Vocabulary lesson on the verb "shall" for Congressional Representatives

[Reader Rabbit]

Select definitions of the verb “shall,” taken from Webster’s Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary:

1a: will have to: must

As in, “The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.” (U. S. Constitution, Article II, Section 4)

2a: used to express a command

As in, “The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.” (U. S. Constitution, Article II, Section 4)

2b: used in laws, regulations, or directives to express what is mandatory

As in, “The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.” (U. S. Constitution, Article II, Section 4)

3a: used to express what is inevitable

As in, “The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.” (U. S. Constitution, Article II, Section 4)

4a: used to express determination

As in, “The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.” (U. S. Constitution, Article II, Section 4)

[ellenfl]

1. hm-m-m-m, i'm sensing a theme here. eom

[ISUGRADIA]

2. It does not say

shall impeach, it says shall be removed from office if impeached and convicted. The wording does not force impeachment, only removal from office upon conviction rather than a lesser punishment.

[cali]

3. Sheesh. Not this idiotic shit again.

Shall be removed ON impeachment and Conviction, means that after he/she is impeached in the House and convicted in the Senate, they must be removed from office. It does NOT mean that the House is compelled to impeach. That action is solely at the discretion of the House.

[Trillo]

4. "Shall" Congress enforce their subpeonas?

Or shall they not?

[ChairmanAgnostic]

6. As Agent 86 said, "It's the old shall game, eh?"

Since we on the liberal side don't "shall" out as much in lobbying bribes as the DLC supporters (HMO, big Pharma, Insurance, Banking,) we can be ignored once we did our voting thing.

[MonkeyFunk]

5. oh lord

SOMEBODY needs reading lessons, but it ain't Congress.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

7. Why Yes. If There Was A Successful Impeachment Then The President Would Be Removed.

Has anyone disputed that?

Problem is, whether or not they should initiate such impeachment is a matter left PURELY up to discretion and opinion and something that constitutionally is optional only.