Losing Liberty Part 2



Originally my second part of this series was going to encompass the practice of "pork politics", where a bill will have hidden within its pages other legislation used to buy the vote of individual senators.  This happens all the time and therefore is probably quite well known to the general population.  Therefore i'm going to fore go the topic of "pork politics" and instead focus on a topic that is far more serious to the loss of liberty of we the people.

USNORTHCOM or Northern Command is the designation for a military unit that is tasked with securing the national interests within the U.S., Mexico, and Canada.  I don't think the Casnadians need our help.  Mexico, at least in the border towns does.  What about within the bounderies of the U.S.?  We will get to that in a moment.  NORTHCOM was created in April of 2002 and went operational in October of the same year.  It was approved after 9/11 by president Bush under the new unified command plan.  When it was first put in place it was restricted under the Posse Comitatus Act.  Posse Comitatus restricts the use of military forces within the continental U.S.  The founding fathers were of the belief that having a combat unit and command structure for use in the states was against the interests of the citizens, and if troops were deployed for action in the U.S. then it would be ripe for abuse.  The scope of activity for NORTHCOM was to be during times of natural disaster relief such as during hurrican Katrina. 

MILITARY COMMISIONS ACT OF 2006

This act lifted the restrictions put in place by the Posse Comitatus Act.  The supreme court ruled that the Military Commisions Act was unconstitutional.  However, further legislation was enable in 2007 under the John Warner Defense Act.  Ron Paul Rep. Texas, is against this legislation, as are the majority of freedom loving americans.  However as is often the case the voice and the will of the people are considered null and void, and repressive legislation continues to be passed.

3rd I.D. 1st Combat Brigade

The 3rd infantry division of the 1st combat brigade was assigned to NORTHCOM in October of 2008.  This unit had been previously stationed in Iraq.  This marked the first time that an active unit was placed under the direct authority of NORTHCOM.  This unit is an active combat unit and is now operational for use within the borders of the U.S. 

NSPD 51

National Security and Homeland Security Presidential Directive created and signed on May 7, 2007 by then president Bush.  According to Wikipedia:

The National Security and Homeland Security Presidential Directive (National Security Presidential Directive NSPD 51/Homeland Security Presidential Directive HSPD-20, sometimes called simply "Executive Directive 51" for short), created and signed by United States President George W. Bush on May 4, 2007, is a Presidential Directive which claims power to execute procedures for continuity of the federal government in the event of a "catastrophic emergency". Such an emergency is construed 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." ^[1]
The unclassified portion of the directive was posted on the White House website on May 9, 2007, without any further announcement or press briefings,^[2] although Special Assistant to George W. Bush Gordon Johndroe answered several questions on the matter when asked about it by members of the press in early June 2007.^[2

Unfortunately we only know the unclassified portions of this bit of legislation.  The president can declare a state of emergency due to a national emergency be it natural disaster, terrorist attack, disruption in infrastructure, or eco-financial disaster.  In effect the constitution and all of the protections placed in it would be suspended.  We would then live in a state of martial law.  Personally i feel that no one man be he president or senator should have the power to suspend the constitution.  The whole video below is informative, the most disturbing part starts at 2:01.

The above video demonstrates what can and will happen during a state of emergency.  This was just the police, imagine when its a battle hardened combat unit.  Don't get me wrong i believe their are people out their who wish to harm the U.S., however i never feel that the steps to crackdown on terrorism or any disaster should be worse than the disaster itself.  If the goverment gets such power will they ever relinquesh it.  Part 3 to follow...........