NEWS: In Case of Emergency, Declare Dictatorship

POLITICS: In Case of Emergency, Declare Dictatorship

With all the talk of future terrorist attacks, nuclear weapons and ecological disasters, we Americans have plenty to worry about. But now thanks to President Bush, one thing we don’t have to fret over is the continuity of our Constitutional Government.

Anybody who paid attention in school (or "Schoolhouse Rock" knows the US Constitution mandates that the People be governed by three coequal branches of government (Executive, Legislative and Judicial) a system of checks and balances that despite all the problems is the oldest functioning constitutional government in the world at over 230 years. But that could change in case of a “catastrophic emergency” which is defined in the new document as:

Seems a bit open to interpretation but Attorney General Alberto Gonzales likely has it all worked out. NSPD 51’s main function is Continuity of Government and says that in the event of some major catastrophic event, whether it be a terrorist attack or some other disaster, the President has the power to take any action he wants despite the Congress and Supreme Court. This makes sense when thinking of a doomsday scenario where America gets nuked and civil society faces instability. But with the way this thing is worded, Homeland Security could take over the next time there’s a Playstation riot!

No need to get all conspiracy-stressed, its not as if this is the only Administration to feel a little of that Dr. Strangelove vibe. President Clinton issued a similar COG plan 1998 but Bush’s new directive makes the Clinton act null and void. Presumably Bush/Cheney have a better plan but naturally its a secret. One thing can be certain thanks to NSPD 51: if a major terrorist attack were to occur, say another 911 or even another Hurricane Katrina, the President now has the legal power to suspend the US Constitution in favor of “ensuring constitutional government.” That’s a relief!

No.

Who perpetrated the Katrina attack? Al Qaeda? Dr. Wily? God?

...and all the loonies come outta the woodwork...Year Zero, man...

Haha. You're shitting me.

just when you thought the bush administration ran out of "worst ideas ever".

Wasn't this the basis of Emperor Palpatine's rise to power in Episode 3?

Section 5 (a) reads, specifically, that one of the "National Essential Functions" that the President's duty is to maintain is explicitly identified as,

Emphasis added.

Reading the document was pretty painful, but it doesn't look exceptionally sinister to me - this is nowhere near on the level of the Patriot Act, for instance. Nor is it on the level of the torture memos or domestic spying. The worst that could be said about it, really, is that it empowers a fantastically incompetent and unqualified executive to coordinate the national response to a severe crisis - and (well, this is probably the worst) to define what a "severe crisis" is.

Still, though, I certainly didn't read it as overturning the Constitution.

Doesn't matter: "...any incident, regardless of location..."

Despite Zarth's well reasoned response:

Presidential Decision Directive 67 (PDD 67) issued by president Clinton, of which the text of PDD-67 has not been released, and there is no White House Factsheet summarizing its provisions, was classified to a greater extent than President Bushes plan. The only difference between the 2 documents seems to be that PDD 67 was based on a pre 911 world situation.

Nothing to see here folks, move along.

As much as I hate to agree with someone called ButtBoi,

Insofar as with a disaster on the scale of Katrina or even 9/11, the President can already declare a state of emergency and deal with those mechanisms in place, it's fair to assume that Section 2 (b) there refers to exactly what it says it's referring to - something genuinely apocalyptic, like a nuclear strike.

wow, i just got into an argument with my republican roommate about this.

him: "so that means, if he bypasses the 3-branch system that he can make decisions faster."
me: "yeah, but it's more complex than that."
him: "how is it more complex? it's faster."
me: "there's more to it than it just being faster."
him: "didn't you just agree that it was faster?"
me: "yes, it's faster, but that's not all."
him: "what the fuck are you talking about? how could it be more than that?"
me: "'bypassing' the 3-branch system is basically ignoring the constitution and the democratic process to put himself in complete control of the government. that's a dictatorship, isn't it?"
him: "yeah, but it's faster."
me: "fine, yeah, it's faster, but there's more."
him (yelling now): "how can there be more to it if it's faster? who cares about anything else? it's faster! he gets to do what he wants, what's so bad about that?"
me: "you're completely missing the point!"
him: "no, you are! it's faster, what else does it matter?"

holy shit, are all republicans this simpleminded and obnoxious?

He's not bypassing it, though - at least not on the basis of the document itself. The fact that your roommate supports a dictatorship (which this directive does not establish) bodes far more ill for the future of democracy in this country than the directive itself.

Oh, and no. Not all. Just most. Some are smart and obnoxious.

if i hear the word "faster" one more time, my head is going to explode.

Faster?

But it's faster!

But is it faster?

im sure glad its not lent.

im not much of a faster.

faster is better?

Well, it's faster.

so no matter what the decider lays down, it's better because it's faster?

Bush = Sith Lord..

makes sense to me

faster!

It's faster, what else does it matter?