Government 101

Recently, a friend on Facebook commented that his son's History teacher refused to admit that his son answered a test question correctly. The question was, "How man U.S. Presidents have been Impeached." His son answered "Two". The teacher marked it wrong and said the correct answer was "Zero". This is a pet peeve of mine. As a Poly Sci major I can recall (I'm old) that many people get this confused

Lesson:

The House has the authority to "impeach" the President (VP and others) by a simple majority vote. If the vote passes, that person is considered "Impeached" the end. Think of it like an indictment in Court. Once a President is Impeached he can remain in office and go forward with business as usual.

The Senate has the authority to "Convict" and remove from office the official Impeached by the House. If they decide to convict, and remove from office it must pass by super majority (2/3 vote). The Chief Just of the Supreme Court presides over the Senate proceedings.

Two U.S. Presidents, Clinton and Johnson, have been Impeached. None have been convicted by the Senate or removed from office. The Impeachment process ends after the House vote. Both Clinton and Johnson were acquitted by the Senate.



Many people get the two processes confused but for a school teacher to not know the difference or to admit that he was wrong is unbelievable. Basically, I told my friend, "Your son's teacher is an idiot".

That is your history lesson of the day. I'm excited to go pick up my new Craftsman Tool chest and accessories from Sears. How sad is it that the highlight of my weekend is finally getting all my tools organized.

Check out the video to the left of a band Susan discovered on YouTube. Good to see a young band bringing Grunge back. Rock on!