May 24, 2020

Oh, we're all "decomposing," aren't we?



ADDED: The Constitution disqualifies you if you're not "natural-born." It says nothing about what if you are dead. And, in fact, dead people HAVE won elections. Read "5 Politicians Who Got Elected Despite Being Dead" (Mental Floss). #1 on the list was Mel Carnahan:
Missouri Governor Mel Carnahan famously won election to the Senate in Missouri in 2000—38 days after passing away in a plane crash that also claimed the lives of his son and a campaign advisor. Carnahan beat incumbent Senator John Ashcroft—who would soon move on to serve as U.S. Attorney General for President George W. Bush. Carnahan’s wife, Jean, filled his spot in the Senate until a 2002 special election.

34 comments:

Mr. Groovington said...

The Biden decomposing tag was used by Lowry on a National Review podcast a month or so ago

Marcus Bressler said...

I haven't watched any of his videos. But I read his stuff when and where I can and he's more than 50% accurate on his takes and predictions...which is more than I can say for the MSM.

THEOLDMAN

"Everything in moderation"

traditionalguy said...

That's cruel.

Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...

Think of the greats-- Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, etc

...spent their life composing, and now the rest of it decomposing

Oh, well-- you know the score.

The Hearse Song

Dont ever laugh
As a Hearse goes by
For you may be the next to die
They wrap you up
In a big white sheet
From your head down to your feet
They put you in a big black box
And cover you up with dirt and rocks
And all goes well
For about a week
And then your coffin begins to leak
And the worms crawl in, the worms crawl out
The worms play pinochle on your snout
They eat your eyes, they eat your noes
They eat the jelly between your toes
A big green worm with rolling eyes
Crawls in your stomach and out your eyes
Your stomach turns a slimy green
And puss comes out like whipping cream
You spread it on a slice of bread
And thats what you eat when your dead
And the worms crawl out and the worms crawl in
The worms that crawl in are lean and thin
The ones that crawl out are fat and stout
Your eyes fall in and your hair falls out
Your brain comes tumbling down your snout
And the worms crawl in, the worms crawl out
They crawl all over your dirty snout
Your chest caves in and your eyes pop out
Your brain turns to saurkraut
They invite their friends, and their friends too
They all come down to chew on you
And this is what it is to die, i hope you had a nice goodbye
Did you ever think as a Hearse goes by
That you might be the next to die
And your eyes fall out and your teeth decay
And that is the end of a perfect... day

Ken B said...

If he were really dead he’d be 50 points ahead.

Tomcc said...

That was a punchline to a joke when I was in high school: "What's Beethoven doing now?"

gadfly said...

Biden is the placeholder until the convention when Plugs will withdraw and the floor will nominate the Obamas as candidates for President and VP. Barry is doing all the talking right now, so MichelleMyBelle won't have to say a nasty word in the last six weeks before the election.

stevew said...

Yes, yes we are. I've been increasingly aware of my mortality. So much so that I don't want to take a nap. I want to sleep a little as is necessary. Life is to be lived, not slept through.

Christopher J Feola said...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLPQRTdkzrU

They're decomposing composers.
There's nothing much anyone can do.
You can still hear Beethoven,
But Beethoven cannot hear you.

Ann Althouse said...

The Constitution says you're disqualified if you're not natural born. It says nothing about when you're dead.

Ann Althouse said...

Dead people HAVE won elections!

Unknown said...

Death is the only way to stop his gaffes

Mary Beth said...

I don't understand having a spouse fill in for a candidate/politician who has died. Is there any other job where this happens? Imagine if an engineer, teacher, airline pilot, auto mechanic, electrician, tax accountant, or lawyer died suddenly. Would the spouse fill in? Is it the one job that truly anyone can do?

Gospace said...

The Ashcroft-Carnahan election aftermath was another in a long line, continuing to this day, of Republicans rolling over and playing dead.

Missouri state law is and was quite specific. The eligible candidate with the most votes wins. Mel Carnahan was dead. Dead people can’t serve as senators, hence he was not eligible. Ashcroft didn’t lift a finger to fight it in court.

And his reward for playing gentleman loser?

42 Democrats, including the newly seated appointed by the governor Jean Carnahan, voted against his confirmation as Attorney General. So much for the mythical senate collegiality. My entire life senate collegiality has been a one way street.

Why hasn’t Trump’s popularity dropped among people who reluctantly voted for him? He fights. My vote for his re-election won’t be reluctant.

Gospace said...

Forgot to mention- Jean Carnahan was so popular in Missouri that she lost the special election for the seat John Ashcroft had legitimately won. I suspect her backstabbing John Ashcroft in the confirmation vote wasn’t forgotten or forgiven by many voters.

Yancey Ward said...

"Dead people HAVE won elections!"

And if Biden wins, we will have a dead person taking the Oath of Office.

Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...

he's ripe for gaslighting.

Someone should tell him he's won his Senate seat

... then wheel him out to the sunporch with the plaid blanket on his lap

Lucien said...

But a dead person cannot take the oath of office, which seems to be a prerequisite of actually becoming the President. If there is no President, then no President dies during the term of the Vice President, so how can the Vice President succeed to the office?

wildswan said...

No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States.


"Natural born", OK - but are you a person after you are dead? Maybe you are a just a potential person.

wildswan said...

Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...
"The worms crawl in ... etc."


Nice to see that someone still loves the classics.

Gospace said...

Ahh, Lucien, reading the Constitution answers that question. If the candidate getting the most EVs dies between the day the electoral college meets and the day the President of the Senate opens the envelopes and counts them, the House immediately sits to vote a new President. They are limited in their choice. If only 2 people received EVs, which will most of the time be the case if there are no faithless electors. If there’s even one faithless elector, there are 2 choices. If there’s more than one, and a tie for #3, then the top 2 and all those tied for third. The 25th amendment says the House has the choice of the top 3.

Birkel said...

Mary Beth,
Yes, it does happen. For many commission jobs the spouse is entitled to a time when they can run the accounts and collect the commissions - even if not licensed - for a set period, usually 3-6 months. The spouse can pass the appropriate exams and get licensed to keep commissions after the time period expires, if they were previously unlicensed.

Also, we should remember that Arkansas currently has senators Cotton and Boozman, both Republicans.

narciso said...

https://mobile.twitter.com/ForAmerica/status/1264585684783976449

Amadeus 48 said...

Leave Joe alone. He is napping. He needs his sleep. He says you can’t leave the party if you can’t find the door.


This is shaping up to be an epic year: Joe would have won if he had been alive, but he closed to within 70 points of Trump (85-15). DNC chair Tom Perez said, “Joe showed what a fighter he is even as a cadaver by narrowing Trump’s lead to 70% when the mail-in votes from Guadalajara and Monterey arrived. We think we are well set up to punch above our weight with 30 seats in the Senate and 95 in the House. We’ve got the Republicans right where we want them.. The walls are closing in.”

gadfly said...

@Ann Althouse said...
Dead people HAVE won elections!

Indeed they have. I was largely reponsible for a deliberate campaign to elect a Township Chairman in Central Wisconsin back in the late '80s after our candidate died just a few week before the election. One mass mailing to all registered voters in the Township did the trick. Unfortunately, the two Township Trustees from the other ticket won, so they appointed the loser as Chairman.

Josephbleau said...

According to Nielsen, he grew so old , he decomposed.

n.n said...

Yes, one colorful clump of cells at a time, with a progressive loss of coherence and eventually viability.

Narayanan said...

Gospace said...
The Ashcroft-Carnahan election aftermath was another in a long line, continuing to this day, of Republicans rolling over and playing dead.

Missouri state law is and was quite specific. The eligible candidate with the most votes wins. Mel Carnahan was dead. Dead people can’t serve as senators, hence he was not eligible. Ashcroft didn’t lift a finger to fight it in court.

And his reward for playing gentleman loser?

42 Democrats, including the newly seated appointed by the governor Jean Carnahan, voted against his confirmation as Attorney General.
----------============
Democrat reasoning is quite logical - you should be able to formulate and follow if you mean your words above.

how can you expect a man who was Attorney General of his State and would not fight for upholding law of his State be confirmed to uphold Laws of United States?

Lucien said...

Gospace: So in the case of death before the electoral college meets . . . ?

Unknown said...

Madame Le Professeur said:
The Constitution says you're disqualified if you're not natural born. It says nothing about when you're dead.

Well, as authors of a "living, breathing document", I'm surprised The Founders didn't think of that angle. Why, in that day, did they not anticipate such a stupid outcome occurring at the hands of the common people?

Not long till "candidates" from thispersondoesnotexist.com become the new normal.

RNB said...

The robot said Joe Biden was decomposing. How did that get generalized to 'we'?

Gospace said...

Lucien,

That's obvious. A pledge to vote for someone now dead is not binding. If the leading candidate is the one who died- it becomes a question of party discipline. Can they get all the electors to vote for the same person? The election will likely end up in the house. Especially of it were close.

There's no election do over. There's a sequence of events. Selection of the electors. The electors vote; votes are transmitted in sealed envelopes to Washington. The President of the Senate opens them. No majority for an eligible candidate? Election goes to the House, immediately.

Greg the class traitor said...

"Horace Greeley died between the general election and the electoral vote. Since he'd lost the general election, the Democratic National Committee didn't bother putting a replacement on the Electoral College ballot, and Greeley received three votes. When the ballots went to Congress, lawmakers passed a measure declaring the Greeley votes invalid and certified the win for Ulysses Grant."

The Constitution specifies that the Electors must vote for a "person". IIRC, every place the US Constitution mentions a "person", they mean a "living person". Se the Census, and the 3/5 Compromise, for places that immediately come to mind.

The only precedent we have, supports that interpretation.

I'm not sure what would happen if a Presidential candidate won on election day, but died before the EC voted, or before Congress certified the election.

Greg the class traitor said...

"Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole Number of free Persons, including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other Persons."

In the US Constitution, "persons" are "living persons"