Washblog

Rejecting an important truth because it is repeated by a liar is just as much of an error as swallowing a lie by a liar.

False negative or false positive ....  both = false.

There's no easy formula to getting to the truth of a matter.  It's easy but unworkable to simply say if a bad person says something it's necessarily untrue.

So we have a president who's put a number of building blocks for fascism and military take-over into place.  This is public record.  There's no cause to reach conclusions about what's been planned -- there's excellent cause for concern.  In fact, failing to be concerned here is a problem...  

As for KOS, Berlet and crew ... I gave up trying to cope with egos at KOS a long time ago.
But still ...
Strike one.

And I assume that you are not going to tell me why all the Presidents men don't seem to be worried about elections, public opinion or the will of the people.
Strike Two

Now, tell me "There's nothing to worry about here folks. Just go about your business. We're in no danger of any abrupt changes or constitutional negations ...."

Strike Three?

Arthur
You sure you ain't staking too much on yer theories? Not enough common sense?

The fact that these people have no fear whatsoever suggests that they have no reason to fear. Why would they continue to concentrate power in the executive office if they thought that a Democrat would occupy the White House in 2008? It seems to me they would not. Why don't they care that each day their actions are destroying the chances that their party will retain any kind of power after the 2008 election?

I fear that they will create some event that will justify (in their sick gestapo minds) that martial law is essential.

Here are some of the indicators that martial law may be part of our not too distant future.

Gen. Tommy Franks says that if the United States is hit with a weapon of mass destruction that inflicts large casualties, the Constitution will likely be discarded in favor of a military form of government." -- NewsMax, November 21, 2003

As far back as 2005 Cheney has been planning to attack Iran if (when?)there is another 9/11 type attack in the U.S. The plan of attack is not conditional on whether or not Iran was involved in the attack on the U.S. Here is an excerpt from an article which appeared in the The American Conservative, August,2005: "Cheney's office, has tasked the United States Strategic Command (STRATCOM) with drawing up a contingency plan to be employed in response to another 9/11-type terrorist attack on the United States. The plan includes a large-scale air assault on Iran employing both conventional and tactical nuclear weapons. Within Iran there are more than 450 major strategic targets, including numerous suspected nuclear-weapons-program development sites. Many of the targets are hardened or are deep underground and could not be taken out by conventional weapons, hence the nuclear option. As in the case of Iraq, the response is not conditional on Iran actually being involved in the act of terrorism directed against the United States. Several senior Air Force officers involved in the planning are reportedly appalled at the implications of what they are doing--that Iran is being set up for an unprovoked nuclear attack--but no one is prepared to damage his career by posing any objections. The American Conservative, August 2005.

The Military Commissions Act of 2006, aka the "torture authorization act." It empowers Bush to declare anyone, including U.S. citizens "unlawful enemy combatants."  The bill permits military tribunals to "convict" these "combatants" using evidence that would be deemed unreliable by a military commission or U.S. court. It also eliminates the right of Habeas Corpus for these persons, and prohibits an alien combatant from invoking the Geneva Conventions.  

The John Warner Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2007 (signed October 2006), revises the 1807 Insurrection Act. Two hundred years of tradition along with the 1878 Posse Comitatas Act prohibited prohibited using federal and National Guard troops for law enforcement inside the country. Now Bush/Cheney can declare a national emergency and place the the military and the National Guard on the streets of America to suppress "misbehavior" of all types -- including public demonstrators.

Bush changes the continuity of government plan, thus further concentrating power in the White House. On May 10, 2007, Bush issued a national security directive ordering agencies to prepare contingency plans for a surpise "decapitating" attack on the federal government. The White House is responsible for coordinating these plans. According to the Washington Post, "[t]he prospect of a nuclear bomb being detonated in Washington without warning, whether smuggled in by terrorists or a foreign government, has been cited by many security analysts as a rising concern since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks." Washington Post,May 10, 2007.

Congressman Peter DeFazio (D-OR) is a member of the Homeland Security Committee and has clearance to view classified material. He requested to see Bush's plan for operating government after a terrorist attack. DeFazio was denied all access to the plan, no exuses given by the White House. DeFazio was shocked that he was denied access. He stated, "maybe the people who think there's a conspiracy out there are right."

Haliburton subsidiary Kellogge Brown and Roote is building camps in the event of an "emergency influx of immigrants into the U.S" or to "support the rapid development of new programs." From a Haliburton press release as reported by FoxNews on June 7, 2006.

In July Bush issued an executive order permiting the excutive office to confiscate personal property from persons whose actions undermine peace and stability in Iraq or the economic reconstruction of Iraq. Consititutional lawyer, and former deputy attorney general under Reagan, Bruce Fein, claims this order empowers the president to destroy anyone he asserts plays a significant risk of undermining foreign policy in Iraq.

I just don't see Bush & Cheney laying this kind of foundation for executive power if they thought for one minute that a Democrat would inherit these powers in 2008.