No Questions Allowed

 

June 8, 2007 - I am still in shock, but perhaps I should not be.  After all, I'm supposed to be one of the folks who have a clue regarding the reality of an ever-encroaching police state from an increasingly dangerous administration.  On June 5, 2007, President Bush explained, yet once again, what drives him.  

 

"I pledged America to the ultimate goal of ending tyranny in our world," he said. "Some have said that qualifies me as a dissident president. If standing for liberty in the world makes me a dissident, then I'll wear the title with pride."

 

Will someone please tell the President that the "ultimate goal of ending tyranny in our world" isn't his job?  If I recall correctly, the oath of office clearly defines the President’s job as defending the Constitution of the United States from all enemies, foreign and domestic.

 

This isn't the first time our President has unleashed such grandiose plans.  He proclaimed it at his 2005 inaugural address.  And in March of 2006, the Washington Post declared, "Preemptive War to be Reaffirmed."

 

The "ultimate ending of tyranny in our world" sounds like a job that would require more than two terms.  What gnaws at me, since he neither legally won the Presidency in 2000 nor in 2004, is just how this administration plans to fulfill the "ultimate goal.”  How much more time does our President need?

 

Perhaps this was the impetus for his Presidential Directive NSPD-51/HSPD-20. This sweeping directive was signed with little ceremony on May 9. This now gives our President near dictatorial power in the event of a "catastrophic emergency" loosely defined 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 function."

 

This directive appears to supersede the Act, which allows the President to declare a national emergency, yet also requires that such a proclamation be immediately transmitted to Congress and be part of the Federal Register.  The 1976 National Emergency Act also empowers Congress to act as a balance if it believes the President has acted inappropriately.  This is not the case with NSPD -51/HSPD-20. Instead of Congress, the directive calls for a Homeland Security  "National Continuity Coordinator," along with a Continuity Policy Coordination Committee, which will be "the main day to day forum for policy coordination."

 

 With the President's  "ultimate goal of ending tyranny in our world," as job one, perhaps martial law may be necessary to extend our President's reign.

 

What catastrophe is needed for an extension of the President's power?  May I even ask that question?  These days, asking questions can get a person arrested.  At least that's what happened to freelance reporter Matt Lepacek, when he asked Rudy Giuliani's Press Secretary a question about World Trade Center Building 7.  His question was, "When did Rudy Giuliani know that building 7 was coming down?"   You remember World Trade Center Building 7, right?  It toppled in seconds late in the afternoon of 9/11.  It's not mentioned in the 9/11 Commission Report.  In December of 2006, the National Institute of Standards and Technology finally released a report stating that, with regard to Building 7, they have developed  “hypothetical blast scenarios for analysis of overpressures.” This same NIST report also states that the government has “no findings or conclusions” about Building 7’s demise, or why it fell into its own footprint, looking much like a demolition.

 

It seems to me that Mr. Lepacek had asked a reasonable question.  I've still have lots of questions about the collapse of World Trade Center 1 and 2.

 

It seems there are others who want us to forget. Or if we dare ask, arrested.