Police State watch

posted by The Vidiot @ 8:06 AM Permalink

Haven't done one of these for a while. Mostly because watching the police state form isn't necessary since it's just so in your face these days. But, I just want to make sure you didn't miss this little bit.

Excerpt: It’s amazing what you can find if you turn over a few rocks in the anti-terrorism legislation Congress approved during the election season.

Take, for example, the John W. Warner Defense Authorization Act of 2006, named for the longtime Armed Services Committee chairman from Virginia.

Signed by President Bush on Oct. 17, the law (PL 109-364) has a provocative provision called “Use of the Armed Forces in Major Public Emergencies.”

The thrust of it seems to be about giving the federal government a far stronger hand in coordinating responses to Katrina-like disasters.

But on closer inspection, its language also alters the two-centuries-old Insurrection Act, which Congress passed in 1807 to limit the president’s power to deploy troops within the United States.

Seems the new bill shreds all sorts of things, like the Posse Comitatus act and constitutional state soverignty, to just name a few.

Yes, it's just a matter of time before Bush et al, feeling threatened by something shuts down a US city, declares martial law, stations troops in homes, and has troops doing civilian policing. I honestly don't know why Bush feels the need to do this sort of thing though. It's not like Americans have the energy to protest like they do in Peru or Lebanon. I'd be surprised if you could get your typical American to make a single phone call to their Congressman, let alone take to the streets and shut down government.