Bush's new "dictator" directive seeks to supercede "National Emergency Act"

[pnwmom]

Congress has already passed a National Emergency Act that gave the President powers to act in an emergency, but gave Congress a check on those powers. Now Bush has issued a "directive" that cuts Congress out of the loop and he has directed the Homeland Security Department to implement his directive.

I think we should be contacting our representatives to put a stop to this, NOW.

http://www.chattanoogan.com/articles/article_107907.asp


President Bush, without so much as issuing a press statement, on May 9 signed a directive that granted near dictatorial powers to the office of the president in the event of a national emergency declared by the president.


SNIP

The directive issued May 9 makes no attempt to reconcile the powers created there for the National Continuity Coordinator with the National Emergency Act. As specified by U.S. Code Title 50, Chapter 34, Subchapter II, Section 1621, the National Emergency Act allows that the president may declare a national emergency but requires that such proclamation "shall immediately be transmitted to the Congress and published in the Federal Register."

A Congressional Research Service study . . . notes that the National Emergency Act sets up congress as a balance empowered to "modify, rescind, or render dormant such delegated emergency authority," if Congress believes the president has acted inappropriately.

NSPD-51/ HSPD-20 appears to supersede the National Emergency Act by creating the new position of National Continuity Coordinator without any specific act of Congress authorizing the position.

NSPD-51/ HSPD-20 also makes no reference whatsoever to Congress. The language of the May 9 directive appears to negate any a requirement that the President submit to Congress a determination that a national emergency exists, suggesting instead that the powers of the executive order can be implemented without any congressional approval or oversight.

Homeland Security spokesperson Russ Knocke affirmed that the Homeland Security Department will be implementing the requirements of NSPD-51/HSPD-20 under Townsend's direction.

[jimshoes]

1. Wow kind of makes it all seem like

the good ol' USA is being taken over by a tyrannical evil mob,..... Oh wait that is exactly what is happening. I thought I was seeing things.x( :grr:

[opihimoimoi]

2. HITLER...Here we come.....Bush is WICKED EVIL .The Peeps who support this dude should be in Prison

[Bobbieo]

3. And people asked 'How did the Nazis take over Germany.?'

[indepat]

4. Being dictator would be easier if I'm the dictator or words to that effect

[Bobbieo]

6. Methinks - This has been on his mind for some time, now!

[opihimoimoi]

7. Yup, he is gonna do it soon.....these guys are Power Drunk

[tridim]

8. They are drunk with power, but I don't think that's the reason.

I think they see dictatorship as their last and only option.

[gordianot]

21. Correct

Even if the current Democrats are weak it may not be so in the future. They have made the executive branch too powerful to ever relinquish what they have created. If they are not careful the Unitary Executive may become a Democrat. There are too many bodies out there for that to ever happen.

[indepat]

11. Methinks the groundwork was laid long before the 2000 election: does anyone actually believe a

triggering event for full dictatorship will not occur or that the 2008 national elections will not be canceled? If so, welcome to la-la land for all the writing is clearly and unambiguously on the wall for all to see. But then, what does this solitary soul know?

[whistle]

5. Just impeach Cheney now and Bush will implode

[Doctor_J]

9. We won't hear much about this from the media or from the Dems

we're in Nazi Germany now.

[MonkeyFunk]

12. No

we're not in Nazi germany. Such comparisons are insane.

[kestrel91316]

16. The Germans weren't either, until that day when they were. It just sort of

snuck up on them.

There is none so blind as he who will not see.......

[MonkeyFunk]

17. The germans weren't what?

And if you believe America today is like Nazi Germany, how the FUCK can you still be living here?

I'm not impressed by paranoid hyperbole.

[kestrel91316]

19. Well, sweetie, I don't happen to give a rat's patootie whether or not

you're impressed by anything I think, lol.

The answer to your question is "Nazis".

This is MY country. MY HOME. My ancestors fought and died to free us from one King George. I intend to stay and fight against this one.

[MonkeyFunk]

28. Fine...

If I believed this were a nazi state, I'd get my ass out. You choose to stay in a nazi state - that says something about you.

[truth2power]

38. Thank you, Kestrel. You are correct....

Ignore the naysayers. Anyone who has read "They Thought They Were Free" will understand.

[Lerkfish]

20. prescience is not insanity.

no matter how much you might wish it so.

[MonkeyFunk]

35. What you call prescience

I call paranoia and hyperbole.

[Lerkfish]

36. just because you're paranoid, doesn't mean they're not out to get you.

just what do you think the "unitary executive" concept is all about?

[MonkeyFunk]

39. It's a controversial theory

about the separation of powers, debate over which goes back to Thomas Jefferson's presidency.

What's that got to do with the idea that there should be a plan in place to continue government operations in the event of a major catastrophe?

[Lerkfish]

41. ok, now I think you're just being intentionally obtuse.

the recent executive order should address this.

have a good discussion with others, I"m done trying to hammer through your skull.

[MonkeyFunk]

43. A hammer?

more like a gentle breeze.

Nobody has explained why they believe this directive is going to be implemented due to an attack orchestrated by Bush, yet that is the underlying concern.

I think that is paranoid. All people can do is say things like "I put nothing past them", but nobody ever says exactly WHY and HOW he's going to implement this fake attack.

Forgive me, but people have been fear-mongering these kinds of things for 6 years now. I was told we'd have no elections in 2002, 2004 or 2006. I was told that Bush was going to fake some attack to cancel elections. I was told we were going to invade Iran in April of this year. And every time I disputed those claims, I was told I was being willfully blind, that I was ignorant, or accused of being a Bush apologist.

Excuse me, but I simply don't believe the paranoid claims that some people make here. The existence of a plan isn't proof that the plan is going to be put into place. We have a plan to invade New Zealand locked away somewhere in the Pentagon, but I don't stay awake at night worrying about the Great Kiwi War of 2007.

Furthermore, if this WERE part of a nefarious plot to (... nobody ever says, but I'm sure it's bad), then why is it public information? He can classify presidential directives, too, but they chose to publish this one. Why?

[SOS]

57. The Enabling Act of 1933

allowed Hitler to make law without approval of the Reichstag.
It also allowed him to negoatiate treaties without parliamentary approval.

I agree that we are not in a Nazi state, but we must remain vigilant.
The accrual of power to the executive branch under Bush should be cause for concern for every American citizen.

The US can handle emergencies from hurricanes to attacks without granting the executive total control.

Remember the Gleiwitz incident came six years after the Enabling Act.

[Doctor_J]

31. You think the Nazis started out by slaughtering Jews by the 1000's?

That didn't start until the 40's - it was "the final solution". Before that they broke the labor unions, imposed a rightist ideological monopoly on the media, branded any who disagreed as "unpatriotic", created a defense-heavy economy, and created a myriad of irrelevant bogeyman (Bolsheviks, gypsies, union members, Jews) for people to blame their problems on. Does any of this sound familiar?

[MonkeyFunk]

34. If you honestly believe

we are like Germany in the 30s, you should get the hell out NOW! Don't stop to pack... just grab the family and RUN!

[Lerkfish]

37. you see absolutely no similarities whatsoever?

you don't see evaporation of civil liberties? You don't see power grabs under the guise of national security? You don't see characterizing dissent as unpatriotic?

you honestly don't see that?

if not, you are either the most unobservant person I've ever met, or you're intentionally and willfully ignorant.

[MonkeyFunk]

47. Nope

I see some of those things - but nowhere near the extent that was done in Nazi germany. I also don't find those actions particularly new in America. This has been a 231 year old struggle.

People who believe that this is the darkest, scariest time in US history are the ones who are ignorant, willfully or not.

[TankLV]

48. Curious that ALL of my Jewish friends see it - and discuss it in hushed tones...

Especially the OLDER ones who actually lived thru it all...

but aparently YOU know better, being the armchair observer and all...

GET A CLUE!

[onenote]

54. curious that none of my Jewish friends (and family) see it that way at all

Including the older ones that lived through WWII.

My dad -- age 92 -- doesn't like what's going on but doesn't see it as comparable to what he lived through during the red scares. He was targeted by no less that Nixon (when Nixon was a congressman) merely for having belonged to the Lawyers' Guild in the 30s.

[MonkeyFunk]

55. Odd....

I have many Jewish friends and not a one has ever mentioned such a thought.

How is it all your friends haven't left the country yet? Certainly, that would be the only logical course of action.

[Cobalt Violet]

10. K $ R.

:kick:

[Kermitt Gribble]

13. Not that it will do any good...

I emailed Sen. Casey:

Senator Casey,
I am writing you to ask what you and fellow Democrats in congress are doing about George W. Bush's National Security Presidential Directive/NSPD 51 and Homeland Security Presidential Directive/HSPD-20? With the National Emergency Act, this country already has a plan in place in case of a national emergency. These new directives are an obvious step along the path to this administration's attempt at establishing a dictatorship.

[unlawflcombatnt]

23. Excellent

Let us know if Senator Casey responds, and what he says.

All I ever get are form letters from Senators Boxer and Feinstein.

My Congressman is a Republican, so he's pretty useless on this point.

[Kermitt Gribble]

40. I'll post his reply.

I'm sure it will be the generic reply I usually get. My congressman is Phil English, so I don't even bother writing to him. My other Sen is Arlen Spector-just as pointless.

[snappyturtle]

14. K&R It should also be noted the Francis Townsend has 90 days

to get the implementations set up. I figure that's around August 7th from the time of signing on May 9th. So we probably have that long in case * has a MIHOP event in mind to give his dictatorship a kick start. We must all start writing and calling congresscritters to let them know we KNOW! I hate to be an alarmist but.............I can't believe the things that have already happened. Remember bush has control of the National Guard too. Maybe we should all review the Patriot Acts and the Military Commissions Act. What else should we be doing?

[MGKrebs]

24. Hmmm, so the plan should be in place just in time for the September review

of progress in Iraq.

[illinoisprogressive]

26. I seriously am thinking we need to have contigency plans. Like if it happens then what

If no one does anything then, I pack up and go to live with my relatives in France. I am seriously afraid of what these people are going to do and that no one will stop them.

[Tellurian]

30. Better check with the relatives first- They may not want to get involved

Bush may have language in the Pats Act I&II designating deserters as Unlawful Domestic Combatants subject to extradition from wherever/France. I don't believe France would have a problem extraditing you, they hate Americans anyway and want no trouble with the Bushmeister. I'd at least contact a Foreign Relations Attorney and find out first before I did anything. Unless, you're holding dual-citizenship with an additional French Passport. Then, I think you're ok!

[MGKrebs]

32. I have not experienced that French hate Americans.

We have experienced a strong disappointment with our government, but those we have spoken to seem able to distinguish between the government and all of the people.

[kestrel91316]

15. Congress won't use what power it has. After a lot of thought I have

pretty much concluded that this directive won't change a thing. Either way, Bush is given free reign.

[snappyturtle]

33. It does seem to change the role Congress will have in an

"emergency". Jerome Corsi, not one of my favorite people but... has said this on worldnet.com:

Corsi says the directive makes no attempt to reconcile the powers created for the national continuity coordinator with the National Emergency Act, which requires that such proclamation "shall immediately be transmitted to the Congress and published in the Federal Register."

A Congressional Research Service study notes the National Emergency Act sets up Congress as a balance empowered to "modify, rescind, or render dormant" such emergency authority if Congress believes the president has acted inappropriately.

But the new directive appears to supersede the National Emergency Act by creating the new position of national continuity coordinator without any specific act of Congress authorizing the position, Corsi says.

The directive also makes no reference to Congress and its language appears to negate any requirement that the president submit to Congress a determination that a national emergency exists.

[snappyturtle]

18. May I suggest you post this on General Discussion too just

to keep it out there? I know there have been a number of posts of the subject for a couple days but being a holiday weekend it would give more people the opportunity to learn of this.

[unlawflcombatnt]

22. Any Constitutional Law experts out there?

Someone posted this on my forum several days ago, and it was hard to believe at the time. Since then, however, I've heard about it about half a dozen times.

Jerome Corsi was actually on C-Span talking about this for most of the day a couple of days ago.

He made the point that the "continuity" concept, which this directive seems to hide behind, is what to do if the executive branch is decapitated (i.e., the President and Vice President). The continuity concept has no application to increasing Presidential powers.

Bush's latest directive would appear to be 100% illegal. Maybe we can get some feedback on this from any attorneys on the board, especially those versed in Constitutional Law.

[illinoisprogressive]

25. I bet him and cheney are going to bomb Iran and then take over our country.

this is what they are up to. they want to go to war with everyone and they want no one to impeach them or go against them. They will go ahead and do it on their own and become dictators here.
I already sent the story and a plea to do something to my Senators Durbin and Obama

[paparush]

27. Has anyone in Congress spoken publicly about this?

Anyone?

My god - how could they ignore this?

Will the Generals follow orders from this madman?

Will someone enter the launch codes and turn the keys based on orders from this dictator?

When they came for the Catholics, I did nothing, for I was not a Catholic...

[illinoisprogressive]

29. I haven't heard a thing.

[CoffeeCat]

42. Everyone should demand to know....

...just exactly for what "emergency" the pResident is preparing?

He's spent a great deal of time preparing for very extreme conditions
of "emergency". I can't think of one time in our nation's history (not
even 9/11), where an "emergency" was so horrendous, that suspension of the
Constitution was necessary and it was imperative for the pResident to become
dictator.

Junior has been amassing power and ripping the Constitution since he stole
the office. We all know he wants total power. So now it appears that he
obtains this power in an "emergency". He's laid it all out. All of his
dreams come true during this "emergency".


Obviously he knows that an "emergency" will happen. He knows it's coming.

So, what "emergency" is going to happen to this country?

[Joanne98]

44. Bastard!

[acmavm]

45. I e-mailed Ben Nelson's and Chuckie Hagel's offices over a week

ago asking what they were gonna do about this.

No answer of course.

[BrainGlutton]

46. Do these presidential directives have any legal force?

I mean, they might "appear to supersede" the National Emergency Act -- but not even the most rabid apologist of the "unitary executive" theory would argue the president has the power to legislate by decree, even in wartime.

[onenote]

49. I've read it a couple of times and have a couple of questions

First, the assertion that the new directive doesn't mention congress is inaccurate. It specifically refers several times to the legislative branch. For example, it states that "Recognizing that each branch of the Federal Government is responsible for its own continuity programs, an official designated by the Chief of Staff to the President shall ensure that the executive branch's COOP and COG policies in support of ECG 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." It also states that the directive "shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and the authorities of agencies, or heads of agencies, vested by law, and subject to the availability of appropriations".


Second, the directive revokes a previous directive on continuity of government issued during the Clinton administration. I can't seem to find a copy of the previous directive so I can't tell exactly how the new one differs.

So, while I am suspicious of the new directive, I would still like to see a more complete analysis, one that substantiates the claims made about it (for example, the claim that it "supercedes" the requirement that Congress review an emergency declaration) and that compares it to the prior directive.

[Kablooie]

50. Expect to see martial law declared within the next year.

And the constitution completely destroyed.

[SoonerPride]

56. Are we nuts?

I fear the same thing.

[grasswire]

51. wouldn't Bush have to disarm the populace...

...in order to effect a dictatorship?

For me, that's the canary in the gold mine. I believe that a gun grab would set this country aflame in opposition to the power grabbers. The right wing militias and constitutionalists would come out of the shrubbery and make the dictatorial plans difficult to carry out.

[SoonerPride]

52. Guns are a red herring

Back when our muskets were the same as the muskets of the government, it helped to arm the populace.

Try your hunting rifle against an M1 Abrams tank.

Sorry, but if they wanted to create a police state, there is little to nothing we could do to stop them.

Our handguns and rifles are no match in firepower. None.

[grasswire]

53. aren't the M1s in Iraq?

Seriously, we keep hearing about how all the equipment and troops are deployed overseas.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

58. Has CONGRESS put out a press release on this?