Posse Comitatus ends on Wednesday. No, really.

[MetaTrope]

The Posse Comitatus Act, the federal law which prohibits the armed forces from performing in a law enforcement capacity within the United States, is becoming history on October 1st, per this Army Times article:

Beginning Oct. 1 for 12 months, the 1st BCT will be under the day-to-day control of U.S. Army North, the Army service component of Northern Command, as an on-call federal response force for natural or manmade emergencies and disasters, including terrorist attacks.

It is not the first time an active-duty unit has been tapped to help at home. In August 2005, for example, when Hurricane Katrina unleashed hell in Mississippi and Louisiana, several active-duty units were pulled from various posts and mobilized to those areas.

But this new mission marks the first time an active unit has been given a dedicated assignment to NorthCom, a joint command established in 2002 to provide command and control for federal homeland defense efforts and coordinate defense support of civil authorities.

After 1st BCT finishes its dwell-time mission, expectations are that another, as yet unnamed, active-duty brigade will take over and that the mission will be a permanent one.

...The 1st BCT’s soldiers also will learn how to use “the first ever nonlethal package that the Army has fielded,” 1st BCT commander Col. Roger Cloutier said, referring to crowd and traffic control equipment and nonlethal weapons designed to subdue unruly or dangerous individuals without killing them.

“It’s a new modular package of nonlethal capabilities that they’re fielding. They’ve been using pieces of it in Iraq, but this is the first time that these modules were consolidated and this package fielded, and because of this mission we’re undertaking we were the first to get it.”

The package includes equipment to stand up a hasty road block; spike strips for slowing, stopping or controlling traffic; shields and batons; and, beanbag bullets.

I guess this looks like bad news...at least, until President Obama mobilizes the Army to collect firearms from restive Southern states. :9

Posse Comitatus Act, 1878-2008. R.I.P.

[billyoc]

1. "President Obama mobilizes the Army to collect firearms"

uh-huh. :eyes:

[wundermaus]

2. Is there any doubt left that the Fascists are preparing...

to declare Martial Law and suspend elections?

Why else would the Fascists gather all the power of a Dictatorship -

only to hand it over to a freely elected representative of the People of the United States?

How naive...

Stock up now.

Blackwater = death squads in America

[lonestarnot]

3. They are going to have one hell of a fight on their bloody hands!

[dkofos]

4. Any idea where their home base is??

We may need a preemptive strike

[redqueen]

5. Did any outlets report this other than the Army Times?

Oh, and the WSWS... I know they ran a piece on it. :7

[lonestarnot]

6. Guess since they're passing this on Sunday, we have two days, Mon. & Tues.

:rofl:

[dixiegrrrrl]

7. One reason they may not suspend elections is this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lrFkRHrRDI

5 min. long, starts slow, but critical to watch as the point becomes more clear.

it is already rigged for McCain.

And the riots afterward may be the excuse for martial law.

And I am deeply serious.

[eowyn_of_rohan]

8. Actually, the Posse Comitatus Act won't end - it is being violated by Bush

I started to attempt to sort all this out, and came across a good article:
http://www.lewrockwell.com/bovard/bovard56.html

Dennis Kucinich lists among his Articles of Impeachment, #s 22 & 23
CREATING SECRET LAWS & VIOLATION OF THE POSSE COMITATUS

Do some of these "Secret laws" have to do with caveats contained in other Acts (eg PAtriot Act) which contradict, and/or override the Posse Comitatus?

I intended to have all this neat and tidy, and post it by today, but got bogged down, & have just not had enough time to get back and finish the project. I wonder if it was intentional to make this so convoluted and confusing. It is to me, anyway.

Here is a start: info on the posse comitatus and changes to it under Bush.

1) POSSE COMITATUS ACT passed on June 16, 1878 after the end of Reconstruction.
Title 18, U.S. Code, Section 1385
Whoever, except in cases and under circumstances expressly authorized by the Constitution or Act of Congress, willfully uses any part of the Army or the Air Force as a posse comitatus or otherwise to execute the laws shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than two years, or both.

2) CHANGES TO ACT UNDER BUSH
John Warner Defense Authorization Act -Hr5122, was signed by the president on Oct 17, 2006. John Warner National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2007 (H.R. 5122) changed the name of the key provision in the statute book from "Insurrection Act" to "Enforcement of the Laws to Restore Public Order Act." Sec. 1042 (??) of the Act, "Use of the Armed Forces in Major Public Emergencies," effectively overturned what is known as posse comitatus.

3) REPEAL OF ACT BY SENATE (March 2008)
Congress Quietly Repeals Martial Law Provision
By Jim Bovard
Mon, 21 Apr 2008 06:03:00
(Bovard) -- In late 2006, Congress revised the Posse Comitatus Act and the Insurrection Act to make it far easier for a president to declare martial law. Those changes were repealed at the end of this January as part of Public Law 110-181 (HR 4986), the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008 (signed into law by President Bush on January 28, 2008).

Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt), who championed the opposition to the original law, was also the hero of the repeal. It helped that all the nation’s governors opposed the 2006 law.

~~~~~~~~~

[eowyn_of_rohan]

9. an excellent article here

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/09/24/army/index.html

and a LONG discussion of the issue here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=389&topic_id=4072643

[Duppers]

10. smack a big old sarcasm at the end

the little tongue out icon is not enough to ensure that some freeper lurkers here get it.

Yeah, they're that stupid.