Hmmm…. Just in time to be enacted after Democrats take over the House and Senate? Naw, that’s crazy talk. A President would never do anything to abridge his people’s hard won freedoms.
In a stealth maneuver, President Bush has signed into law a provision which, according to Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont), will actually encourage the President to declare federal martial law (1). It does so by revising the Insurrection Act, a set of laws that limits the President’s ability to deploy troops within the United States. The Insurrection Act (10 U.S.C.331 -335) has historically, along with the Posse Comitatus Act (18 U.S.C.1385), helped to enforce strict prohibitions on military involvement in domestic law enforcement. With one cloaked swipe of his pen, Bush is seeking to undo those prohibitions.
Public Law 109-364, or the “John Warner Defense Authorization Act of 2007” (H.R.5122) (2), which was signed by the commander in chief on October 17th, 2006, in a private Oval Office ceremony, allows the President to declare a “public emergency” and station troops anywhere in America and take control of state-based National Guard units without the consent of the governor or local authorities, in order to “suppress public disorder.”
President Bush seized this unprecedented power on the very same day that he signed the equally odious Military Commissions Act of 2006. In a sense, the two laws complement one another. One allows for torture and detention abroad, while the other seeks to enforce acquiescence at home, preparing to order the military onto the streets of America. Remember, the term for putting an area under military law enforcement control is precise; the term is “martial law.”
In a telling bit of understatement, the Senator from Vermont noted that “the implications of changing the (Posse Comitatus) Act are enormous”. “There is good reason,” he said, “for the constructive friction in existing law when it comes to martial law declarations. Using the military for law enforcement goes against one of the founding tenets of our democracy. We fail our Constitution, neglecting the rights of the States, when we make it easier for the President to declare martial law and trample on local and state sovereignty.
george w. bush has once again proven that he is not truly a conservative because of his complete rejection of states’ rights (and fiscal responsibility, and a host of other convenient promises made to right-wingers then broken)
and all the republicans who actually think he’s going to lower their taxes more than the average cable bill just follow along cheering this man as their very rights of self-determination that they claim to support are taken from them in wholesale fashion.
i’m not saying that democrats are any better — they love the concept of government as baby-sitter of the masses, it’s just that republicans swear they want smaller government, but they keep pushing leaders that make the government stronger and more invasive.
kinda stupid really.
This is the crowning acheivement of the fascist reconstructionism of the Cheney/Bush hunta. Over the last 6 years the administration and the Republican puppets in congress have systematically removed many of the checks and balances that protect the righs and liberties of the individual citizen of the US. commercial intersts and their bed-fellows the military elite have become far more important than the person.
We have eight days to gather our votes, to create a coalition of the moderate and leftist elements in the US and wrest power back from the extremists of the right and religious right.
It’s time to get back some of those ‘activist judges’ and put an end to this madness.
I was never a fan of 9-11 conspiracies, but it seems to me that the way things are going, the Bush Administration would like nothing better than a repeat of 9-11 in order to jump in and start enacting those rules that they have been building up.
At this point I actually fear terrorism less than I fear our own government.
I always like to check the original source for veracity. I can’t do it here ’cause the link is broken
If Bush is dumb enough to use this law he will find that he should have repealed the 2nd amendment first.
It was only a matter of time. He’s getting desperate now, surely, I expect to see the day, within a couple of years, where Martial Law is imposed, and Bush is King.
Hail King George!
Long Live the King!
They might as well use the Constitution as toilet paper.
#4: I think the article was on Digg so it could be overloaded. Wait a while.
Then:
“Bush didn’t do anything during Katrina! Why didn’t he take control and deploy troops!”
“It would have been illegal.”
And today:
“Bush is trying to take over and be a dictator!”
“This allows him to take control and deploy troops like you demanded he do during Katrina, without waiting for incompetent fools like Blanco or Nagin to do anything.”
“Oh.”
And with Public Law 109-367 we now will have the construction of a
hi-tech 9000+ bed detention facility that could quickly be used to hold any “internal enemies”.
You know, Bush could have deployed the National Guard for Katrina. Oh wait, they where in Iraq.
searching…
hmm…
“Bush didn’t do anything during Katrina! Why didn’t he take control and deploy troops!”
Not even a good straw argument, malren.
The criticism against the administration wasn’t that they didn’t declare martial law and move armed soldiers into LA and MS after Katrina. The problem was that they sat on their asses, knowing full well that a serious storm was about to do serious damage, and did NOTHING to stage supplies and relief to go into the area. Two days before the storm made landfall, there should have been hundreds of workers (not soldiers) working around the clock loading trucks and activating reservists to prepare for the MINUTE that they could enter the area and establish support for victims.
But of course the President would never abuse these new powers.
Would he?
I like the fact that all of this was hidden within a defense spending bill, I mean who would oppose that? Especially in a time of war and so close to an election. I had to drill down to section 1042 to even find the measure.
Democrats were squealing like stuck pigs when Bush didn’t bring in the Federal Troops into New Orleans to clean up a mess caused by an incompetent mayor and corrupt city council. Now that he has finally gotten the authority to do just that you get this paranoid squealing about him wanting to take over the government. If you liberals are going to whine at least bring some consistency to it.
This next election will test what Bush’s intensions are.
Malren – you can start making your liberals list now.
Combine that with the previously reported 800 fully staffed and ready-to-go FEMA prison camps, and you’ve really got something, say, for example, in the case of another election gone horribly wrong..
#5, the Democrats will repeal the 2nd amendment, to pave the way for using these powers.
If this is true, then it will never stand Constitutional muster. But if it is true, how come this is the first we heard about it? is the media finally becoming conservative (gasp!)?
Bush signed a bill that was passed by Congress. Had he done nothing at all, the bill would have become law within days. If the Democrats were alarmed by the provision within the bill, then the Senate could have used their precious filibuster to prevent its passage. So why didn’t they?
The “King Bush” hype on this blog gets a bit old.
I really wonder how many of our senators have any idea what they’re voting for! I just read through H.R.5122. You can read the summary, and remember – this is just the summary, at http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d109:HR05122:@@@D&summ2=m&
The provision is far down in section 1042 and you can fall asleep quite a few times before getting there. Unfortunately, this is how our government operates – hiding provisions such as this is what is advertised as a funding bill.
Dear lord,
Please help us protect those we love.
Help us to help others,
Give us the resources to protect ourselves, and feed our selves in the wilderness we are about to embark.
Amen.
Martha,
Get the kids, and load up the food.
I’ll get the tents, and the camping equipment.
Billy jr…
Get the guns and ammo.
We either going hunting, or moving out.
How dare he! And how dare Ike send troops to Little Rock! And JFK to Ole Miss!
Obviously, we all know there will never be another national emergency where it will be necessary to station troops in the homeland.
#11 — clicking Hmmmm…. get’s an Error! page — but who in the gov’t would want to know your IP address?
yeah, its a little fishy.
but its ok, it’ll be at least weeks before they come looking for us.
You can try to make President Bush look like a tyrant for signing this bill if you like. But it had to pass both houses of congress before it arrived on his desk. He didn’t create this bill. Congress created the legislation. The final bill came out of conference and passed 398 to 22. To call this a Bush fascist act is ludicrous. 22 Democrats and 1 Republican voted no. Everyone else in Congress voted YES. Final talley 398 YES 23 NO
Follow the link below to see the roll call vote.
http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2006/roll510.xml
#26 – Kent
No argument – none at all! Its out with the Bums time – all of them. The sheeple are too afraid to do it.
I still think Bush is a tyrant, but he had lots of cowards in Congress back him up. As you ably pointed out – at least 398 of them.
AB CD – lol!!!
Yes those dastardly Dems are soooo competent they can just do anything they want. You must be Rush’s love child!
dude – help is available for those with special needs – please just ask.
#8. Believe it or not, I agree. If Dumbya was looking for the chance to declare martial law, Katrina would have been the time. All these hysterics about Bush as Mussolini wannabe dont do much for me.
I guess you folks really didn’t want the Army or National Guard to assist in Katrina (or the next one).
Check your meds people.