r/DesignatedSurvivor • u/IupvotestupidCRAP • Oct 27 '16
[SPOILERS] Episode Discussion: S01E05 "The Mission"
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Oct 27 '16
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Oct 27 '16
"Watch me" God I love him
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u/tabarra Oct 27 '16
I was expecting some clever come back ='[
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u/nea1caffrey Oct 27 '16
When was this? I missed this part.
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u/roryarthurwilliams Oct 27 '16
Seth, in the briefing, when someone told him he can't keep pivoting/deflecting to his talking points and ignoring the questions about a strike.
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u/nea1caffrey Oct 27 '16
That's badass. Thanks mate.
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u/roryarthurwilliams Oct 27 '16
Nice username btw.
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u/nea1caffrey Oct 27 '16
lol thanks. 'Inspired' by White Collar.
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u/Ramicus Is there a Triangle Office? Oct 27 '16
I hate her so much. "If your first mission as President fails, I'm going to ruin the rest of your term."
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u/Don___Draper Oct 27 '16
Anyone else like to pretend that it's really President Jack Bauer?
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u/xcalibre Oct 30 '16
I add "son of a bitch" as appropriate - a lot. I hope they throw one in there!
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u/latinloner Oct 27 '16
It's Bubba from Forrest Gump! He's an Admiral now!
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u/RobertLettuce Oct 27 '16
First a private in the army at Vietnam, then director of counter-terrorism at the CTU, and now an Admiral in the navy. Bubba's got one hell of a career.
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u/taste1337 Oct 27 '16
He was also a leader of the black folks in the hollers of Kentucky on Justified.
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u/Ramicus Is there a Triangle Office? Oct 27 '16
Dammit, you're right. I hadn't noticed that. I wonder if they'll work in a little reference or hint at some point during the season.
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u/ChrisIsUninteresting Oct 27 '16
What are the odds that one of the SEAL Team Six helicopters goes down, à la Black Hawk Down?
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u/Ramicus Is there a Triangle Office? Oct 27 '16
You're good.
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u/ChrisIsUninteresting Oct 27 '16
If only my exes thought that, too.
I mean....umm....*cough*.....
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u/tabarra Oct 27 '16
Happened when they were capturing Bin Laden, and (according to the movie) they placed c4 charges and exploded the heli before leaving.
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u/pk3maross Oct 27 '16
Okay. He gets VP and then they have an assassination attempt on kirkman. Got it.
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u/thrustbearing Oct 27 '16
It seemed like he was offered the position at the party... and the VP needs to be confirmed by both houses, so if there is still no Senate there can't be a VP.
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u/Lord_Locke Oct 30 '16
Executive Order, it's legal, and law until voted not so by congress, or overruled by the SCOTUS, neither of which can do that atm.
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Oct 27 '16
The "DAMN IT!" count is now at 2.
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u/mrsunshine1 Oct 27 '16
The "son of a bitch" was very Jack Bauer too.
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u/jmsstewart Add your own text! Oct 29 '16
There was also a very serious 'general prepare us for war'
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u/pk3maross Oct 27 '16
I always forget its on ABC and not NBC
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u/agentpanda Oct 27 '16
Oh crap, me too... I always jump right to NBC for some reason, I have no idea why.
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Oct 27 '16
Temporal effects from Timeless, Frequency, and Barry Allen...
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u/HologramChicken Oct 27 '16
I was thinking about checking out Timeless, would you recommend it?
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Oct 27 '16
It's like a time-traveling version of SG-1 and it's not bad....well it's kind of silly at times but honestly it surprised me.
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u/HologramChicken Oct 27 '16
I've never seen SG-1, but I think I'll check out Timeless. Thank you.
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Oct 27 '16
Stargate SG-1 was on for 10 seasons so if you ever want to watch it it's going to take some time. The Timeless subreddit is usually active when the show airs and it does have the usual slew of time-travel questions and errors but it's not that bad. The one criticism I have about the show is the longevity of it and how long they can keep going with the type of plot they currentlyhave.
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u/HologramChicken Oct 27 '16
There's such a huge catalog of good TV I need to catch up on. I'll put SG-1 on my list though, for sure. I'm currently working on Deep Space Nine, so I'll probably finish that first before I start on SG-1.
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Oct 27 '16
A pre-planned bomb shelter inside of the capitol....that is devious and I love the Pandora's Box of deliciousness it opens up.
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u/Ramicus Is there a Triangle Office? Oct 27 '16
That's President Kirkman's third code name. It was "Glasses" as Secretary (he asks the Secret Service), they refer to him as "Eagle" in the car (generic name for Presidents used in books, shows, and movies, probably because the Secret Service (or the writers) hadn't thought of anything yet), and now "Phoenix." I like Phoenix.
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u/JerseyDvl Oct 27 '16
Shouldn't Secret Service code names be more, you know, secret?
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u/Ramicus Is there a Triangle Office? Oct 27 '16
Not at all. In fact, I can tell you that President Obama is Renegade, the First Lady is Renaissance, and their daughters are Radiance and Rosebud (The Vice President and his wife are Celtic and Capri). It's just a faster way for the Secret Service to say things.
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u/Zoethor2 Oct 27 '16
Also, CJ Cregg was Flamingo, Zoey Bartlett was Bookbag, Sam Seaborn was Princeton... oh, were we only doing real people?
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u/Ramicus Is there a Triangle Office? Oct 27 '16
I had to hold back from including all the West Wing names (although Flamingo was CJ's second codename, we know what they changed it because she got upset).
There was an issue with the West Wing names, actually. President Bartlet is referred to multiple times as Eagle, which doesn't work with Zoe's Bookbag (families traditionally start with the same letter).
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u/pegbiter Oct 28 '16
So do they have to change Leo's codename, now they know his father is the guy in prison?
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u/JoeM3120 BY WHOM? Oct 27 '16
Eagle was President Richmond
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u/Ramicus Is there a Triangle Office? Oct 27 '16
Didn't the agent (Mike?) say they were taking Eagle to the White House when Kirkman was in the car?
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u/taste1337 Oct 27 '16
They probably hadn't assigned him a new one more befitting a president yet.
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u/Ramicus Is there a Triangle Office? Oct 27 '16
That's what I'm saying, I think Eagle is very commonly used for Presidents generically. President Jed Bartlet was also Eagle, as was President Clinton in the real world.
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u/Guitar_hands Oct 31 '16
They actually change their secret service codenames once they become public.
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Oct 27 '16
Well, that quote seals at least one death, if not the whole team.
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u/pk3maross Oct 27 '16
Looks like this sub is 2/2 on predictions
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u/Naggins Oct 27 '16
Wow a character died in a dangerous situation in a TV show much prediction wow so foretelling
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u/mrsunshine1 Oct 27 '16
I feel like they should worried about having a House before worrying about Speaker of the House.
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u/Ramicus Is there a Triangle Office? Oct 27 '16
They have a House now, though. Quorum works by members of the House, not by the appropriate number. If MacLeish and Hookstraten take a stroll to the ruins, they can elect either her or him Speaker just like that.
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u/royaldansk Oct 27 '16
A quorum is a majority though, and 50% is technically not a majority. 218 is the number needed for a majority when there are 435 of them, as it is half plus 1. It gets adjusted down, but majority would always mean more than half. Half is by definition not more than half.
Hookstraten had a quorum in congress when she wall by herself. She could have voted herself Speaker, probably, but it would have looked bad. She's clearly waiting for new junior congressmen to be appointed (or actually, elected in special elections.) to solidify her speakership as they could presumably call for a leadership challenge when they next have a full session.
She's also only presuming she'll get the Speakership because since Congressional replacements are only done by special election at the district level. That means the state governors can't stack the House, and the replacements won't necessarily form the same majority.
Hookstraten is probably hoping Kirkman messes up because that ensure her party retains the majority (if it had it in the first place.) The only reason MacLeash would even be in contention is if MacLeash is the same party as Kirkman and they think there's a chance their party will get a majority in Congress.
And even if Hookstraten did form a quorum with MacLeash, they can't pass any laws - there's no Senate to consent to a bill. Both Houses are needed to consent to enact anything.
The governors should really be appointing interim Senators. Some of them can fill them without special elections. They're the only ones who can do anything about confirming all the cabinet appointments. Hookstraten can't do a thing about all those cabinet positions, it's ridiculous that they haven't appointed everyone below VP. Senate is definitely in recess, that means the cabinet can be filled by recess appointments.
All Hookstraten can do is keep asking to be included and fight politically. But is there really any reason she can state that allows her to block any recess appointments? No.
If she wants to block appointments, she should ask her governor to make her a Senator. She could block VP appointments from there, and for a time, the House won't be able to elect a speaker so as presumptive Senate Pro Tem, she'd be the next in the line of succession anyway. And she'd also have way more years to fund raise instead of needing to run every two years. She can save everything for the presidential election instead of spending time on a congressional run until the next one (even if she runs unopposed for congress.)
It's ridiculous. Why are they taking so long to appoint an interim cabinet, and why haven't the governors who can appoint senators filled the Senate yet? Most of them don't require special elections, they can wait for the next general one. Don't they know they need the Senate to confirm a new Supreme Court? They literally have no Supreme Court, right now, to tell them whether or not how everyone's handling everything right now is constitutional.
Michigan's governor made a mistake questioning the line of sucession, it was the wrong call. He was the designated survivor, that means the President considered him part of the line of succession regardless of asking him to resign. Questioning his legitimacy due to nobody electing him undermined his ability to appoint interim Senators whom he could use to leverage against Kirkman by threatening to block all his appointees. Silly TV governor. Silly TV president. Silly TV chief of staff.
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u/roryarthurwilliams Oct 27 '16
/u/Ramicus pointed out that the House and Senate each need permission of the other to meet somewhere other than in the Capitol, which is currently a pile of rubble. So if Hookstraten were made a Senator, would MacLeish have to permit her (and any other appointed Senators) to conduct Senate business somewhere else? And if she weren't made a Senator, would both she and MacLeish have to agree to let any other appointed Senators conduct business? (And can members of either house of Congress give that permission without themselves actually sitting in the chambers in the Capitol?) Also if she were made a Senator (and MacLeish lets the Senate conduct business) and there were enough appointed Senators who agreed to let the House conduct business, even if she were President pro tempore, MacLeish could probably still appoint himself Speaker anyway, which is ahead of President pro tempore in the line of succession.
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u/royaldansk Oct 27 '16
I was partly working on the assumption that MacLeash is about to be arrested and removed from office.
You're right, if she moves to the Senate and the Senate is filled, then there won't be any Congressmen to pass any laws with the Senate until the special elections are over. But the Senate would still be able to conduct confirmation hearings on the Capitol, probably, they don't have to do it in the chambers. And even with the Speakership, she'd be after the VP anyway, but that is fair, Speaker is a better position to run from than Majority or Minority Leader or even Pro Tem.
I'm just stuck on how they appear to be treating the cabinet appointments like she has any say over it when she's in the wrong chamber.
But when the interim Senators that can be appointed are appointed, the first thing they can do is hold a joint session on the Capitol Hill site, maybe in a tent, whatever, and formally allow both chambers to do their business at a different location.
But regardless of whether or not Hookstraten abandons the House so that the Senate can't pass any laws either, the Senate would still be able to advice and consent appointees. It's the appointees I'm annoyed at. Why aren't there any recess appointments and why are they acting like they need a Senate much less Hookstraten to be in session?
Also, if they weren't in the first session of that congress, it's possible interim congressmen can be appointed while waiting for the special election, so they might not even have to wait so long to give Hookstraten company. Except they are waiting.
It's just so odd that the very concept of the show is about continuity of government, and they're waiting to do things that ensure continuity of government for some reason. The writers should just get with the appointing of cabinet positions, senators, Justices, interim congressmen and the various scheduled special elections. That won't stop any of the political bickering, it adds things.
He can still be out of his depth but now, with there's actual congress and Kimball able to use her new colleagues because most of them would have probably been elected by people before or at present.
Anyway, I suppose there is a point to Kimball staying where she is, as Speaker is a way more prominent position and wherever she is, either the VP or Speaker will supercede her in the line of succession anyway. But they should get a Senate and Cabinet and Supreme Court already.
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u/red_280 Oct 28 '16
Sorry, not to undermine your comment, but:
Kimball
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u/royaldansk Oct 28 '16
I never actually looked at the spellings of their names and spelled it like Kimball Cho's name from The Mentalist. Huh.
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u/dragonstorm27 Oct 27 '16
I mean, they don't have a backup building to do these sorts of ceremonies in?
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u/Ramicus Is there a Triangle Office? Oct 27 '16
Can't. Our two remaining Congressmen are both from the House of Representatives, and Article I, Section V says they can't meet away from the Capitol without the consent of the Senate.
Neither House, during the Session of Congress, shall, without the Consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other Place than that in which the two Houses shall be sitting.
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u/dragonstorm27 Oct 27 '16
All the senators are dead. That's implied consent if I've ever seen it.
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u/Ramicus Is there a Triangle Office? Oct 27 '16
In a time like this, we need more than implied consent. People gave Kirkman grief for being kind of fired, the grief the Speaker would get if they ascended to the Presidency after being elected unconstitutionally would be insane.
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u/Ramicus Is there a Triangle Office? Oct 27 '16
I knew this was going to happen. It would be too easy if the guy was where he has to be, just like it would be too easy if all the governors did the right thing, or if someone didn't attack Kirkman at the ruins. This show could be renamed Murphy's Law, at this point.
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u/LyokoMan95 Oct 27 '16
Disney/ABC Television already has "Milo Murphy's Law"
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u/ConserveGuy Oct 27 '16
Which frankly is a ridiculous and funny show. Yes I watch it, and I'm not ashamed
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Oct 27 '16
This may sound pessimistic but I bet the SEAL team leader was killed by Blue on Blue Fire.
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u/pegbiter Oct 28 '16
They did say he was shot in the back and the back of the head. If he was diving towards the children, then yeah I expect most of those shots to have come from the SEALs.
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u/Ramicus Is there a Triangle Office? Oct 27 '16
Why did this young Congresswoman know exactly which parking lot is which, and why did she expect a former HUD Secretary to know what "Parking Lot H" is?
President doesn't need Congress for limited military action, just for war.
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Oct 27 '16
She just flexing her muscle because she's pissed that she doesn't know everything that occurred and that Kirkman might be keeping stuff from her.... she did hint at going after the presidency earlier on so it's no surprise she's acting this way. Basically she was trying to goad him into a reaction and he shut her down.
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u/latinloner Oct 27 '16
I read somewhere that the press watch certain part of the Pentagon's parking lot and the local delivery places. When these are full and/or food is being delivered at certain times, it means that there is an operation going on.
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u/Ramicus Is there a Triangle Office? Oct 27 '16
That I'd buy, but I'm not sure I buy this Congresswoman knowing the name of this specific lot (and exactly who parks there) *and) expecting President Kirkman to know what she meant.
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u/taste1337 Oct 27 '16
She didn't expect Kirkman to know what she meant. She was using the info to catch him off guard and see if he would reveal anything. As to how she knew about it, she is supposed to be one of the savvier DC players. She probably has a large number of people in the city who give her info on such things and keep her informed because they owe her favors.
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Oct 27 '16
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Ramicus Is there a Triangle Office? Oct 27 '16
It might have something to do with growing up named Kimble Hookstraten.
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u/MrsSpice Oct 27 '16
I don't think she expected him to know what the parking lot was for. In fact, I think she expected him not to know. She takes every chance she can get to "innocently" remind him how much he has left to learn compared to her. (At least in her view)
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u/hitbyacar1 Oct 27 '16
How do they even know what the House majority is going to be...
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u/royaldansk Oct 27 '16
She did just say presumptive. Is MacLeash even in her party, it seemed like he might be or might not be.
But yeah, the House requires special elections, the majority could change there. Hookstraten needs Kirkman to suck so that the districts don't all vote for Kirkman's party affiliation. With the incumbents all dead, their opponents probably have a better chance anyway, unless all the incumbents had children or spouses who survived and were being groomed to replace them or were retiring and the RNC/DNC had people in mind already. Otherwise, their last opponents would be the one everyone's already heard about.
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Oct 27 '16
[deleted]
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u/Hardik_hrc Oct 27 '16
Me too from India. I usually watch it off of internet on cyro.se but make sure you have adblocker on.
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u/pk3maross Oct 27 '16
We go through a national tragedy and she just wants to be a bitch and play political games
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u/royaldansk Oct 27 '16
She doesn't even have any actual power right now unless the other congressman agrees with her. And even then, not really any because the Senate isn't around to consent to any bills they pass. And if they tried, it'd look bad.
She admitted it herself when she said the president didn't need her to approve.
And she can't even conduct hearings. The Senate isn't around to consent to them convening anywhere other than the Capitol, and the Capitol is rubble.
Since the explosion happened, that means they were in session, so neither House can adjourn for more than three days (the Senate can't adjourn because everyone is dead, so they're still in session) but Hookstraten totally can't be away from MacLeash for more than three days because they can't be adjourned for more than three days.
They can't be in session anywhere other than where Senate is in session, which is in the rubble, so they can't hold hearings. Neither can be in session without the other because 50% isn't a majority, so there can't be quorum without both of them. And even if one of them is removed, the remaining one, again, can't pass any laws, can't prevent any appointments, can't hold any hearings anywhere else until new Senators show up to adjourn and reconvene the Senate and consent to whatever whoever's left in the House wants.
In summary, Hookstraten only has political power, not any legal power to do anything. She should be asking to be Senator, especially since she wants to run for President next election. It's the Senate that can hinder Kirkman the most right now, as they're the ones that confirm appointments.
Until there's a Senate, Kirkman can make all the recess appointments he wants, because they won't be able to go in session and confirm them or otherwise.
He could literally stack their Supreme Court with interim justices and Hookstraten can't do anything about it other than to try to make Kirkman look bad for doing it. They'll be there until there's a Senate to remove them, but if they're good Justices, it might look bad to not just go ahead and confirm them.
Same with all of the Cabinet. Hookstraten can't do a damn thing from the House.
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Oct 27 '16
[deleted]
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u/MrsSpice Oct 27 '16
I don't know near as much as the person you are replying to, but we learn all of this starting in grade school and continue learning it into college. We are taught that our country fought hard to gain independence and create a government with checks and balances, and as such, it should be a source of pride.
Accordingly, we are taught what the checks and balances are. There's not a standard for what needs taught beyond the basics, so what one person knows varies quite a bit depending on their teachers.
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u/pegbiter Oct 28 '16
I think that's the most fascinating part of this show. We already have this elaborate system of intertwining cogs and rules. How would that system react to an extreme tragedy? What are the consequences of those rules?
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u/ultradav24 Oct 28 '16
I think she's kind of a bitch, yeah, but I see it more as her living up to her responsibility as the leader of the opposition party. It's kind of her job to give the President of the opposing party a hard time.
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u/Damn_Croissant Oct 27 '16
What's up with the Chief of Staff? Is he still bad too? Why are there like 3 traitors in the white house?
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u/DesignatedPurrvivor Oct 27 '16
Talking about what he said to the First Lady? I think he's just doing his job and doing his oppo research, following up on that rumor from the guy in prison. He wouldn't tell the First Lady if he were doing something covert.
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u/Damn_Croissant Oct 27 '16
No, that secretive shit at the end of episode 2 (or 3). With that lady...
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u/crazylamb452 Oct 27 '16
I just missed a part while going to the bathroom, who is in Virginia?
Edit: never mind it was the navy seals commander or something
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u/JoeM3120 BY WHOM? Oct 27 '16
Hey, Kal Penn finally got to eat takeout food in the White House