A Catastrophic Emergency

I read an internet column by Betsy Hartmann on the following link at CommonDreams.org : http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/03/06/7525/ and it outlined one of my worst fears about the current administration...they might not go away. Like Putin in Russia, this administration might have put in place a way to stay in power. Our 2008 Presidential Election in November could be put on hold for national security reasons following a “catastrophic emergency.”

Betsy Hartmann writes in her article:

On May 4 last year, the White House issued the National Security and Homeland Security Presidential Directive, key parts of which remain classified and hence shrouded from public view. The directive outlines procedures to respond to a “catastrophic emergency,” defined broadly as “any incident, regardless of location, that results in extraordinary levels of mass casualties, damage, or disruption severely affecting the U.S. population, infrastructure, environment, economy, or government functions.”

“The Bush legal team has pushed a controversial theory that the Constitution gives the president an unwritten power to disobey laws at his own discretion to protect national security,” writes Charlie Savage in the Boston Globe. He quotes legal specialists who describe the vagueness of the new directive as “troubling”.

This presidential directive because of its vagueness and classified secrecy could give this sitting president the power to stay in office if national security is threatened because of a “catastrophic emergency.” What then might be considered an emergency of this magnitude? Hartmann lists several real scenarios that could trigger this Presidential directive:

1) War with Iran. How often have we heard Vice President Cheney threaten to bomb Iran’s nuclear facilities? It would be an act that would further polarize any allies left to us in the Middle East. Most experts in the region agree that such an act would be disastrous for the United States.

2) The assassination of a presidential candidate. We only have to remember the assassination of Robert Kennedy during the 1968 presidential election. Nor should we forget the reaction to the slaying of Martin Luther King.

3) Another terrorist strike on the level of 9/11 or worse. We gave up so much of our personal liberties and freedoms out of fear of another attack. Can you imagine what Americans would be asked to hand over after another attack?

Well, certainly the Supreme Court would protect any abuses of this presidential directive, including any attempt at the suspension of national elections. Not so fast. Do not forget the high court’s part in Bush being declared the winner over Gore after the mess in Florida in the 2000 presidential elections. Bush has been given the opportunity to stack the Supreme Court “deck” during his terms in office and I do not think anyone can be certain of the court’s impartiality.

Yes, I am paranoid. My regular readers can testify to that. I do not trust Bush and I especially do not trust Dick Cheney to do everything they can to hold on to power. They see a new Democratic administration that would finally pull the plug on our Iraq War as a real threat to our national security. More over, the Neocon Legacy in history is at stake. Will this administration allow Iraq to become “Bush’s Vietnam,” or will they find a way to stay in power long enough to prove history...wrong?

My fellow Americans, we are in a catastrophic emergency! We have been in this emergency since George W. Bush first took office. We cannot afford to let our one opportunity for change, the election of a new president, a new administration, be taken away with some slick power maneuver. We have too much at stake to keep on doing the same old political things and getting the same old results. If ever there was a time for bold new leadership and ideas...now is the time.

Global warming and rising oil and gas prices could turn out to be our “kick in the pants” to get serious about solutions. The old political ways just do not work. The Us vs. Them mentality has gotten us into this mess. We have spent, used up our young men and women, our economy, our resources and our reputation in the world with lies and hubris.

We must safeguard our sacred rights and precious freedoms as Americans. Let’s not forget those values and ideals that shaped this country and who we are as a people. It is time to cast off the heavy burden of fear that this administration placed on us after 9/11. Yes, there is danger in the world. We are hated and despised. There are those who wish to do us harm and destroy our way of life, but we do not have to relinquish our constitutional rights and freedoms to a government that would have us live in fear of the next attack. We must live in the light of truth and set an example for the world once more. But respect is earned. We will have to work hard to get it back.

Americans will have to become the innovators once again. We will have to learn to save our precious resources and reduce our carbon footprint on the world. This will call for great sacrifices from all of us. We must find a new engine to power our cars, trucks and planes. We must be at the forefront in solar and wind technology. We must recycle on a massive, national scale. These changes will in turn create jobs and help restore our economy. They will improve our environment.

Bush and Cheney have had their day. We must have change, now. Do not let fear finish off this once great land of ours. We have things to do. We must roll up our sleeves. Do not let fear take away our right to vote for change and live in freedom! Let us say good-bye to George and Dick once and for all. It is time for all of us, Democrats, Republicans and Independents alike to stop the poison and work together to do what is right for America. It is time for CHANGE.

FOOD for THOUGHT...