Biden goofed when he stated last night that Article I of the Constitution defined the Executive Branch. Article II does that job. Not a huge goof... but a goof nonetheless. So I'm sure many wingnuts will grab that thread and pull it as far as it will go. But do they really want to take that road?...
When asked what the Vice President does:
PALIN: No, no. Of course, we know what a vice president does. And that’s not only to preside over the Senate and will take that position very seriously also. I’m thankful the Constitution would allow a bit more authority given to the vice president if that vice president so chose to exert it in working with the Senate and making sure that we are supportive of the president’s policies and making sure too that our president understands what our strengths are.
First of all... I hope she doesn’t write the way she speaks... she would most certainly fail a high school English class. It takes a great deal of effort to follow her train of thought (granted, most of those thoughts were quickly arranged from the note cards she so furiously shuffled through). What I think I heard there is that she would take it seriously (excellent... high marks for that) and she is thankful the Constitution would allow a bit more authority given to the Vice President. A bit more than what? Where does the Constitution mention "exerting authority in working with the Senate"? She’s making stuff up to make it sound like an actual answer.
Then, after being asked about Cheney’s position that the VP is not part of the Executive branch:
PALIN: Well, our founding fathers were very wise there in allowing through the Constitution much flexibility there in the office of the vice president. And we will do what is best for the American people in tapping into that position and ushering in an agenda that is supportive and cooperative with the president’s agenda in that position. Yeah, so I do agree with him that we have a lot of flexibility in there, and we’ll do what we have to do to administer very appropriately the plans that are needed for this nation...
...followed by more garbled gibberish about her executive experience.
Wow... So, are we to take from this that she thinks the VP is or isn’t part of the Executive Branch? I’m not sure I saw the answer there. What I do see is that she believes there is "a lot of flexibility in there", and that we should be "tapping into that position and ushering in an agenda" and that agenda "is supportive and cooperative with the President’s agenda.." Does that mean the Vice President’s job is to make sure the Senate supports and cooperates with the President’s agenda? Doesn’t that defeat the whole "Checks and Balances" thing?
I’m not sure how this can be interpreted as "flexibility":
The Vice President of the United States shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no Vote, unless they be equally divided.
I doubt Palin has mcuh depth of knowledge regarding the Constitution (I’ll stipulate that she knows of its existence). Biden botched his statement... but I’m not sure how that trumps Palin’s complete ignorance. I’d love to give Palin a test on the Constitution.