April 04 Harper's -- CEO COM LINK - fascism right here in the USA

[maggrwaggr]

I can't find a link, but I typed this directly from the article in the April 04 Harper's, pages 81 - 83.

If anybody could figure out a way to find a link to this, I'd appreciate it.

This is something nobody knows about! Imagine that ......

(snip)
CEO COM LINK, a secure, exclusive telephone system established in November 2001 that allows chief executives to speak directly with Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge and other officials during a terrorist attack.

CEO COM LINK - "CEO" ostensibly stands for Critical Emergency Operations -- is a remarkable example of what the Business Roundtable likes to call a "private public partnership". The exclusive communications network was created by the Roundtable for use by its members, 150 CEOs from Fortune 500 companies .......
(snip)
CEO COM LINK affords the Business Roundtable an astonishing status. No other organization, public or private, has such a secure and open line to the top tier of government during a national disaster.
(snip)
In the public sector, of course, such a system is completely unheard of. "There's nothing like it," says Representiative Curt Weldon (R., Pa), who serves as vice chairman of a House committee on emergency preparedness and response.
(snip)
Communication with the local and state governments is so shoddy, he notes, that state governors, who bear resonsibility for activating the National Guard, still lack the full access to classified information on terrorist threats that members of Congress have..
(snip)
No dedicated hotline like CEO COM LINK exists for any other group: not governors, mayors, firefighters, hospitals, or police.
(snip)
... as such it could, during a national emergency, allow for a kind of ad hoc governance by the Roundtable and its unelected CEO's.
(snip)
The Business Roundtable has not sought press attention for the hotline, and neither it nor the Roundtable is mentioned on the Department of Homeland SEcurity's website.


Nice, huh? Doesn't this fit the classical definition of fascism?




Nice, huh? Fascism at work. Right here in the USA

[maggrwaggr]

1. kick

:kick:

[Alerter_]

2. CEOs tell Bush to release the pictures

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x1594811

[maggrwaggr]

3. yeah, that's when I dug out the magazine

when I was on that link.

Amazing, isn't it, how corporate America is running the country now?

UNELECTED is the word I wanted to bold-face in what I typed.

UNELECTED ceo's.

Hm, kinda like Bush himself.

[Toucano]

4. I don't know why this doesn't get more attention.

I posted the story in March (link provided for reference).

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=1247153

I'm glad you brought it up again and connected the dots to the current events.

[maggrwaggr]

5. yeah (heavy sigh) "this should be a major news story"

maybe now that the media seems to be turning (a bit at least) they'll start reporting this kind of stuff.

This should be a doozy of a story.