Bush Enabling Act: The Big STory that Never Was
Gandalf Grey
By Stephen Pizzo
Created May 25 2007 - 10:50am
Why wasn't this on every front page earlier this month? I mean it isn't like
it was kept secret. It appeared on May 10th on the White House's own web
page:
President Signs National Security/Homeland Security Presidential Directive
Purpose
(1) This directive establishes a comprehensive national policy on the
continuity of Federal Government structures and operations and a single
National Continuity Coordinator responsible for coordinating the development
and implementation of Federal continuity policies..... 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.
-- "Catastrophic Emergency" means 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; (Full order here [1])
Breathtaking. Simply breathtaking. It's the kind of sweeping authority that
only a banana republic could love. It's the kind of authority Fidel Castro
operates under and which Venezuela's Hugo Chavez is working day and night to
get for himself. The Mullahs in Iran already have it and, as of May 9th,
George W. Bush is just a single "incident" away from having it too.
Is this just more liberal hand-wringing and whining? Well, don't take my
word for it. The link to the unadulterated goods is right there above this
paragraph. Take your own lying eyes there and read it yourself. And read it
all. Then contact your favorite newspaper editor and ask him/her just how
far up their ass their had to be to miss this? How did they miss it and fail
to see the clear and present danger it poses to everything this country is
supposed to stand for?
I have come to understand that we Americans are lazy defenders of our
rights. Few will actually read the whole damn thing. So here are just a few
of the low-lights. (And the second you doubt me, you are obliged to read the
original document. If you don't then go rattle someone else's cage. I don't
refuse to engage in a war of wits with the unarmed.)
The Directive Bush signed into law on May 9, 2007: (Any emphasis is mine)
The President of the United States is granted virtual dictatorial powers
in the event of a "National Emergency - which the order broadly describes
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;"
Regardless of location? Would that include, say, a terrorist attack on Saudi
oil fields and refineries? That would certainly "disrupt" the U.S.
population and economy.
"or government functions." Would that include mass public protests such as
those during the Civil Rights and Vietnam War eras?
But it get better. We may not even have to wait for a real "national
emergency" to hit before the President can assume the mantle of
near-dictator. Under the guise of "maintaining government continuity, the
President could just sign a "NEF" - a National Emergency Finding:"
" 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."
Once the President signs "detects" a real or imagined threat, and signs a
NEF, here's what he gets for his signature:
The President shall lead the activities of the Federal Government for
ensuring constitutional government.
a) Ensuring the continued functioning of our form of government under the
Constitution, including the functioning of the three separate branches of
government;
(b) Providing leadership visible to the Nation and the world and
maintaining the trust and confidence of the American people;
(c) Defending the Constitution of the United States against all enemies,
foreign and domestic, and preventing or interdicting attacks against the
United States or its people, property, or interests;
(d) Maintaining and fostering effective relationships with foreign
nations;
(e) Protecting against threats to the homeland and bringing to justice
perpetrators of crimes or attacks against the United States or its people,
property, or interests;
(f) Providing rapid and effective response to and recovery from the
domestic consequences of an attack or other incident;
(g) Protecting and stabilizing the Nation's economy and ensuring public
confidence in its financial systems; and
(h) Providing for critical Federal Government services that address the
national health, safety, and welfare needs of the United States.
In other words, to quote the old Christian hymn, "He has the whole world, in
his hands, the whole world, in his hands..."
You might have noticed that the act the President signed on May 9th tips its
hat several times to the Constitution and the other two branches of
government. What's that all about? A close reading uncovers the weasel words
that betray the real purpose behind this act - to neuter the Constitutional
co-equal authority of the other two branches of government, and to do so
with the kind of Orwellian language we've come to expect from this
administration:
"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 matter of comity?" The relationship and responsibilities of our three
branches of government are chiseled in the stone we call the U.S.
Constitution. Comity has nothing to do with it. Therefore the term implies
that the President will try to be "nice" to Congress and the Courts during a
declared emergency, but otherwise they can pound salt. He's going to do
whatever he see fit.
"and to provide for orderly succession, appropriate transition of
leadership.." Ah, hello. We've got that already. Had it for over two
centuries. It's in the Constitution too. So, since we already know how to go
about ensuring an appropriate transition, and have done so without
interruption for 200 years, through wars, depressions and national disasters
galore, this clause appears to anticipate something else - something not
envisioned, or sanctioned, by the Constitution.
And what if Congress should want to meet during one of these Presidentially
declared national emergencies? Well the act covers that too:
The Secretary of Homeland Security shall serve as the President's lead
agent for coordinating overall continuity operations and activities of
executive departments and agencies, and in such role shall perform the
responsibilities set forth for the Secretary.... the Chief of Staff to the
President shall ensure that the executive branch --efforts are appropriately
coordinated with those of the legislative and judicial branches in order to
ensure interoperability and allocate national assets efficiently to maintain
a functioning Federal Government.
This clause effectively reduces congress to a "mother-may-I" position in the
governing pecking order. The Secretary of Homeland Security and Chief of
Staff to the President may just decide that it's "too dangerous" for
congress to gather and refuse to "coordinate security for, or even
facilities, for sessions of Congress. Courts will be deemed national
security assets to be used to assure "terrorists and criminals" are
incarcerated for "public safety."
Then there's the pesky matter of State" Rights. Of course some states, say
Texas, won't be a problem. But states like California, Massachusetts,
Vermont and New York could be troublesome. They might disagree and refuse to
cooperate entirely. Not to worry. That' base was covered too in the law:
"Federal Government -- plans and operations shall be appropriately
integrated with the emergency plans and capabilities of State, local,
territorial, and tribal governments, and private sector owners and operators
of critical infrastructure, as appropriate, in order to promote
interoperability and to prevent redundancies and conflicting lines of
authority. The Secretary of Homeland Security shall coordinate the
integration of Federal continuity plans and operations with State, local,
territorial, and tribal governments, and private sector owners and operators
of critical infrastructure, as appropriate, in order to provide for the
delivery of essential services during an emergency."
That rounds up about every American, even the original ones, American
Indians. The only group not mentioned are church folk.
Oh that's enough. If you give a flying fig, go read it for yourself. If you
don't care, you will, someday.
In all my years of covering the federal government I have never seen, or
even heard rumors, of a law like this. I never even worried about it since I
figured any President who tried to pull such an outrageous and obvious grab
for power would be run out of office, either by Congress, the courts or an
outraged American public - once the media fully informed them of it.
But it wasn't in the free press. Did you see it? I didn't. If it was there
it was treated as a minor story. Even the perps knew the media would miss
the significance of the matter because, rather than make it secret they
brazenly posted it on the White House web site.
Well, not all of it. Here's the last two paragraphs:
(23) Annex A and the classified Continuity Annexes, attached hereto, are
hereby incorporated into and made a part of this directive.
(24) Security. This directive and the information contained herein shall
be protected from unauthorized disclosure, provided that, except for Annex
A, the Annexes attached to this directive are classified and shall be
accorded appropriate handling, consistent with applicable Executive Orders.
GEORGE W. BUSH
Wouldn't we just love to know what's in the classified Annex A! It must be
really hot stuff considering how outrageous the stuff they felt okay to make
public is.
I don't know. Some days I wonder why I bother. Some days I wonder if
Americans even deserve the freedoms that are being taken away from us one by
one by this utterly lawless and un-American, administration.
And then there's Congress. They won't end a war that the vast majority of
Americans want ended. And now they won't even consider impeaching a
President who has broken more laws and violated the U.S. Constitution more
times in less than seven years than all 42 Presidents before him - combined.
Why aren't we in the streets? All of us? Why isn't Pennsylvania Ave blocked
by protesters every day?
And, remarkably, no member of Congress will be booed off the stage at
home-state Memorial Day picnics this weekend. Why not?
They certainly should be booed, this weekend and every time they appear in
public. Because they are have just been standing around, doing nothing. Just
watching, even aiding and abetting, as it's all just slip-slidin' away.
Hitler's Enabling Act
Main article at Enabling Act of 1933 [2].
An Enabling Act (Ermächtigungsgesetz [3] in German [4]) was passed by
Germany's parliament (the Reichstag [5]) on March 23 [6], 1933 [7]. It was
the second major step after the Reichstag Fire Decree [8] through which the
Nazis [9] obtained dictatorial [10] powers using largely legal means. The
Act enabled Chancellor Adolf Hitler [11] and his cabinet to enact laws
without the participation of the Reichstag. The formal name of the Enabling
Act was Gesetz zur Behebung der Not von Volk [12] und Reich [13] ("Law to
Remedy the Distress of the People and the State"). (Source) [14]
_______
newsforreal.com
About author Stephen Pizzo is the author of numerous books, including
"Inside Job: The Looting of America's Savings and Loans," which was
nominated for a Pulitzer. His web site is News For Real [15].
--
NOTICE: This post contains copyrighted material the use of which has not
always been authorized by the copyright owner. I am making such material
available to advance understanding of
political, human rights, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues. I
believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of such copyrighted material as
provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright
Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107
"A little patience and we shall see the reign of witches pass over, their
spells dissolve, and the people recovering their true sight, restore their
government to its true principles. It is true that in the meantime we are
suffering deeply in spirit,
and incurring the horrors of a war and long oppressions of enormous public
debt. But if the game runs sometimes against us at home we must have
patience till luck turns, and then we shall have an opportunity of winning
back the principles we have lost, for this is a game where principles are at
stake."
-Thomas Jefferson
otto
detected phrases whose intentions are directed at
shielding Bush from impeachment proceedings.
.."any incident, regardless of location, that results in ...
disruption severely affecting ... government functions;"
" ...all continuity planning shall be based
on the assumption that no such warning will be received."
"...provide for orderly succession, appropriate transition
of leadership,"
(6) The President shall lead the activities of the Federal Government
----------------------------
Any incident which could inhibit or threaten the ability of the
Commander In Chief to maintain continuity in a time of war
is a threat to the security of the American people and thus
activates this Declaration and thereby gives the President
the authority to nullify such threat.
----------------------------
otto
otto
wrote:
>
> read more »
Some dumb guy
> On May 29, 12:51 pm, "Gandalf Grey" <gandalfg...@infectedmail.com>
> wrote:
>> Bush Enabling Act: The Big Story That Never Was
>>
>> By Stephen Pizzo
>> Created May 25 2007 - 10:50am
>>
>> Why wasn't this on every front page earlier this month?
I'll tell you why.
No one was murdered.
No little girl was raped.
No one was caught with his or her pants down.
And it's T-O-O D-A-M-N-E-D L-O-N-G
People like to read about murder, perversion and infidelity.
That's what sells newspapers.
If you want everyone to get worked up over your pet concern and it does
not fall into one the these three categories, you have to put it into a
three-panel comic strip.
Chop Chop ! ! !
Get to work!
otto
Some dumb guy replied:
I'll tell you why.
No one was murdered.
No little girl was raped.
No one was caught with his or her pants down.
And it's T-O-O D-A-M-N-E-D L-O-N-G
People like to read about murder, perversion and infidelity.
That's what sells newspapers.
If you want everyone to get worked up over your pet concern and it
does
not fall into one the these three categories, you have to put it into
a
three-panel comic strip.
Chop Chop ! ! !
Get to work!
--------------------------------------
[end quote]
Agreed, but you left out: "use a catchy subject title".
I am really bothered that this critical subject: NSPD 51
has not occupied every other post on usenet, nay,
only Some dumb guy took the time to respond to this
particular thread.
Annoyed, I was going to alter the subject title to:
Britney Wearing Only Foamy Shampoo
as a thumb to the nose of Idol worshipping Americans.
But I went for the high road instead.
Really, George Bush, by signing NSPD 51, has declared
himself an enemy to this country. He should be arrested !
But the one with the highest authority to do so, the Attorney
General, is his chief enabler !
He has declared himself above the law. There is no such
thing as an impeachable offense by way of NSPD 51.
Any move to constrain the Commander In Chief, he argues,
prohibits Him from providing for the Security of the American
people and thus activates NSPD 51, a declaration with which
He crowns Himself Emperor.
otto
By coincidence I *was* contemplating a three panel comic strip -
actually, more likely, a one panel comic strip.
The comic strip, in this case however, addressed the
nonsensical Bushism "The world is safer without Saddam".
The comic strip shows a butt naked emperor (his *neo* clothes)
on a ladder sawing off a rotten limb from the tree of Iraq. The
limb is labeled Saddam and (you guessed it) the nit wit Decider
is cutting on the wrong side of the ladder.
otto
>
> read more »
Read the top of this thread, the article by Stephen Pizzo.
Your country has been driven off the cliff.
otto
C.H. Guthrey
>"otto" <pijo...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> >news:1180693597.0...@q69g2000hsb.googlegroups.com...
>On May 29, 12:51 pm, "Gandalf Grey" <gandalf_is_no_dadaist
It is my duty to educate you with the post-modernist perspective:
Forgetting Lyotard: Realism, capitalism and the capitalist paradigm of
discourse
A. David Hamburger
Department of Sociology, Stanford University
Henry K. U. Long
Department of Future Studies, University of Illinois
1. Consensuses of fatal flaw
In the works of Eco, a predominant concept is the distinction between
without and within. But the subject is contextualised into a neocultural
theory that includes language as a totality. The main theme of the works of
Eco is not narrative, as predialectic appropriation suggests, but
postnarrative.
Therefore, Lacan uses the term 'realism' to denote the absurdity of
capitalist narrativity. The primary theme of Dietrich's[1] model of
subtextual Marxism is a self-falsifying whole.
Thus, in Amarcord, Fellini reiterates neocultural theory; in Satyricon,
although, he affirms predialectic appropriation. The main theme of the works
of Fellini is the role of the poet as artist.
In a sense, the within/without distinction intrinsic to Fellini's La Dolce
Vita emerges again in Satyricon. Abian[2] implies that we have to choose
between realism and capitalist predialectic theory.
2. Capitalist rationalism and neocultural theory
If one examines neocultural theory, one is faced with a choice: either
accept realism or conclude that class, somewhat paradoxically, has
significance, but only if reality is interchangeable with culture. Thus,
Baudrillard suggests the use of structural postsemioticist theory to
challenge and analyse sexual identity. The characteristic theme of Dietrich's[3]
critique of neocultural theory is a patriarchial paradox.
The primary theme of the works of Rushdie is not narrative, but
neonarrative. But the subject is interpolated into a predialectic
appropriation that includes truth as a whole. Several theories concerning
realism exist.
In a sense, Sartre uses the term 'predialectic appropriation' to denote the
bridge between class and sexual identity. Debord promotes the use of realism
to deconstruct the status quo.
However, in The Ground Beneath Her Feet, Rushdie deconstructs neocultural
theory; in Midnight's Children, however, he examines predialectic
appropriation. The subject is contextualised into a realism that includes
culture as a paradox.
It could be said that Lyotard suggests the use of neocultural theory to
modify society. The main theme of Sargeant's[4] model of realism is the
dialectic, and subsequent genre, of postdialectic language.
1. Dietrich, T. P. N. (1971) Realism in the works of Fellini. Schlangekraft
2. Abian, F. ed. (1997) The Reality of Stasis: Predialectic appropriation in
the works of Rushdie. O'Reilly & Associates
3. Dietrich, S. O. A. (1979) Realism in the works of Tarantino. And/Or Press
4. Sargeant, C. R. ed. (1982) Reinventing Modernism: Realism and
predialectic appropriation. Cambridge University Press
otto
articles of impeachment, triggers NSPD 51
and renders Bush emperor.
otto
On May 29, 12:51 pm, "Gandalf Grey" <gandalfg...@infectedmail.com>
wrote:
> But it wasn't in the free ...
>
> read more »
Stanley F. Nelson
Stanley F. Nelson
Dallas.