpation can be deemed authorized and/or ratified by Biden’s legitimacy.

SECOND QUESTION: Who will be the 45th President?

ANSWER: Hillary Clinton.

One must assume that Bill and Hillary Clinton have been aware of all of the above. Biden’s wife recently “let the cat out of the bag” on the Oprah Show that both Biden and Hillary had considered alternatively Veep or Secretary of State, in either case, setting up Hillary to be President on a vote of the Democratic Congress if need be.

THIRD QUESTION: Is Obama an unwitting victim of this troika or a knowing participant?

ANSWER: Yet undetermined.

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The Face of the Obama Whitehouse / Anmial House?

I knew that the Obama campaign was being "manned" by a bunch of young northeast liberal kids or at best northeast liberal wannabes that couldn't afford the northeast education. And, I knew that this past election was more of a game for most of them than about political philosophy (i.e. I hate my parents and I am smater than them, blah, blah, blah).

However, it wasn't until I saw this Animal House picture of Jon Favreau, incoming Obama Whitehouse speech writer, in a blog post by Al Kamen on the washingtonpost.com website, that I realized that some of the immature kids may actually be influencing public policy.

I, like many of the 57 million Americans that voted for John McCain, have tremendous political policy differences with Hillary Clinton. However, very few of us would condone Mr. Favreau's actions. I think that it is time for Barrack to step in, "break this party up" and send all the kids home. I guess that if he doesn't , we all know where he stands. Maybe at the same party just outside the view of this picture?

The full text of Mr. Kamen's post is as follows:

Question No. 58 in the transition team vetting document for the Obama White House asks that applicants: "Please provide the URL address of any websites that feature you in either a personal or professional capacity (e.g. Facebook, My Space, etc.)"

Question No. 63 asks that applicants "please provide any other information ... that could ... be a possible source of embarrassment to you, your family, or the President-Elect."

For a while there this afternoon, President-elect Barack Obama's immensely talented chief speechwriter, 27-year-old Jon Favreau, might have been pondering how to address that question.

That's when some interesting photos of a recent party he attended -- including one where he's dancing with a life-sized cardboard cut-out of secretary of state-designate Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, and another where he's placed his hand on the cardboard former first lady's chest while a friend is offering her lips a beer -- popped up on Facebook for about two hours. The photos were quickly taken down -- along with every other photo Favreau had of himself on the popular social networking site, save for one profile headshot.

Asked about the photos, Favreau, who was recently appointed director of speechwriting for the White House, declined comment. A transition official said that Favreau had "reached out to Senator Clinton to offer an apology."

Favreau is not the first campaign aide whose online presence has proved awkward. Last March, John McCain aide Soren Dayton forwarded an anti-Obama YouTube video to his private Twitter feed linking Obama with the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, leading to his suspension from the campaign. And in 2007, two bloggers hired by former North Carolina senator John Edwards stepped down after blog posts they had written before he hired them became a subject of controversy.

Favreau's case seems unlikely to be so dire; Clinton senior adviser Philippe Reines cast the photos as evidence of increased bonhomie between the formerly rival camps.

"Senator Clinton is pleased to learn of Jon's obvious interest in the State Department, and is currently reviewing his application," he said in an e-mail.

Struggling Banks Paid President Clinton $2.1 million

In a Tuesday, November 25, 2008 article on CNSNews.com by Matthew Hadro titled "Struggling Banks Paid President Clinton $2.1 million for Speeches", the relationship between the Washington power establishment and the financial industry is such that it is highly unlikely that we are ever going to see the type of oversight necessary to overt another melt down like we now have in 2008. There is just too much money to be made and doled out to the appropriate power brokers to ensure continued collaboration.

The full text of Mr. Hadro's article is as follows:

Four major banks, including one that collapsed, two that received federal bailout money and one that filed for bankruptcy this past September, paid former President Clinton $2.1 million for 13 speeches he delivered on their behalf between 2004-2007, according to Senate financial disclosure statements filed by Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.).

Citigroup paid Bill Clinton $700,000; Goldman Sachs paid $950,000; Lehman Brothers paid $300,000 and Merrill Lynch paid $175,000 to the former president for speeches during that time period. Sen. Clinton’s 2008 financial disclosure reports are not yet available.

Though some of the investment banks were able to entertain the former president more than once, each was eventually affected by the credit crunch.

Lehman Brothers filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in September. The bank’s stock had been slipping as it looked for a buyer, while the federal government promised no aid. Merrill Lynch was purchased by Bank of America in mid-September for $50 billion. The bank’s share price and liquidity had been falling as it looked to sell, just days before the federal bailout of Wall Street.

The highly-regarded investment firm Goldman Sachs had reportedly possessed some of the largest private equity and hedge funds in the market.

But after its largest trading partner, AIG, received an $85 billion emergency government loan, Goldman Sachs shares fell. One week after Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy and Bank of America purchased Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs asked the Federal Reserve to modify its status to that of bank holding company – a move that brought tough regulations and close government supervision. In addition, Goldman Sachs became a recipient of $10 billion of the federal bailout money.

Citigroup recently received $25 billion of the federal bailout and is now expected to receive a $20 billion cash injection from the Treasury Department. In addition, the Treasury and the FDIC have promised to back most of the losses the bank might suffer, from its $306 billion pool of risky loans and mortgages. The bank’s shares dropped 60 percent last week.

Obama Cabinet Nothing more than Clinton Retreads

As President elect Barack Hussein Obama II announces his cabinet nominations to implement his self proclaimed new era of change in the world, it is obvious that these nominations are nothing more than retreads from the Clinton administration or fiercely partisan liberals.

An overview of the announced nominations appeared on November 24, 2008 on the "Letter from the Capital" Blog.

Treasury. Timothy Geithner is, like his new boss-to-be, a hotshot at age 47. He is highly regarded on Wall Street, if unknown to Main Street. His government experience includes a stints at Treasury in three administrations, for five Treasury Secretaries. He also worked at the International Monetary Fund. As New York Federal Reserve chief, he has been in the thick of the rescue efforts.

State. Hillary Clinton is the third iconic choice for the post within this decade. Icon of State just might be a better label. Her one shortcoming is that she may not have the managerial ability to keep State's bureaucracy in line; we shall, in the event, see. But she brings many assets to the position: As "Ms. 3 AM Phone Call" Hill in effect tells the world that she is behind the new president. She has enormous Washington savvy and international star power. Her husband will have to behave--at least, to the extent of avoiding serious headlines. The GOP would be wise to climb aboard, as Hill's move out of the Senate will lead to a less powerful successor there, and take her out of the health care debate, a cause she has wanted a second chance at for 15 years. Ted Kennedy's refusal to step aside for her on this issue may have sealed her decision to leave. Attacking Hill will only undo some of the good Sarah Palin's VP nomination did for the perception of the GOP among women. By the way, does anyone think that Joe Biden, selected as VP nominee for his foreign policy smarts, is going to step between Hillary and President Obama?

Attorney-General. Eric Holder is a partisan player, whose hand in the pardons of Puerto Rican FALN terrorists and of fugitive financier Marc Rich, plus his helping bypass an inconvenient judge to enable Janet Reno's goons to kidnap Elian Gonzalez at gunpoint in 2000 (photo here) & send him to his hitherto absent father, toadying to Fidel Castro (thus sealing Al Gore's fate in Florida) make him a poor candidate. But taking after him would be a huge error, for what would likely be the Lani Guinier Effect: as with Guinier, Holder would likely be followed by an even worse pick--quite possibly, the person who succeeded Guinier, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick. Also, attacking a prominent African-American nominee at the start of the first African-American presidency would be a cinch to backfire. Note, however, Holder's 2002 statement to CNN that presents a refreshingly realistic view of the limits of using Geneva Convention rules to govern treatment of unlawful combatants held in detention. Perhaps Holder can persuade his new boss on this.

Homeland Security. Janet Napolitano brings experience as a successful state governor (Arizona) whose immigration policy has the support of her state's constituency, plus having been a U.S. Attorney. She has never held a Washington post, but no doubt has the savvy to catch on quickly. She is surely no Rudy Guiliani, but is probably the best the GOP can expect from this administration.

Health & Human Services. Tom Daschle is a hard-nosed partisan who fought the GOP tooth & nail as Senate Majority Leader & then Minority Leader during the first Bush II term. He will do less damage at HHS then he would have done in the White House as chief of staff. HHS has a tendency, like quicksand, to swallow its nominal chiefs.

Commerce. Bill Richardson brings extensive government experience, having held the Secretary of Energy and the UN Ambassador portfolios during the Clinton years, and pays off Hispanic voters for their support. Commerce usually is a backwater, a place often given to cronies. The last superstar Commerce Secretary was the late Malcolm Baldrige, who held the post for seven years during Reagan's terms, until he was killed in a rodeo accident. Baldrige was a real dynamo. Richardson will be pushing exports in an administration that leans towards protectionism. Why BR would give up the governorship of New Mexico for this is a mystery, from a standpoint of his career, so I will presume he was asked and decided "yes" for reasons of patriotism, seeing his country in trouble.

Non-Cabinet Key Posts. White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel has Daschle's sharp political elbows, but got 60 or so Democrats--mostly moderate and some even conservative--elected in the past two cycles, giving his party strong Democratic control. Gregory Craig, slated for White House counsel, is a top Beltway lawyer, best known for playing key roles in fending off the conviction of Bil Clinton in his 1999 Senate trial, and also for pushing for the return of Elian Gonzalez and opening up to Fidel Castro. Lawrence Summers will head the National Economic Council, a Clinton advisory group established to bring policy focus within the White House--while the Council of Economic Advisers offers economic analysis, less related to day by day policy. Summers, a former Treasury Secretary, is brilliant and justly highly respected.