Ben Baker: Beware, Nancy Pelosi could be your next president

 

This is the time of the year when politicians whose names are on the ballot usually spend their time spreading the good word about their accomplishments.

That plan won't fly for Ben Baker, R-Neosho, who is seeking his second term in the Missouri House of Representatives.

Of course, he could talk about his efforts to keep crossdressers away from Missouri libraries, or his efforts to battle mask mandates and eliminate any rules designed to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Or he could talk about his hostility toward public education.

Yes, this would be a great time for a politician to spread the word about his accomplishments.

When you're Ben Baker and your accomplishments could be written in one sentence and still fall three words short, you have to spread something else.

Hence, his Facebook attempt to scare his friends and followers into thinking that if the presidential election isn't settled by Tuesday night, it will open the gates for that nightmare scenario that could put Nancy Pelosi in the Oval Office.

A Democrat.

And even worse than that- a woman.

Naturally, Ben Baker wants to protect us from that fate worse than death since everyone knows Democratic women want to take away his guns and force him to wear a mask.

And no one wants to be emaskulated. (Yes, I spelled that the way I wanted to spell it.)

In all fairness, since I am writing about him, let's allow Ben Baker to have his say:

Lots of people have been spreading misinformation about what happens if the election gets delayed because of mail in ballots or who would assume power if it is not decided by the inauguration, etc. Here is a summary of the process to help explain possible scenarios. 

- A close election between the presidential candidates where the winner could change as incoming ballots are counted over the days following the election, could lead to a legal contest over the results, this could possibly end up in the SCOTUS. 

- It’s possible there will be all kinds of litigation, and much of it will be in the different state courts. That’s because the U.S. Constitution gives primary responsibility for elections to the states

- The candidate who receives at least 270 out of 538 electoral votes wins the presidency. But if a tie or legal proceedings prevent a candidate from winning an absolute majority of votes in the Electoral College, a so-called “contingent election” would be held during a joint session of Congress on Jan. 6, 2021— with Vice President Mike Pence presiding.

- The 12th Amendment states that a vote by the House of Representatives decides the presidency, with each state delegation having one vote. A majority of states (26) is needed to win. In this scenario Republicans would have a majority of the States. 

- The Senate elects the vice president with each senator having a vote, and a majority (51) is needed to win.

- The newly-elected Congress will be sworn in on Jan. 3, 2021, which would take on this responsibility.

- The presidency has only been decided this way one time — the election of John Quincy Adams in 1825.

- If the House hasn’t elected a president by Inauguration Day, then the vice president-elect steps in to serve as president until a commander-in-chief is picked, as laid out by the 20th Amendment.

- Keep in mind the House and Senate vote on these independently and the Senate will more than likely still be a Republican majority. The Senate would go ahead and elect the Vice President regardless of what the House decides to do. 

- Only If the Senate has also not yet chosen a vice president, then the Presidential Succession Act of 1947 applies — which says that the speaker of the House of Representatives would act as president until there is a president or vice president. If re-elected to both her seat and the speakership, this would be Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.

After the House speaker, the next in line is the president pro tempore of the Senate. Currently, Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, serves in this capacity

While Baker never specifies what misinformation is being spread, the major bit of misinformation is being spread by him.

Mail-in ballots that are still being counted past Tuesday are part of the election process. Since he rightly points out the Constitution leaves elections to the state, you would think Baker would also point out that many states already have this late counting built into their constitutions and it does not cause any problems.

He also fails to note that not one state requires elections to be decided on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November. The canvassing is usually held a couple of days after the election and in some states more than a week later.

The electoral college does not meet until mid-December, which should provide plenty of time both for counting votes and for any legal challenges.

I am sure Baker left that out by accident and wasn't really trying to convince people that any mail-in votes could bring about the nightmare scenario of a President Pelosi.

Thankfully, Baker still has the time to correct the misinformation he is spreading, unless of course he wants to get together a search party to locate his first term accomplishments.