Losing my Republicanism, Part the Second

In "How I lost My Republicanism, Part the First", I questioned Cheney's immoral, hypocritical conduct as CEO of Halliburton and in politics.

In this blog, I want to work through the issue of it being unConstitutional for Cheney and Bush to run together in the 2000 Election, since they both lived in Texas at the time.

According to the Rolling Stone article, "Since Cheney lived in Texas at the time, choosing him led Bush into a situation that, if the words of our Founding Fathers still have any meaning, is unconstitutional. The Constitution forbids a state's electors from voting for candidates for president and vice president who are both "an inhabitant of the same state as themselves." Yet by voting for Bush and Cheney, electors in Texas did precisely that. Cheney lived in Texas, had a Texas driver's license and filed his federal income tax using a Texas address. He had also voted in Texas, not in Wyoming, a state where he had not lived full-time for decades."

Now I hadn't studied the Constitution since school - more than 10 years ago, and being naturally untrusting of the media after having worked in marketing for 5 years, I wanted to find out exactly what they were talking about. Luckily, I kept and was able to find the booklet "The Constitution of the United States" from the Commission on the Bicentennial of the US Constitution

So I read through it to see if this was true.

The 12th Amendment says: "The electors shall meet in their respective states, and vote by ballot for President and Vice President, one of whom, at least shall not be an inhabitant of the same state with themselves;..."

Hmmm...

A presidential and vice presidential candidate residing in the same state cannot both earn that state's electoral votes. That is UNCONSTITUTIONAL and illegal.

George W. Bush is, without a doubt, a resident of Texas. The Governor of Texas from 1994-1999. Owner of the Texas Rangers. His Ranch.

Dick Cheney had lived in Highland Park (Dallas), Texas since 1995. He had a Texas driver's license. He filed his federal tax returns using a Texas address. (Source: http://austin.about.com/cs/georgewbush/a/cheney_texan.htm)

That all makes sense considering that since 1995 Cheney had worked for Halliburton, which is based in Dallas.


In July 2000, Cheney applied for voter registration in Wyoming. (Source 1: http://www.dailytexanonline.com/global_user_elements/printpage.cfm?storyid=700997; Source 2: http://austin.about.com/cs/georgewbush/a/cheney_texan.htm)

However, according to the opinion piece http://www.dailytexanonline.com/global_user_elements/printpage.cfm?storyid=700997, "He also voted as a Texas resident in the last eight election cycles, up to this one."

According to an article from the November 22, 2000 Austin American-Statesman, Cheney claimed the homestead tax exemption on his Dallas home, which he later put up for sale, which is only allowed on property the owner considers their main home. (Source: http://austin.about.com/cs/georgewbush/a/cheney_texan.htm)

Another article, this one from 2001, on the Austin American-Statesman's website archives, described Bush and Cheney as "former Texas residents."

There is no doubt that Cheney and Bush were both residents of Texas when they ran for office in 2000.

I was totally unaware of this during the 2000 election. I don't remember any of the media outlets in my area saying or running anything about this. And it barely got more coverage in 2004.

Thankfully, not everyone was unaware of this. In 2000, a Florida lawyer filed a lawsuit saying that Texas' 32 electoral votes could not be counted for Bush/Cheney. When this suit was thrown out by a Miami federal judge because it wasn't filed where the defendant lived, three Dallas, Texas voters filed a lawsuit. According to the forementioned article in the Austin American-Statesman, that federal judge refused to schedule an immediate hearing on the case; this judge also declined to issue a restraining order to keep the Texas electors from voting for Cheney.

At the time, the Bush/Cheney campaign called this a frivolous lawsuit. But the actions of Cheney show that he knew that running with Bush was Unconstitutional and Illegal; and he knew that it would be challenged as such. Yet they still went ahead with their campaign. And took those 32 electoral votes.

Bush/Cheney talk copiously about "Strict Constitution", not to mention Christian values like "honesty", "integrity", and "character". How does running knowingly with someone who is a resident of the same state and allowing the electors to cast an illegal vote, fit in with Christ's teachings?

As a Christian and an American who believes in our Constitution, it goes against my values.

So why does this not anger my fellow Americans and Christians? Are you just unaware of this, as I was until I read the Rolling Stone article?