The fact that Dear Leader is a megalomaniac has been apparent for quite some time now, but on May 9, when he placed his John Hancock on the “National Security and Homeland Security Presidential Directive,” his fulfillment of the fantasy of becoming King George has alarmed even the true believers.
The directive revokes the 1998 Presidential Decision Directive 67 that was signed by Bill Clinton. The summary of PDD 67 is that it required federal agencies to develop continuity plans in the case of an emergency or national disaster (the full text of the document hasn’t been released to the public). That 1998 directive obviously didn’t satisfy Bush’s requirements for executive branch power.President Bush has signed a directive granting extraordinary powers to the office of the president in the event of a declared national emergency, apparently without congressional approval or oversight.
…The directive establishes under the office of the president a new national continuity coordinator whose job is to make plans for “National Essential Functions” of all federal, state, local, territorial and tribal governments, as well as private sector organizations to continue functioning under the president’s directives in the event of a national emergency.
“Catastrophic emergency” is loosely defined as “any incident, regardless of location, that results in extraordinary levels of mass casualties, damage, or disruption severely affecting the U.S. population, infrastructure, environment, economy, or government functions.”
The power grab, which hasn’t received enough press fanfare (I wonder why?), even has the likes of Swift Boater Jerome Corsi unloading on this news at WND. See after the flip.
Of course, when would an emergency officially be “over?” I guess the President should make the call on that one, right?When the president determines a catastrophic emergency has occurred, the president can take over all government functions and direct all private sector activities to ensure we will emerge from the emergency with an “enduring constitutional government.”
Translated into layman’s terms, when the president determines a national emergency has occurred, the president can declare to the office of the presidency powers usually assumed by dictators to direct any and all government and business activities until the emergency is declared over.
Ironically, the directive sees no contradiction in the assumption of dictatorial powers by the president with the goal of maintaining constitutional continuity through an emergency.
Where is Congress on this? What about presidential accountability? MIA. Why aren’t there calls from all along the spectrum to examine this action by Bush? His Global War On Terror is not grounds to anoint himself dictator.
The Base is not happy (after all, this applies to any president, not just their demi-god), but way too many have a screw loose over this and don’t see a problem.
What do you think of Bush granting the presidency extraordinary powers?
82 Responses to “Bush: dictator with a stroke of a pen”
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It makes me wonder if something big is about to happen. I know that sounds paranoid but I don’t trust this administration for a second.
Wow. They actually knocked “CLINTON DID IT!!” down to the #2 spot. They must really be pissed.
“Catastrophic emergency� is loosely defined as “any incident, regardless of location, that results in extraordinary levels of mass casualties, damage, or disruption severely affecting the U.S. population, infrastructure, environment, economy, or government functions.�
How incredibly broad! Derr Chimpenfuhrer is only in office for another 1.5 years (barring further power grabs at the last minute under some ‘emergency’) so unless overturned, future presidents can use this. No matter what noble intentions a person might have, power is hard to resist. The old saw of ‘absolute power corrupts absolutely ‘ has a lot of truth to it. Even the wacky WND crowd can see that.
And as a Native, I find it interesting that tribal govt’s are specified, and that a ‘catastrohpic emergency’ includes infrastructure and economy. Hmmmm. Wonder if that could include land and power grabs over uranium, coal, water resources, etc, on Indian lands.
One Step Closer to Dictatorship…
This is very scary, and where is the press?
From WND:
President Bush has signed a directive granting extraordinary powers to the office of the president in the event of a declared national emergency, apparently without congressional approval or ove…
I don’t know whether to be amazed or appalled that over 48% of the true believers voting think this is an absolutely horrendous idea (adding together the verge of a police state, Bush the most dangerous president, and maybe another president but not this one categories). Add in the but but but Clinton crowd and it’s almost 63%. Are the true believers finally getting a clue?
He always gets everything that he wants.
This completely went unreported by MSM. Most Americans don’t know about this, or what this implies. Catastrophe can be defined easily, whether it’s another hurricane, an alleged report of a bird flu outbreak, an alleged computer virus that attacks government computer systems. Look how subjective “enemy combatant” is defined. I think everyone should spread the world, and ask their congress people how and why this happened.
Well, following his example of 9/11 and Katrina/New Orleans, I think we can be pretty sure that when an emergency occurs, he won’t do a damn thing, he’ll be completely MIA. Not that I would trust him to walk my dog…
“It makes me wonder if something big is about to happen. I know that sounds paranoid but I don’t trust this administration for a second. ” It’s certainly healthy. No one should trust this regime or underestimate what they are capable of doing. The aftermath of Katrina, when private security firms were brought in, such as Blackwater, showed us that the administration is not adverse to paying these firms big money to oppress and harass populations of citizens.
http://sandiego.indymedia.org/en/2007/05/126213.shtml
Blackwater, for example, has created a new domestic division, as well as expanding their training facilities to other locations, including out west. And they’re making even more money, by hiring foreign mercs, at cheap prices.
so would a war with Iran - which disrupts oil supplies from the gulf tossing the US economy into chaos count as a Catastrophic Emergency? Just thinking out loud.
I heard this from Jim Ward topday on Stephanie Miller … goes to what I have been saying for years; there won’t be a 2008 election* because we will have a terrorist attack and -President- Dictator for Life GW Bush will take power.
(alternative is that we do have the 2008 elections and a Democrat wins, then we will have a Novemeber - January surprise and Bush takes over for life)
Holy shit.
The job market in British Columbia is pretty good right now. Just sayin’ is all.
No place is far enough away.
Like a Dem victory in 08?
People on other boards I frequent told me there wouldn’t be an election in ‘04, either. You have to remember Ward is the “official conspiracy theorist” on Stephanie Miller.
My only consolation, weak as it may be, is that he has so alienated the military that it would not support his declaration of dictatorial power. Mercenaries are good up to a point, but they don’t control the heaviest of our weaponry. Plus, we are dependent on the rest of the world for so much of our day-to-day existence, and the rest of the world would cut us off in a heartbeat, perhaps even unite militarily against his regime to liberate our people. His loyalists are too few. Perhaps he could have done this in 2004, but now? I don’t see it working.
Looks like they got another 9/11 in the works.
SORRY!…the Conspiracist-in-Me keeps makin’ me do it….
[But I still always do wonder,…under my breath, as it were
and they’ve got less than 2 years to pull off the take-over]
“The job market in British Columbia is pretty good right now. Just sayin’ is all.”
Shhh!!! Don’t tell them how good it is here, then they’ll all want to come.
Snark aside, your pres is one scary reason to not visit the states, and I say that knowing the dollar is almost on par (damn product availabilitly not being as good up here) Besides, us Canucks might have Leprosy
This is huge. BushCo’s biggest frustration during Katrina wasn’t that that people were dying and that FEMA was hamstrung by incompetence at all levels, it was that he couldn’t annex Louisiana. These people are insane, there’s no other word for it.
Hurricane season is coming up.
But even wihtout a pen-stroke, Bush is a…. oh, you said dicTATOR. Never mind
ekf:
If we’re talking about the tanks, aircraft, and boats - you have a point. But I severely question if the army & national guard have the infantry, hand weapons, and remaining strength to rebuff a mercenary group like Blackwater in urban or small-scale warfare. How many of our troops are going to desert or refuse to shoot at mercs hiding in Oklahoma City with a civilian population present? Especially after seeing for themselves what ‘precision’ bombs and other weapons do for collateral damage?
And I wouldn’t hold much faith that the UN, France, China or even Great Britain would intervene. Maybe Canada would, but they’ve always had a soft spot for us.
“(21) This directive:
(a) Shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and the authorities of agencies, or heads of agencies, vested by law, and subject to the availability of appropriations;
(b) Shall not be construed to impair or otherwise affect (i) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budget, administrative, and legislative proposals, or (ii) the authority of the Secretary of Defense over the Department of Defense, including the chain of command for military forces from the President, to the Secretary of Defense, to the commander of military forces, or military command and control procedures;
How can this be “consistant with applicable law”?
Who is the Director of the Office of Management and Budget? Why is this person exempt? Who is this person, and how to we reach him or her when this takes place?
Congress still has the power of the purse. If he tries to pull this off, they could, theoretically, immediately de-fund the military, or refuse to pass the next year’s buget. One hopes.
On-looker
People on other boards I frequent told me there wouldn’t be an election in ‘04, either. You have to remember Ward is the “official conspiracy theorist� on Stephanie Miller.
Jim didn’t say it, re: no election in 2008, I DID. And I’ve been thinking it before I ever started listing to Stephanie Miller, because I really didn’t think Bush would loose in 2004 because after growing up and living in the West I didn’t think Kerry would win. (and now I live in MA)
Now, due to term limits, it’s a different story.
http://www.buzzflash.com/analysis/2002/10/29_Dictator.html
Bush has been quoted as saying it three times in public, before his handlers shut him up. Saying it more than once sort of takes out the jokey-humor intent. When Bush does his verbal flubs, he tends to say things that he really feels are true, but that are contrary to his false image of what he represents.
http://www.slate.com/id/76886/
One of the best and most revealing ones is: ” Our enemies are innovative and resourceful. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we..”
Because I think deep down, his evil id really does want to harm our country, as payback to the American people, the Dems, and those pesky congresspeople who defy his will. Deep inside, he’s angry and wants to give everybody who ever doubted him a big fuck you.
It was interesting to see at the press conference today, that despite the fairly soft-pedal questions directed at Bush, he seemed to get more tense and confrontational about having to answer all of these troublesome questions about the Iraq war.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2007/05/24/president-to-reporter-t_n_49238.html
At one point, he pointed at a reporter and made a passive-aggressive threat, that the terrorists were out to get his children. It’s like he is thinking that he wishes the terrorists would do something terrible to his detractors, so that once and for all, they would stop questioning his deshisions and resolve.
His loyalists are too few. Perhaps he could have done this in 2004, but now? I don’t see it working.
You gotta wonder why the back-up people in key posts are all in their early 30s or younger.
He has no bench, and it is obvious that the republicans have less interesting and less electable candidates for the next election.
I do agree that the military needs little coaxing to do exactly what his father and father’s friends feared would happen had he been drafted into ‘nam.
Oh and prior to this administration I never bought into conspiracy theories . . . now, with all that we’ve seen (voter fraud, robo calling, justice department being politicized (along with the CDC and other departments here-to-fore exempt), not to at least listen to conspiracy theories seems out of touch.
I have thought for a long, long, time that we would have another 9-11 to help the Republicans. I said after 9-11 for the 2002 election that the Republicans ought to queue up and kiss Bin Laden’s brown butt because the 9-11 attack was the ONLY way they maintained political power. They trot out 9-11, the dems will mean more attacks and they are going to attack us again whenever they need a bump, and a frightened, please take my civil rights please, public goes right along with it.
And will, I believe, unfortunately, do it again.
Pamela, I call Bush the Texas Tyrant.
We are one Reichstag fire away from dictatorship.
Not going to happen. Bush is not popular enough to be able to be a “dictator for life”. He could have pulled it off post 9/11, but by 2004 the writing was on the wall that it wouldn’t work.
First of all, he doesn’t have the armed forces to quell any kind of rebellion that would occur — they’re all in Iraq and Afghanistan right now. Governors of various states (especially Northeastern and Western states) would refuse to acknowledge it. He has a bunch of sympathetic generals in place at the Pentagon, but I doubt even that would get him enough support to really pull off a coup like overturning the Constitution.
Secondly, he doesn’t have the backing of the people. Tyrants come to power on popular sentiment and stay there because people are too afraid to fight them and know that the situation was worse without them. Look at Hussein in Iraq, or Mussolini in Italy, or Castro in Cuba. Unpopular leaders to not overtly grab power and set up dictatorships. If anything, Bush’s handlers have him setting up the dominoes for the next authoritative lout that they manage to get into office and use as a puppet.
And finally, he has no incentive to stay as “dictator for life”. He clearly hates his job. He’s been punting on Iraq because he knows that he just has to stick it out for just a few more years and then it’ll be someone else’s problem. And he has no other policy interests beyond Iraq anymore. The only reason he’s still doing anything is because he has to stick it out. He’s obviously tired, and possibly he’s on meds (or he even could be back on the sauce, but just look at him at any press conference). He wants out in some way that will prevent him from having to take the responsibility for anything he’s done, and preferrably with a better record than his father (though that’s a lost cause at this point, barring divine intervention).
You want to talk Cheney doing something like this, then sure, I might go along with your conspiracy theory, but Bush? It’s just too unbelievable. The puppet is ready for his strings to be cut so that he can go off and retire — either by clearing brush or by becoming the Commisioner of Baseball.
Unprovoked invasions. Domestic surveillance. Privatized militias. And now “Emergency Powers.”
Remind me again why it’s considered uncivil to compare Bush to Hitler?
Uncivil - not inaccurate!
You also forgot to mention that many Americans are armed to the teeth; it would be one hell of a bloodbath if a dictatorship was attempted.
However, the one factor you didn’t mention that could smooth the way for a dictatorship would be fear and misinformation. Hitler wasn’t wildly popular, but people, especially among the intelligentsia and elite, were afraid of him. He was backed by the military and corporations. Personal, visceral fear of what a military body, albeit small, could do to one’s family, in the midst of misinformation (terrorists are here on our soil, we’re fighting them, there is an alleged disease pandemic), combined with panic of not having access to gas, food and water, like in a hurricane, would be very effective at pacifying the population, or at least most of it.
My friends keep asking me who I will vote for in 2008.
I just keep praying that there is an election.
NonyNony,
You undermisestomate the apathy of the American people. In ‘33 The nazi party had less than the 25% that make up the Bush faithful.
As long as the water comes out of the tap, the lights come on when you flip the switch and there is food on the shelves at Wal-mart, the drones will continue to watch American fucking Idol and us dirty rotten hippies will get tossed into gitmo for being un-patriotic and not bowing down to the chimperor.
I’m afraid those Americans who are “armed to the teeth” are also likely to be the ones that support Bush’s coup, falling for whatever outside threat he’s using to justify it.
Nonynony-
He doesn’t need to be popular. He only needs people in key positions. He will always have 25% and a nother 9-11 will get the people all afraid again.
I think more than the military NOT letting Bush take over they will be more likely not to stage a coup if he does … they are afraid (as we all should be) of having a Mushariff type of government. Overt Military coups are never pretty. Subvert coups, like SCOTUS and allowing Bush to continue because of some act is, more likely.
Secondly, he doesn’t have the backing of the people. Tyrants come to power on popular sentiment and stay there because people are too afraid to fight them and know that the situation was worse without them.
Granted, they’ve reached saturation point at just talking about the terroist around the corner, now they need to have an actual act. Look they’ve been satisifed with just having the appearance of keeping up safe NOT actually having policies and funding that would do that. Like, well, checking all shipping containers coming into the US. If coyotes can smuggle people in using them, what’s stopping an actual terrorist cell?
I disagree he’s not ready to leave, the man is addicted to power. If he wasn’t he’d get us out. But he needs to stay there to maintain his oil profits. Look, this is the ONLY job he’s had that his been “successful” at. And why wouldn’t he stay in power after another 9-11 type event then hand it over to Darth Cheney.
He wants out in some way that will prevent him from having to take the responsibility for anything he’s done, and preferrably with a better record than his father (though that’s a lost cause at this point, barring divine intervention).
Which is exactly the same reason that can be used buffett the idea that he will stay in power after 2008.
more later, I gotta go pick up a kid
while i don’t want to be a conspiracy nut, and i tend to agree with NonyNony that, at the moment, Bush doesn’t have the clout to really do it, let’s all remember what happened after 9/11.
the country went from a relative lack of trust in the Bush administration and regularly ridiculing and/or questioning Bush in the media, to total unquestioning obedience. overnight. even though Bush clearly dropped the ball there and we had no reason to suddenly rally to him. the political climate in this country changed overnight.
i’m not sure that the exact same thing would happen with another disaster, but it very well could. and this bill gives Bush a shot at testing it out — worst that could happen would be that he could fall flat on his face, and he was on the way there anyway, right? what does he really have to lose at this point?
Against a real Army infantry unit? Not even Marines? Don’t let the name scare you. Blackwater wouldn’t stand a chance.
Earthquake? Hurricane? Terrorist attack? Y’all obviously haven’t read the text of the directive. In the case of “asymmetric threat,” for reasons of homeland security, it is to be assumed that adequate warning will not be available. Bush can basically take over whenever he wants, on the basis that there’s a threat out there that they can’t even tell you about!
Terrorists are coming! Quick, give me your civil liberties!
Pre 9/11, the country had, I think, the normal amount of skepticism one has in a president. You don’t completely trust them, but you figure they can’t be too bad, and there is the expectation that they are more or less honest about the big stuff.
9/11 was a shock, enough that people would give him the benefit of the doubt to do something when the ordinary person couldn’t do anything about it.
At this point, we’ve seen bald lies used to justify war, and that war turn into a quagmire. A second 9/11, at this point, wouldn’t have the same effect it had the first time around. No question of it being ordinary confusion during the transition between presidencies that let it slip through the cracks, for one thing.
UrsulaL and all - one more thought before I loose it and really I have to go …
What is the year that this “National Security and Homeland Security Presidential Directive” was signed…????
2007 ???
why now?
I don’t know y’all- from what I have seen, the danger is much less that Bush will attempt an actual coup, and much more that the American public will just keep accepting whatever he does. A tyrannical leader is an evil problem, but a stupid, compliant populace that wants to be led is, in a way, even worse trouble.
The fact that frightens me is that too many Americans don’t seem to have (post-9/11) a problem with the loss of liberties and the increased intrusion of Big Government into their lives.
If they have a problem it’s because Bush has been incompetent. He wants the power but isn’t cunning enough to get it outright and use it to accomplish what he wants (it occurs to me that one of the reasons he disliked Saddam was that he had achieved what Bush wanted - a true dictatorship).
The Authoritarian Cultists still worship authority, it’s just slowly dawning on them that Bush isn’t the best authority figure. They still want the torture, the arrests, the phone taps, the “extraordinary rendition”, and all the rest of the police state crap. To get it, they will just transfer their allegiance to some other figure.
I can only imagine the sorrow and disgust our founding fathers would express if they were here to view this tragic scene of a great inheritance traded for a few meager beans of “security”…
What’s the Constitution day about this?
Still lookin ….
Still lookin ….
Still lookin ….
your baby in bed
is filled with such dread
the bad guys are coming tonight
they’ll slit your throat
and jack your goat
the bad guys are coming tonight…
+++
To me the issue isn’t whether he could get away with it - he couldn’t, not for long anyways, it’s whether he’d try. Because if he tries and fails it’d still be a pretty ugly situation..
http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Report_Cheney_aide_clearing_path_to_0524.html
Cheney’s team is the main instigator for wanting to expand the war against Iran. To do so, would be extraordinary folly, that our troop strength would indeed be broken. There would be no other resource other than a draft. Couple that with a couple of “major terrorist plots uncovered”, and probably Congress, including some Dems would go along with it. The American people, however, would not. If a draft for a very unpopular war situation was enacted, then we might see civil unrest of substantial proportions - not just the hippies and students, but angry soccer moms, Nascar dads and the disaffected middle class. That’s when the Executive branch, Homeland Security would have to clamp down, for the “rapid development of new programs”, or “migratory movement” of population:
http://www.truthout.org/cgi-bin/artman/exec/view.cgi/47/17936
Once several thousands of citizens who are deemed a threat to domestic security are carted off, the fear will be enough that fewer people will want to protest or resist. Americans don’t really have that strong tradition of protesting en masse, like the French. Americans like to be comfortable; they have to really get angry to risk getting hurt.
http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=mg18725095.600
Mike - I totally agree. The other real tragedy here is that even though Bush can’t successfully “catapult the propaganda” to the vast majority of the American public any longer, people are generally too sedated with long work hours, infotainment and consumerism to cut through all the shoddy editorializing that doubles for mainstream media reporting these days, such that they’ll actually know to wake up and give a shit that their democracy, our global power and the stability of the US dollar is crumbling before their very eyes.
I see this a lot among people (politically apathetic non-voters) I work with or just know from around the way… someone else will take care of it. People are generally uncomfortable with the idea that the government is spying on them, but sort of pass it off, cause, you know… . They assume that if they can’t see it, or it doesn’t personally inconvenience them, real civil rights violations either must not be going on at all, not going on often enough to think the complaints are anything but partisan bickering they’re not interested in hearing anyway, or will just be calmly dealt with in the next election cycle. There are though quite a few people I’ve spoken to, liberal and conservative, who rail against the Patriot Act, but again, consider their options to end it dependent on the next election cycle.
It really pisses me off that I have to remain employed to pay bills, because I’m personally at the point where I’m ready to grab my pitchfork and storm the White House. It’s foolish to think that the Democratic party apparatus will fight my battles for me. Reid’s too busy trying to reestablish legislative independence from the executive, and Pelosi’s trying to regroup social Democratic policies while throwing juicy bones to corporate America. I do like Howard Dean, and agree with the 50-state strategy, but the “big tent” thing is such an insulting joke, I constantly wonder what new constitutent group we’re going to throw to the wolves every day so that we can gain 6 or 8 white, heterosexual Christian male possible Democratic converts.
Anyhoo…. I’ve pretty much decided the battle is Bush vs. deep6, and I don’t expect to see Hillary or Obama in some cute spandex cheering me along. They’d more likely be off to the sides with Cheney, chatting with Lieberman, discussing how ridiculously NON-bipartisan I’m being….
I’ve been fearing that there wouldn’t be an election in 2008 either This just increases that fear (among others).
Although Bush has a lot of flaws (as noted) that make it seem implausible that he could assume these powers and be accepted, what if the precipitating event were a ‘terrorist’ attack that took out Bush (along with LOTS of innocent folk)?
In that case a whole lot of USAians would be angry that ‘they killed our preznident’, the MSM would do it’s usual fawning routine of a dead president a la Nixon, this attack that combined with the aforementioned “further threats we can’t tell you about due to national security reasons” sees Cheney assuming the presidency and these powers. The true believers whose only qualms are about competency are satisfied, and everyone that isn’t distracted by our response on whatever hapless nation is the scapegoat, is too afraid or apathetic to do anything.
Even if nothing comes to pass of this in the immediate future, this power invested in the office of the president will be nearly impossible to revoke and it’s only a matter of time before another Rethuglican takes the helm…
Christ… sorry for the italics there, people.
and of course Cheney’s still good to go for 2 more terms in office, so the question of “President For Life” wouldn’t even have to come up until 2016 or therebouts.
“and of course Cheney’s still good to go for 2 more terms in office, so the question of “President For Lifeâ€? wouldn’t even have to come up until 2016 or therebouts.”
Why all of the sudden hate for Robotic Vice President(s)?
I always figured the choice of Cheney as VP was to inoculate GWB against impeachment - the same reason why GHWB chose Dan Quayle.
I also figured that there was a good chance that Cheney might not make it through the first term, let alone another.
Little did I know Emperor Palpatine has access to medical science capable of keeping the undead alive indefinitely…
http://www.scrippsnews.com/911poll
That at least a third of Americans believe that Sept. 11 was an inside job speaks volumes. If a terrorist incident occurred again, I would concur that most Americans would feel it’s rigged, and then a panic would ensue. Hence the need for government to quell civilian disturbance. The current regime is more afraid of its own people than it is of terra-ism and Osama Bin Laden. Why would the government spend so much money on domestic surveillance, have thousands of people on no-fly lists, and monitor antiwar organizations?
http://www.inthesetimes.com/issue/27/02/feature3.shtml
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A18735-2004Oct8.html
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/263844_spy21ww.html
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10965509/site/newsweek/
We are the enemy, not Al Qaida.
In my opinion, if there is an election in 2008 is of little or no consequence. The Adminstration would not be so blatent (I think) as to completely write off the last of
Democracyour current system outright. They’ve already fixed elections in Florida in 2000 and in 2004. I would more likely expect a natural disaster or a terrorist attack around election time such that the actual election would be underplayed to a bigger national emergency. From there, it’s really easy to fix the elections, but on a larger scale.Short of massive election reform taking counting from hackable computer programs and partisan political officals and putting it back in the capable hands of the people, I expect the same. I’ll also fully admit, however, that I’m rather jaded and weary of what politicans do. It seems all I do is work for them (mostly thru taxes and an economic situation that gives those with lesser incomes very little leverage). Isn’t the government *for* the people as well? And People as in *everyone*–not just the select few.
The Congress sets the election and the States administer it. Presidential elections have been held during a Civil War and two World Wars. I’m seeing some problems with a Presidential directive topping that but I am seeing the makings of a new Civil War over States’ rights. People may be complaisant about their Walmart/Facebook world but everyone notices tanks in the street. I think the politicoes in their La-Laland may have seriously underestimated the way the people will react, especially if the Governors don’t fall in line.
As long as we’re following our flights of frightful fancy, let’s not overlook the proven ability of this cabal to think in the long term. The Bush presidency was 30 years in the making, but that doesn’t mean it is the end of the road for the heirs of Nixon. Even as little George’s star fades, they know that their time will come again, and the power they consolidated into the Presidency under Bush will still be there next time.
I’m not an attorney, and it’s been a long day, so after reading through the directive(s) several times and not finding the points everyone is so flustered about, I’m confused.
Also, I work in this industry (continuity/recovery planning) which could be why I’m possibly, unconsciously making things fit into the ‘way we normally do it’.
The way I read the directive is that it is “the policy” but it’s not “the plan”. Typically in an organization, planners love to see a policy from the CEO or a joint statement from the Board members detailing their requirements for a continuity plan. Without a policy, normal people/employees are too busy with their day jobs to worry too much about it.
So again, the way I read it is this policy lays out the requirements of “the plan” (to be developed later… within 60 days) for the Executive Branch so that they can continue critical operations in the event of an unforeseen incident that might interrupt said critical operations. The policy just says that the President will lead the efforts to develop a plan (6) and they’ve created a position to enforce creation/validation of “the plans” for the Executive Branch. And while (12) says the President determines the “COGCON” level, I think that’s exclusive to the Executive branch. I see nothing that says anyone else has to listen to/respect it.
Finally, the other thing that makes this confusing…. planners know that in a real disaster, the place for C-level management is in a quiet hotel room with coffee, donuts, a TV and one telephone. They’re not trained to deal with such a situation and their management decision (made during planning) is to toss over the reign’s to someone who is trained if such a situation arises. At that point, their job becomes mostly PR, calming the shareholders and maintaining the appearance of ‘business as usual’.
So… I don’t see where this policy gives King George any more power than he already has. The policy only applies to the Executive Branch and to their planning.
Anyone to clear my confusion?
Impeachment procedings would no doubt constitute a grave national emergency in the chimperor’s little mind.
Nah, the Shrub cultists are so brainwashed that if W really did pull a coup, they’d say “Great! He’s making all our decisions for us so we don’t have to! This is our lucky day!” the same way Scott McClellan did when a bird pooed on Bush during the press conference.
Gawd I am so raw I can’t even form a good sentence on this.
I just was answering one of those “loving” repugs at my blog — he/she/it just wished me a clitoridectomy . . . guess wishing me AIDS was too good for me. I’m souless too by the way.
I’m going to go make dinner … I’ll be back with my plate-o-conspiracy later. But these people just reinforce that I beleive Bush can still get away with it!
Oof. After reading books like “Fiasco” and “Imperial Life in the Emerald City” and “Kabul In Winter”, it’s clearer than ever that this administration is deeply stupid, not maybe insofar as its individual players, but certainly in terms of using its resources and planning actual plans. So a coup attempt, or a general seizure of power, or closing borders, or controlling media…whatever they do, they’re going to screw it up. They will not know the plan, or even whether there is one. It will be a Keystone Koup, and here’s what makes me so anxious: it’ll take decades to undo the damage, and meanwhile, the infrastructure continues to deteriorate, the gap widens between Bush’s base and the rest of us, and people will probably lose their lives. The CPA was an horrific administrative disaster, and could be documented using clown music as a soundtrack, but that’d be awful damn irrelevant to the survivors of everyone who’s died during this dreadful circus, or who are so badly injured that they can consider their futures as having been hijacked by a wretched little man who’s never done anything right, and his contingent of fellow travelers.
And I wasn’t good enough to stop it. Ya know? It wasn’t up to me, specifically, to have stopped it, but it was up to me in that I am one of us.
Sometimes I like to make up superheroes, and I imagine them settings right. Like I wish we could get Pat Tillman and Marla Ruzicka back, with enhanced powers. But they keep staying dead. I hate it.
Meta: “The policy just says that the President will lead the efforts to develop a plan (6) and they’ve created a position to enforce creation/validation of “the plansâ€? for the Executive Branch. And while (12) says the President determines the “COGCONâ€? level, I think that’s exclusive to the Executive branch. I see nothing that says anyone else has to listen to/respect it.”
Indeed. In this order, the President is enabling the powers of the Executive Branch to carry out whatever they need and require during an emergency or catastrophe, without Congress, the Senate, or any other body of government, until the President or whoever is in charge during that within the Executive Branch decides that it’s safe to come out now, now we can be normal. However, there is no time provision on when it is safe to resume normal government activities that respect the separation of powers, as well as a vote by the population. Everything is all at the Executive Power’s pleasure.
In other words, it’s a de facto dictatorship.
It seems weird that they would feel the need to get legal permission beforehand. If things were so chaotic that congress literally couldn’t be consulted (like they were all dead or something) would any President actually feel constrained by this? Its a little absurd.
It sounds, though, like some bored staffers thought it would be fun to spend a few happy hours a week fantasizing. You know, hang around some war room with a big board on the wall and talk about all the decisive things they’d do during Gottedamerung.
Alden - I think in the Bush regime’s eyes that Congress is dead, as in not being useful to them. Government with its checks and balances is annoying, useless, and not in line. Regime needs to move forward to execute its needs and orders. Congress is only a deterrent and something to be played with.
sistersacrifice - “Indeed. In this order, the President is enabling the powers of the Executive Branch to carry out whatever they need and require during an emergency or catastrophe, without Congress, the Senate, or any other body of government, until the President or whoever is in charge during that within the Executive Branch decides that it’s safe to come out now, now we can be normal. However, there is no time provision on when it is safe to resume normal government activities that respect the separation of powers, as well as a vote by the population. Everything is all at the Executive Power’s pleasure.
In other words, it’s a de facto dictatorship”
This is where I’m confused. The policy states that the President has authority over the continuity planning for the Executive Branch. But it doesn’t mention congress because Congress has (and I know people who work on it) their own “continuity/contingency plans”. Their policy dictates the the requirements and specs, and “the plan” itself says how to execute, where to go, and who is in charge given various scenarios.
And again, this authority is, at least as I read it, only over the planning and not the resulting “Plan” itself.
Now, if they release a ‘plan’ that says in the event of X, Dubya has singular authority, I’d be right with you. But I think this policy only relates to the act of developing a plan, and only for the Executive branch.
I have to say that it is no end of excellent that Wingnut Daily placed this so prominently.
How so? Well, would pam have ever found it otherwise? Prolly not.
Also, I can mail the link to my elderly Great Aunt - the one who sends all the anti-immigrant and president is god crap around. She can’t deny it if Wingnut Daily, basically her local paper, put both a story and editorial front and center!
Well, that’s kinda what I mean, sistersacrifice. Whether they like it or not, they currently are constrained by the political system, though not as much as one might wish them to be. And so a directive like this is an expression of wishful thinking - they have dreamt up an extremely unlikely scenario in which all their Man of Destinty fantasies can play out unimpeded.
Meta: “(e) “Enduring Constitutional Government,” or “ECG,” means a cooperative effort among the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of the Federal Government, coordinated by the President, as a matter of comity with respect to the legislative and judicial branches and with proper respect for the constitutional separation of powers among the branches, to preserve the constitutional framework under which the Nation is governed and the capability of all three branches of government to execute constitutional responsibilities and provide for orderly succession, appropriate transition of leadership, and interoperability and support of the National Essential Functions during a catastrophic emergency;”
” As a result of the asymmetric threat environment, adequate warning of potential emergencies that could pose a significant risk to the homeland might not be available, and therefore all continuity planning shall be based on the assumption that no such warning will be received.”
“(6) The President shall lead the activities of the Federal Government for ensuring constitutional government. In order to advise and assist the President in that function, the Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism (APHS/CT) is hereby designated as the National Continuity Coordinator”.
In other words, the President is the primary decider, coordinated through the National Continuity Coordinator, as to what constitutes a crisis, what needs to be done, and the nature of the threat. The President is defined as the Ultimate Boss. Any nods to other authorities is purely surface, as we have seen in the current real life governing of this country, in terms of the Justice Dept, the war on terror, the attempts to subvert accountability. We can rest assured that any plans put in place to help this country in catastrophies will involve party politics, future considerations of corporate profits for the permanent war, as well as permanent power put in place to rule.
Next thing you know, Shrub will be taking the crown out of the Pope’s hands and putting it on his own head…
‘The directive establishes under the office of the president a new national continuity coordinator whose job is to make plans for “National Essential Functionsâ€? of all federal, state, local, territorial and tribal governments’
Thank God they remembered to put “tribal governments” in there. Lord knows mine can’t seem to handle things as simple as disenfranchising thousands of people (the Freedmen) on an aribitrary racist-inspired basis without getting everybody all upset and everything…
I’m reassured that in the event of a “catastrophic emergency,” the White House is going to spend plenty of time thinking about the needs of Indian people, since they otherwise ignore us completely; when they’re not busy inventing new and creative ways to screw us out of what little we have left, that is.
sistersacrifice,
Thanks for your input. But I’m still not sure I see it. The points you raised in the directive are not about what happens in response to a disaster, but what happens in planning for one. Honestly, I am in no way defending the administration, but I really do think this “policy” has been misread and misinterpreted to mean “the plan” rather than the policy dictating the objectives of “the plan”.
I’m going to have my attorney review it tomorrow.
Larkspur: Your are on the right track with “…is deeply stupid, not maybe insofar as its individual players, but certainly in terms of using its resources…” But I think their special problem is compounding the idiocy at the top with neurotic or otherwise dysfunctional relationships among many key lieutenants of the sonofabush.
[…] May 25th, 2007 Bush is nabbing some hefty powers for himself in the event of an emergency (hat tip Pam). […]
I’m actually not that alarmed by this. Partly because it’s just a directive to form contingency plans, which is nothing new or controversial. Partly because the directive states that the plans must conform to Constitutional law vis a vis separation of powers, succession to the presidency, and the like.
Partly because this President has shown, repeatedly, that as far as long-term planning is concerned, he’s a wash. He could not pour piss out of a boot if the instructions were written on the heel.
But primarily, I’m not alarmed because of the extreme negative reaction from the right wing to this idea. It happened back in 2004, when Hannity, O’Reilly, and a couple of the other administration shills “floated” the idea that, in case of an emergency, the President might have to postpone or cancel the elections. The folks at WND, FreeRepublic, and other conservative bastions went NUTS, saying things like “If he did this, we would be obligated to overthrow him” and the like.
As you can see, WND is reacting that way again. There is no way that Bush would make a move that would rile up the right wing base of the Republican party to the point of rebellion.
I bet this directive gets cancelled soon.
[…] In many ways, America’s racist policies seem to be escalating. Bush is lobbying to increase troop numbers in Iraq to more than 200,000*, while congress has caved into continuing to fund the war, and Bush has grabbed for even more executive power in the case of national emergency. As America scrambles to kill brown people abroad, it — or at least its racists and conservatives — has also been galvanized around the terror of brown people out-breeding the population from within. […]
Against a real Army infantry unit? Not even Marines? Don’t let the name scare you. Blackwater wouldn’t stand a chance.
Are you sure? I was under the impression that most of the Blackwater guys are ex-Marines and Special Forces, with better equipment and support. They’re not amateurs.
I’m afraid those Americans who are “armed to the teeth� are also likely to be the ones that support Bush’s coup, falling for whatever outside threat he’s using to justify it.
Ever considered that the initials “NRA” could also stand for “New Revolutionary Army”?
Meta does have some points, and I’m sure if any other president issued such an order, it wouldn’t create the alarm it has. This president, however, has always bent and squeezed every determination, every finding, every gap in every law in such a way as to justify extreme executive authority. It’s difficult to read this order - fairly mundane in many ways - without seeing them explode it into whatever they can get away with.
well, the laural leaves are on his head and the robes of state and godhood now his vestments…
he’s named himsef king shit of the cesspool.
he even took away the need for cities and states to be prepared with emergency plans.
i used to work EMS. emergency response can’t work from the top down.
look at katrina.
so this is how the world ends, not with a bang, but a whimper.
Like Meta, I’m in the Business Continuity/Disaster Recovery business, and like Meta, I don’t see the overarching power grab that so many are finding here. Not saying it isn’t there, because the language of law and government isn’t like ordinary talk or even business-speak. But look at implementation 5.a.:
Doesn’t sound like a dictatorial situation to me.
Give me a constitutional legal scholar who says the order is establishing new powers for the President and I’ll pay very careful attention. In the meantime I’m afraid we are, as my old professor used to say, ‘pooling our ignorance’.
Idiosyncratic: I’ll go after them. And so will a lot of the guys I know (I don’t know if I can say all, because what you are talking about could be seen as mutiny).
There’s another thing to ask, how many Blackwater/CACI types are willing to be killed so the company can make money? It’s an old problem with mercenaries. In Iraq right now they have no real opposition (they are semi-targets, but the reall objects of insurgent attacks are the troops, and the targets of sectarian groups are other factions).
So they get to play Rambo and shoot things.
It’s different when someone is shooting back.
Moreso when those people know how to shoot, and are trained to do, and prepared to take casualties.
If I have to bring personal weapons to the fight, I’ll do it.
Bush is human scum of the worst kind.
George W. Bush is FILTH. This piece of scum will be worse than Adolf Hitler when he really gets started.
Bush is COMPLETE scum. A killer, a sociopath, and a LOWLIFE. There is nothing but human garbage in the White House.
America has been handed over to evil. Wait and see how many people are rounded up and killed.
It is important to remember that martial law in the US will be enforced by the THREE MILLION foreign troops that have brought into the USA under the guise of United Natons training programs. These foreign troops have no hesitation in shooting Americans. Many of them cannot wait for Martial Law to begin…so you can forget about Blackwater. Blackwater is the “Revolutionary Guard” of the top players in all of this. They are the REAL Secret Service.
The question of whether Dubya will and his neocon filth brigade will contrive to see the 2008 elections cancelled should be approached from that of Dubya’s own self-interest. In other words, what would YOU do, if you were Dubya? Would you really just stand down, and give up all that power you have deliberately accumulated, to somebody else? Would you step down, and risk all forms of prosecutions for everything from illegal wiretapping, war profiteering, abuse of power, and a host of offenses against the United States Constitution?
Folks, you will all soon realize that as far as anything even resembling Constitutional government in America is concerned - IT’S ALL OVER.
You will realize all of this withing the next 15 months. In fifteen months time, you will have seen what REAL terrorism is, and this time you really will be TERRIFIED. You will have been gripped with the first of a series of STAGED events that are carefully designed to terrify all of mankind into accepting a new type of government.
People who are involved with establishing new forms of government are ALWAYS prepared to kill on a mass scale to achieve their ends. It makes no difference whether the new government system is to be communist, democratic, or a fascist dictatorship. They always firmly believe that their cause must be fulfilled, no matter how much killing has to be done.
What is really happening is that we are in the middle of the establishing of a new empire. George Bush is the chosen emperor - so you might just as well get used to having this filthy piece of trailer park trash as President because he will still be President in 2010. And don’t forget - you were warned.
If you want to know just HOW dangerous these people really are, do a Google search on - Family Security Matters Bush Dictatorship.
Go on - do it!