Home > Giving Democracy The Bird: Bush Asks Congress for Martial Law

Giving Democracy The Bird: Bush Asks Congress for Martial Law

by Open-Publishing - Thursday 13 October 2005
16 comments

Edito Wars and conflicts Governments USA

Soldiers brandishing automatic weapons, a defining characteristic of life in Third World dictatorships, have become commonplace at airports, bus and train stations, government offices and highway checkpoints since 9/11. Now troops are becoming our first responders to situations, such as natural disasters and flu outbreaks, which normally fall under civilian jurisdiction.

Everything’s gone topsy-turvy: The National Guard, charged with keeping order here at home and legally under the control of state governors, has been shipped off to Iraq and Afghanistan, shanghaied by the federal government. Here in the U.S., whatever comes up, the Bush Administration’s first reaction is to send in the regular army troops who are supposed to be in Iraq. Whether it’s a sinister plot against American democracy or the most sustained large-scale foolishness in history, the Bush Administration is tearing down the traditional wall between overseas military action and domestic law enforcement.

Creeping militarism leapt into full view with Bush’s October 4 request to Congress to repeal the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878, which prohibits the use of the military in domestic policing except for the purpose of quelling a revolution. Citing the theoretical possibility that Asian avian flu, now only transmittable from bird to human, could mutate into a human-to-human form, Bush said: "If we had an outbreak somewhere in the United States, do we not then quarantine that part of the country? And who best to be able to effect a quarantine? One option is the use of a military that’s able to plan and move. I think it’s an important debate for Congress to have."

Overturning Posse Comitatus would allow troops to break into houses and apartments and sweep the streets for flu victims, and forcibly contain them in Guantánamo-style camps. They could seal off cities or whole states. These extreme measures could also be deployed against U.S. citizens after hurricanes, tornados, earthquakes, or even election disputes—whenever and wherever a president decides they are necessary.

Bush laid the groundwork for his assault on Posse Comitatus on September 26, when he explained his decision to unleash the 82nd Airborne upon Hurricane Katrina-devastated New Orleans: "I want there to be a robust discussion about the best way for the federal government, in certain extreme circumstances, to be able to rally assets for the good of the people." The Louisiana National Guard, meanwhile, was stuck in Iraq.

"The translation of this is martial law in the United States," said Dr. Irwin Redlener, associate dean of Columbia University’s School of Public Health and director of its National Center for Disaster Preparedness. Redlener called Bush’s proposal to deploy troops on American soil an "extraordinarily Draconian measure." Even Gene Healy, senior editor at the right-wing Cato Institute, said Bush’s proposal would undermine "a fundamental principle of American law" that "reflects America’s traditional distrust of using standing armies to enforce order at home, a distrust that’s well-justified."

All this over avian flu, which to date has killed fewer than 100 people worldwide.

Travel to other countries and you’ll find that a society’s freedom is inversely related to the number of guys wearing camouflage, brandishing big guns and pulling people over at roadblocks. Blurring the distinction between policing and soldiering, as do the military police in the former Soviet republics of Central Asia and Middle Eastern countries like Syria and Jordan, is a defining characteristic of repressive states.

Civilian cops may be rude or even abusive, but they’re not supposed to shoot you without a good reason. You’re their boss, or at least they work for the mayor you elected. Not so with soldiers. Military troops are responsible only to their chain of command, which is likely to end thousands of miles away in Washington. They shoot sooner and quicker than cops, and they have much bigger guns. Regimes that use the military to maintain order tell their citizens: do what we tell you, or else. They rely upon violence rather than tacit consensus to stay in charge.

Rule under the point of a gun is not democracy.

James Pinkerton of the New America Foundation argues for efficiency over freedom. "When you absolutely, positively, have to get something done right away," he writes in USA Today, "you call in the military. By their very nature, men and women in uniform are oriented toward getting things done. They are trained to complete their mission, or die trying. And as Hurricane Katrina made clear, the rest of the government doesn’t hold to such a high standard. So why not the best?"

Federal agencies muffed Katrina because of inadequate budgets and mismanagement, not because they’re intrinsically incompetent. Moreover, there’s little evidence that militarizing domestic functions makes the trains run on time. The military controls everything from road construction to trash collection, yet Pakistan remains a nation that suffers from systemic corruption, a staggering drug problem and crippling disparity of wealth—not to mention an endless low-intensity civil war. Most European democracies, by contrast, enjoy a higher standard of living—and more efficient government—than the U.S. And they do it without pointing automatic rifles at flood victims lining up for food and water.

But what if military dictatorship could be proven a more efficient form of government than old-fashioned democracy? What if a standing army could do what a bunch of namby-pamby bureaucrats can’t? Would it be worth it?

That’s the choice George W. Bush is asking Congress, and thus us, to make. The fact that he hasn’t been impeached for daring to ask it highlights the dictatorial tendencies of those who share his contempt for personal liberty. New York

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  • The GOP gang want to cement their power! If the American voter don’t break this phlanax of attrocities and crime they will not survive the upcoming two years.

    2006 is the year to vote the GOP gang out.

    • This is wonderful its a dream. Unfortunately back to reality. The citizens of U.S. dont have voting rights as proven in elections of 2000 and frightfully 2004, when the Bush junta stole the elections. With the flip of the electronic switch, your vote went to Bozo the Clown.

      We citizens of the U.S. must have all public politicians scrutinized examine all aspects of whom they the politicians are supporting. If they support their communities fine, but if they support big selfish conniving corporations whose interest is not in the people, lets give these weak will money selling politicians the boot before its too late! History repeats itself and since 1913 when powerful wealthy men on Jeckyl Island off the state of Ga., sold this country to foreign interests, The U.S. is destined to become powerless as a third world country so that the"New World Order" Dictatorship is already here!

      We must do somthing, now or suffer as in Nazi Germany.

  • Switzerland has an interesting solution to the problem.

    All men are expected to do military service for a specific number of weeks a year, up to a maximum in a lifetime which depends on the rank achieved. All the soldiers take their weapons home, in case of sudden call up. Yet Switzerland has an extremely low number of murders by shooting. How can this be, since all soldiers have weapons at home?

    Furthermore, if, because of injury or other reasons, a man cannot do military service (as is my case, since I had a seriously fractured leg 26 years ago), he can enter the civil defence, which is placed under the justice ministry. Here we ensure that the people (including foreign workers, tourists and other visitors) can be placed in protected shelters in case of catastrophe (natural, man-made, or war). As a senior officer in the civil defence, having responsibility for some 4,000 people in the town next door, I can be activated in an emergency within 24 hours, and my personell (subordinates) within a total of 48 hours. Most houses and other buildings have cellars which are designed to be converted into shelters, if necessary.

    If, for any reason, a person cannot do military service, civil defence or equivalent social work, a tax is levied for the support of those who do. Every day of service reduces this tax by 10% in the current year. Women may also do military service, civil defence, etc., but this is voluntary.

    With a very small standing military (all professionals), a large reserve to call on, and a civil defence that is integrated into the population, Switzerland has an extremely high standard of living, and levels of freedom that many countries could envy. This is also because the country has a paricipatory democracy, where the population can take part in the political process through referenda and other methods.

    I am both a British and a Swiss citizen, and find that Switerland has by far the better solution to any other I have come across in my travels around the world.

    • Moreover Switzerland is the only remaining democracy. The powerful voting right, which allows to call for a vote on any kind of political or comunity issue allows the citizens of Switzerland to be part of the lively democracy on earth.
      And you can walk up to their parliaments in their capital Bern and you see no barrages or extensive police or military. The rotten gun culture from the past of America makes it the most violent country on earth.
      What else could explain that a legislator in Florida allows it citizens the use of guns whenever the feel threaten by somebody.
      Another reason for the much less violence in Switzerland: they have hardly any extremist religious leader and separation of church and state works well.

    • Switzer the only remaining democracy? What about Venezuela?

  • Bush’s egomania demands more and more power. There is no limit to his lust for power, so he will seize every opportunity to gain more and more. Any excuse, any pretext, will do. Even though he is engaged in a very expensive war he started by lies, he continues to make plans to invade Iran, Syria and perhaps even North Korea. If he takes on China he may destroy the world with his overwhelming ambition to be an imperial ruler. He doesn’t mind killing people for his religious beliefs because he is an absolutist who knows he is absolutely right and everyone else is wrong and he must fight evil because his God whispers in his ear. Bush is the most dangerous person in the world today and his Cabinet of neocon thugs in suits will help him destroy countries as long as they get a good profit from the deal.

  • i have long tired to tell theses stupid americans that voted for bush that he is learing he can not take over in the middle east because unlike the american people thoses people of the middle east don’t want your so called freedoms and they will fight you till the cows come home. good for them. but when bush finds he can’t run over the middle east he will turn on the american people and steal what he can from them. he will order those same stupid soliders to kill american to take what they have if they raise up. white or black. why this lowlife sob is still in office i will never understand.

    • I just looked up this quote: "Every country has the government it deserves" -Joseph de Maistre (1753 - 1821), written on August 15, 1811. It is a frightening to think what it says about the American people. Laziness, religious extremism, lack of education about history, tendency to violence inherent in the culture, and many more reasons spring to mind; take your pick of your favourite(s).

    • I just looked up this quote: "Every country has the government it deserves" -Joseph de Maistre (1753 - 1821), written on August 15, 1811. It is a frightening to think what it says about the American people. Laziness, religious extremism, lack of education about history, tendency to violence inherent in the culture, and many more reasons spring to mind; take your pick of your favourite(s).

    • ONe thing we have to keep in mind. The current administration does not represent the majority of people in the U.S. (not using the word "Americans") As you may know, most did not vote for this administration, it was "appointed" twice. There is something happening in this country far beyond the control of U.S. citizens. This is very important to acknowledge, such as the mind controlling entertainment vistas, complacent news media and the dumbing down of news and information. But not only that, the Patriot Act that grants over-arching power to FBI investigation and criminalizes dissent. There are FBI spying on PETA groups, environmental activists, and treating them as terror threats. There is a frightening systematic take down of this country. Why such a quick descent into a visible fascist police state? Any answers?

    • To the person that observed how quickly the United States is descending into the maelstrom of totalitarianism, and how there is far more to this descent than meets the eye, I would urge him to read the works of British author David Icke. Many consider Icke to be extreme in his views, but he is the only author that I know of who has made sense of all this. If you read him, however, leave your prejudices and preconceptions hehind!

    • right, that’s the guy that talks about the shape shifting lizard men. hhahahahahahahhahahahhahhhahahhahahhahahhahahahhaha LOL

    • If more info on "why" the systematic take down seems so quick I suggest you read william coopers "behold a pale horse". Good read and you can look up the sources and information quoted.

    • Why such a quick descent into a visible fascist police state? Any answers?

      Americas descent into total spiritual and moral bankruptcy has not been quick. As someone on the outside this is all too clear. You however are caught on the inside and have been drugged slowly but surely over the years. You have learned to believe the lie of the so called "amercan dream".

      Well my friends, your dream is a nightmare that is fast unravelling. What really worries me (I was tempted to use the word "frightens" but we have to rise above fear at this juncture) is that your nightmare is beginning to encompass the whole world. Wasn’t it Einstein who said "each step appears to be the the unnavoidable consequence of the preceeding one, and in the end becons more and more clearly total annhilation" ?

      Well, at this point it is rather superfelous trying to seperate americans from the rest as this whole thing now threatens all of us. The super power (USA) has turned into the super-cower. There are too few people of substance. Those that dare rise against the state are quelled. Your media has you sewn up tighter than a nuns orrifice.

      The funny thing is that it can all e changed. It takes brave people to stand and be counted. What a shame that the best you can muster at your protests are a few thousand out of hundreds of millions. Your inaction shows your lethargy, your lethargy shows your complicity. You really do need to wake up and realise that your american dream is a fabrication of the worst order.

      Peace and hope to all of us.

  • 17 October 2005

    Is there anyone who believes Dr. Irwin Redlener has mistakenly "attacked" Bush’s attempt to ’save democracy’ in the USA with a ’WAR ON TERROR’? I would like to quote Dr. Redlener once more for emphasis, "Rule under the point of a gun is not democracy!" Bush aims to destroy the democracy he claims he is trying to protect, and Dr. Redlener is pointing this out.

    Cindy Sheehan in her attempts to speak with Bush about her son’s death in Iraq, has shown us this president is not in any way for the American people. Even noted author Kurt Vonnegut has called for Bush to be impeached in an interview! Vonnegut says, and he’s the first person I have heard mention this, the candidates of the 2004 election were both Skull & Bones. Would the American people have known they were being had if both candidates were Sigma Chi from Purdew? Bush has been the wrong actor cast in the American TV movie, concedes Vonnegut.

    Bush’s incompetent response with Katrina in New Orleans certainly supports these ideas. Also, the fact that the National Guard was ordered to block any emergency rescue groups from entering the flood ravaged city is enough to convince most people.

    Frankly Bush may have been in too long to be removed at this point. Can enough Americans reassemble what is left of this democracy to even voice that opinion? Then we have already lost!

    --- Luther R. Norman

  • Why such a quick descent into a visible fascist police state? Any answers?

    You may find the answer here.

    http://rense.com/general68/martt1.htm

    http://rense.com/general68/martt.htm