Monday, October 30, 2006

John Warner Defense Authorization Act

Profmarcus in the comments:
meanwhile, look what snuck in the back door...

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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."

Section 1076 of the massive Authorization Act, which grants the Pentagon another $500-plus-billion for its ill-advised adventures, is entitled, "Use of the Armed Forces in Major Public Emergencies." Section 333, "Major public emergencies; interference with State and Federal law" states that "the President may employ the armed forces, including the National Guard in Federal service, to restore public order and enforce the laws of the United States when, as a result of a natural disaster, epidemic, or other serious public health emergency, terrorist attack or incident, or other condition in any State or possession of the United States, the President determines that domestic violence has occurred to such an extent that the constituted authorities of the State or possession are incapable of ("refuse" or "fail" in) maintaining public order, "in order to suppress, in any State, any insurrection, domestic violence, unlawful combination, or conspiracy."

For the current President, "enforcement of the laws to restore public order" means to commandeer guardsmen from any state, over the objections of local governmental, military and local police entities; ship them off to another state; conscript them in a law enforcement mode; and set them loose against "disorderly" citizenry - protesters, possibly, or those who object to forced vaccinations and quarantines in the event of a bio-terror event.

The law also facilitates militarized police round-ups and detention of protesters, so called "illegal aliens," "potential terrorists" and other "undesirables" for detention in facilities already contracted for and under construction by Halliburton. That's right. Under the cover of a trumped-up "immigration emergency" and the frenzied militarization of the southern border, detention camps are being constructed right under our noses, camps designed for anyone who resists the foreign and domestic agenda of the Bush administration.
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the overwhelming question is why...? why was this draconian measure even being considered, much less enacted...? why was it done covertly...? why haven't the media picked up on it...? never mind, i can answer that last one, but, fer god's sake, why hasn't it been jumped on by the major progressive blogs...? is it because no one wants to believe our government capable of actually taking such criminal action...? for those who pay attention, i don't see why that would be so hard to swallow... i've watched bushco move in this direction for nearly two years, step by secretive step... the pattern is clear for anyone who isn't afraid to see it for what it is... how, pray tell, can we bring this to a halt...? please, someone, tell me...

Can anyone help the good perfessor? I got nothin.

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update: LeeB from the comments:

There's at least one person with a plan to answer this. Luke, I sent you the link to this first diary when I found it back on October 19. I think you've been awash in email since then so may not have seen it.

From Major Danby (on Daily Kos): "HUGE! Bush Guts Posse Comitatus, Grabs National Guard!"

Then on Saturday, from Greg at Carter for Nevada (on Daily Kos): "NV-SEN: Why I've just quit Jack Carter's campaign (it's OK, he'll still win)"

The Connection: In Greg's tip jar, he says:
"One of the things that made me hesitate to do this is that it also means my giving up my anonymity as “Major Danby”. I’ll be writing and faxing letters about this, and potentially getting some radio play, and I can’t do that as effectively under a pseudonym. I’m not happy about outing myself. But this actually is a constitutional crisis in waiting, and the Bush Administration gives me no confidence that – even if this wasn’t an intentional move on their part – it will not use such power unfairly and to its advantage. So: goodbye anonymity. If you’re going to try to take Paul Revere’s ride to warn people about what King George's troops are doing, you have to let people know who you are."

Then, again on Daily Kos, from Major Danby: "Martial law, Section 1076, and FINGER: v1029.1"

I've been following Major Danby's posts for quite some time and have picked up a few biographical bits about him from some of them - that he is a law school professor is the most relevant.

The first post linked above is the bell-ringer; the second is where he's been hanging out for the past couple of months and what he intends to do to fight back - and why (the explanation won't be a surprise). The third is the launch he promised in the second.

There isn't much time to get everything done on the 'to-do' list before the election - just 8 more days, and Greg (Major Danby) says ". . . I want this damn law changed so quickly that it leaves skid marks on the Senate floor."

Me, too. I would just add we need to get the ENTIRE damn law changed that fast. But this part is especially important right NOW.
thnx LeeB

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

I know you don't want to hear it anymore than I want to say it-
We The People threw out the very justice and righteousness of the only real God and substituted his presence with "government."
He's not going to bail us out and he's waiting to hear confession of national and individual sins along with waiting for true repentence- that means turning around and going the opposite direction.
You want things to get better? That is your and our only option.

lukery said...

who/what is the only real god?

Anonymous said...

There's at least one person with a plan to answer this. Luke, I sent you the link to this first diary when I found it back on October 19. I think you've been awash in email since then so may not have seen it.

From Major Danby (on Daily Kos): "HUGE! Bush Guts Posse Comitatus, Grabs National Guard!"

Then on Saturday, from Greg at Carter for Nevada (on Daily Kos): "NV-SEN: Why I've just quit Jack Carter's campaign (it's OK, he'll still win)"

The Connection: In Greg's tip jar, he says:
"One of the things that made me hesitate to do this is that it also means my giving up my anonymity as “Major Danby”. I’ll be writing and faxing letters about this, and potentially getting some radio play, and I can’t do that as effectively under a pseudonym. I’m not happy about outing myself. But this actually is a constitutional crisis in waiting, and the Bush Administration gives me no confidence that – even if this wasn’t an intentional move on their part – it will not use such power unfairly and to its advantage. So: goodbye anonymity. If you’re going to try to take Paul Revere’s ride to warn people about what King George's troops are doing, you have to let people know who you are."

Then, again on Daily Kos, from Major Danby: "Martial law, Section 1076, and FINGER: v1029.1"

I've been following Major Danby's posts for quite some time and have picked up a few biographical bits about him from some of them - that he is a law school professor is the most relevant.

The first post linked above is the bell-ringer; the second is where he's been hanging out for the past couple of months and what he intends to do to fight back - and why (the explanation won't be a surprise). The third is the launch he promised in the second.

There isn't much time to get everything done on the 'to-do' list before the election - just 8 more days, and Greg (Major Danby) says ". . . I want this damn law changed so quickly that it leaves skid marks on the Senate floor."

Me, too. I would just add we need to get the ENTIRE damn law changed that fast. But this part is especially important right NOW.

. . . and, Anon, since God can only do for us what S/He can do through us, I say WE better get busy. :-)

lukery said...

thnx leeb - post updated.

«—U®Anu§—» said...

Yeah, I found out about that the other day. We're fairly depressed about it, but hey, look on the bright side. When Shrubby actually starts using Americans' hard-earned tax dollars to put them in detention/crematoria, maybe it'll bury the republican party for all time, like it did the Nazis. What I can't decide is if that's a fair trade. Power assumed is intended to be used. But what do I know? All year I've been saying Dubya won't be able to resist nuking Iran, and he hasn't done it. And I've been saying I believe he'd start rounding people up for the fun of it, but that hasn't happened, either.

The GOP has believed war resistance or economic collapse would cause a general uprising, and they planned to deal with it using martial law. I guess they never thought about making peace, implementing sound fiscal policy and not punishing innocent citizens. I suppose those ideas are naive heresy.

There's a National Guard armory nearby, and large, undeveloped forest. I'm rather eager for all this to happen. I plan to hide in the woods and sneak out to ambush their sweep teams. If they start rounding up people in this town, they're going to get almost nothing but republicans. How ironic.

Anonymous said...

Luke, you got that up top and my back was turned for only a minnit!

Mr. U, C-Span 2 aired the 90 minute bit on Book TV about Scott Ritter's new book, Target Iran. It is well worth watching if you can find it online. With Sy Hersh as interviewer, Scott lays it all out - 'it' being all the reasons why attacking Iran is foolish, and likely to cause the U.S. enormous harm. Then knowing all that, in answer to the question is bu$h going to attack Iran - he says YES! That the abominable 'war powers' voted on before the 2002 election are interpreted by bu$hCo as being all the permission they need to attack anybody anytime anywhere. He also says bu$h will go to Congress ahead of the attack because he has to get them to okay the money, and he offers only the tiniest of hope that a Democratic-controlled Congress can or will refuse him because of all the mis-information that has been put out from Israeli intelligence that has been swallowed hook, line, and sinker by several of the Dems, not the least of whom is Hillary.

This is a gawdawful mess. So not only do we have to force a reversal of this abomination, we also have to 'inspire' the new Congress to rescind the war powers crap. Somebody has to get sensible PDQ.

Anonymous said...

my head exploded a number of times when reading this, but i should be used to it by now.

Uranus: If they start rounding up people in this town, they're going to get almost nothing but republicans. How ironic.

LMAO!

Anonymous said...

Ur@nus said, about these recently passed, and surrepticiously signed laws,

"...We're fairly depressed about it, but hey, look on the bright side. When Shrubby actually starts using Americans' hard-earned tax dollars to put them in detention/crematoria, maybe it'll bury the republican party for all time, like it did the Nazis..."

I have my doubts. The Nazi Party took over despite not having the support of a majority of Germans. When it continued to do more and more outrageous things the German people didn't just takes its toys away. The idea became, if you were against the policies of the Party, you were anti-German and a danger to the fatherland.

Our strategy should now be to address the arguments they have that convinces them that torture and domestic Inquisitions are the way to go. Do you find anyone addressing this question in the population today?

Anonymous said...

Hi, Steven -

If by "anyone addressing this question in the population today" you are looking for some out-loud media examples (heaven knows a bunch of us have been screaming about it for years), I would say hie thee forthwith to the stash of videos at Crooks and Liars.

If you don't have cable TV or haven't made it a habit to watch Countdown, you've been missing probably the best - nearly ONLY - pushback on these policies aimed at average citizens, complete with discussion of constitutional concerns. Since Keith Olbermann began delivering his 'Special Comments' more regularly since the 5th anniversary of 9/11, his ratings have been climbing. The best place to begin is here.

This is not to in any way 'diss' the efforts of scholarly authors who are cranking out hugely important books dealing with various aspects of these critical issues, but unfortunately, C-Span's Book TV doesn't get quite the audience as the Sunday football games. . . . sigh . . .

Mizgîn said...

Thanks for bringing this second part of the new America anti-terror law to our attention (the first being the Military Commissions Act). It seems to me that more and more the US is beginning to resemble its Turkish ally, reference new Turkish anti-terror law.

Resistance is the only answer: Berxwedan jîyane û jîyan berxwedane (Resistance is life, and life is resistance).

Anonymous said...

Greg ['Major Danby,' for anyone new to this discussion - :-) ] has a new post up at DKos:
"Martial law, Section 1076, and FINGER: Oct. 30 rev 1"

FINGER's new website is up, plus Greg has linked background DKos threads for those who need to catch up.

Anonymous said...

Why does this surprise anyone? I've been complaining for years now that Dopey could declare martial law and cancel the elections to deal with an internal emergency.

Nixon was the first to draft and sponsor the Internal Emergency Security Act, which called for the maintenance of detention centers on 24 hour alert and upon the recommendation of the Attorney General, "supposed subversives" could be "preventively detained" for the duration of the emergency.

This was not widely known until H.Rap Brown's book "Die Nigger, Die." Because of the outcry, the act was repealed and reappeared under a new name, FEMA.

John Dean warned about Martial Law being declared and the elections being cancelled in his book "Worse than Watergate", so the potential has always been there for this. This new "law' is actually redundant. Why do it secretly? Puhleeze. I've been saying for ages now that after the 2004 elections Das Bush and Darth could do just that AND STAY IN POWER FOREVER, or for the duration of the 'emergency" which no doubt will be forever for those power hungry ogres. Have I not already said here that the October Surprise could very well be another 9/11, for this very purpose? From one liberal bastion, New York to the other liberal bastion, Massachusettes and they don't even have to bother to lie about the "lack of intelligence". Anyone with a question is a subversive. Simple, see? Gurgle, gurgle, waterboarding, anyone?

Anonymous said...

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2001/09/20010924.html

http://www.sonic.net/sentinel/gvcon5.html

http://www.theforbiddenknowledge.com/hardtruth/fema_executive_orders.htm

Why would a "president" who wasn't elected either term submit to being impeached or leave office at the end of his second stolen term?

Track said...

If the oversight momentum gets rolling, it could very well lead to criminal charges. So it looks like their play book is to steal another election and see if the public will do anything about it.

Anonymous said...

Thanks Anonymous. I'll make myself crazy re reading all this scary shit.

And thanks LeeB for sending us the info on the new version of the old stuff.

lukery said...

thnx team GSF