The Hidden Government

As you know far too well, a government that is not watched and checked by the powers given it by the people in the Constitution, that goes unchecked and unguarded, can evolve into a runaway train of power that can prove to be very difficult to slow down, much less to stop. The Constitution, a copy of which I keep on my desk for quick reference, has arranged for a system of checks and balances of all branches of government, but when the judicial and legislative branches kowtow to the executive branch, giving the executive branch a free pass, going unchecked, unlimited powers can become institutionalized in the executive branch, given to the executive branch by itself. A case in point follows:

George W. Bush Signs Law Which May Impose Martial Law
Capitol Hill Blue is a not-for-profit, non-commercial experiment in on-line journalism published as an information resource for our readers. All material is © 2006 Capitol Hill Blue. For more information, please check out our FAQ. We take your privacy seriously at Capitol Hill Blue.Home / The Rant / ReaderRantThe RantBush could seize absolute control of U.S. government DOUG THOMPSON Publisher, Capitol Hill Blue Jan. 13, 2006, 07:42 Email this article Printer friendly page President George W. Bush has signed executive orders giving him sole authority to impose martial law, suspend habeas corpus and ignore the Posse Comitatus Act that prohibits deployment of U.S. troops on American streets. This would give him absolute dictatorial power over the government with no checks and balances. Bush discussed imposing martial law on American streets in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks by activating “national security initiatives” put in place by Ronald Reagan during the 1980s. These “national security initiatives," hatched in 1982 by controversial Marine Colonel Oliver North, later one of the key players in the Iran-Contra Scandal, charged the Federal Emergency Management Agency with administering executive orders that allowed suspension of the Constitution, implementation of martial law, establishment of internment camps, and the turning the government over to the President. John Brinkerhoff, deputy director of FEMA, developed the martial law implementation plan, following a template originally developed by former FEMA director Louis Guiffrida to battle a “national uprising of black militants.” Gifuffrida’s implementation of martial law called for jailing at least 21 million African Americans in “relocation camps.” Brinkerhoff later admitted in an interview with the Miami Herald that President Reagan signed off on the initiatives and they remained in place, dormant, until George W. Bush took office.Brinkerhoff moved on the Anser Institute for Homeland Security and, following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, provided the Bush White House and the Pentagon with talking points supporting revised “national security initiatives” that would could allow imposition of martial law and suspension of the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878, the law that is supposed to forbid use of troops for domestic law enforcement.Brinkerhoff wrote that intentions of Posse Comitatus are “misunderstood and misapplied” and that the U.S. has in times of national emergency the “full and absolute authority” to send troops into American streets to “enforce order and maintain the peace.” Bush used parts of the plan to send troops into the streets of New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina. In addition, FEMA hired former special forces personnel from the mercenary firm Blackwater USA to “enforce security.” Blackwater USA, in its promotional materials, describes itself as “the most comprehensive professional military, law enforcement, security, peacekeeping, and stability operations company in the world,” adding that “we have established a global presence and provide training and operational solutions for the 21st century in support of security and peace, and freedom and democracy everywhere.” Blackwater is also a major U.S. contractor in Iraq and has a contract with the Bush White House to provide additional security work “on an as-needed basis.”The Department of Homeland Security established the “Northern Command for National Defense,” a wide-ranging program that includes FEMA, the Pentagon, the FBI and the National Security Agency. Executive orders already signed by Bush allow the Northern Command to send troops into American streets, seize control of radio and television stations and networks and impose martial law “in times of national emergency.”The authority to declare what is or is not a national emergency rests entirely with Bush who does not have to either consult or seek the approval of Congress for permission to assume absolute control over the government of the United States. The White House press office would neither confirm nor deny existence of Bush’s executive orders or the existence of the Northern Command for National Defense. Neither would the Department of Homeland Security.But my sources within the White House and DHS tell me the plans are in place, ready for implementation when the command comes from the man who keeps telling the American public that he is a “war time president” who will “do anything in my power” to impose his will on the people of the United States.And he has made sure that power will be absolute when he chooses to use it. © Copyright 2006 by Capitol Hill BlueWe welcome reader comments: Discuss this story or other issues in ReaderRant.
As you remember, President Reagan's health was beginning to fail him while he was in office and George Bush, Sr. took on more and more power within the executive branch of government, far more than any other sitting vice-president. It seemed at the time to many people during the Iran-Contra scandal that a Lieutenant-Colonel by the name of Oliver North could hold so much power all by himself-controlling the flow of arms and large sums of maoney to the contra rebels in Nicuragua, without the knowledge of someone higher up. Later it came out that Oliver North acted directly under the control of the White House, and since President Reagan was (let us say-not himself), the Vice- President, George Bush called many of the shots. He has after all run the CIA for many years and set up all sorts of dummy organizations and corporations in order to carry out the Administrations goals around the world.
This sitting Presidents' Administrations goals are not his own- they are but the next level of the re-ordering of society that the first Bush wanted to achieve with his idea of a "New World Order". Today, April 25, 2007, the blue chip industrials went over 13,000 on Wall Street for the first time in history. The course of the American economy was said to be on track to rise over 6% this year with durable goods gaining an unprecedented 3.2% and yet, the dollar, as stated by the Bush Administration lost ground to the Euro! Fascinating! All the economic projections for the year are solid and rising, yet the dollar is said to be losing goround to the Euro. This goes against all economic lessons I ever studied in college. When the economic picture for the economy is this strong, and the value of gold is remaining constant, the dollar should remain strong, unless, the Administration is trying to make a case for creating a currency to rival that of our European world neighbors, namely the Amero. I would not be surprised to see this President use the power he gave himself to instigate a crisis and call for "Martial Law" at some point in the final months of his term of office, thus relagating to himself the power of absolute dictator, or "KING", which he has said he wouldn't mind being at all. I am not trying to sound like some sort of conspiracy theorist, but those are the words that President Bush's own acting press secretary used today to describe the desires of the demacratic Congress and their desire to place some checks and balances on his unchecked grasp of power for the last six years with a republican led Congress, when she stated that what they are doing is looking for some conspiracy theory that doesn't exist. I quote the question and her response here, "Q Dana, continuing on the political discourse, Rahm Emanuel is going to have a speech today in which he's going to say that Bush is more corrupt than Nixon in Watergate, and that the government has become a step-child, his words, of the Republican Party.
MS. PERINO: That's really surprising, given the messenger, that this is the speech that he's going to be giving. I heard yesterday, too, that he's going to be calling it part of a grand conspiracy, which I think is the recurring nightmare. But the nightmare we thought we had woken up from is recurring. We thought that the vast right-wing conspiracy was over, and I think that some of the comments that, at least were described to me yesterday from a reporter who had seen the prepared remarks, it sounded a little more like something you would see in the National Enquirer, not at a prestigious American think tank.
And I do think that when you're 100-hour plan is faltering, maybe the best thing to fall back on is a conspiracy theory. But they're usually a little bit better than this one." Yet, the President's Attorney General couldn't seem to "recall" or remember anything that had transpired during the time that the congressional committee was asking him to describe. Also, the Congress is having to subpoena the Secretary of State to appear before them and explain her actions that led to this war. Unbelievable! The Secretary of State refusing to come before Congress when asked! This administration is not above the law and it is quite ironic that a woman named 'Monica' Goodling, now that she has immunity from prosecution which was given to her after she refused to testify before Congress without using her fifth ammendmant rights, could be instrumental in bringing down this corrupt administration and its' architect, Karl Rove; not unlike the previous president who was nearly brought down by his own actions involving another 'Monica'. Truth is often more ironic and strange than facts. I am writing this because I believe that we have the moral obligation to provide words that will prevail much longer than our mortal bodies will survive.
Charles V. White, III