Fabricated

At this point I must point out that an actual event of this sort need not even take place. For those of you who are old enough to remember President Johnson’s national address on television wherein he stated that a US military ship had been attacked in the Tonkin Gulf off the coast of Vietnam, you will recall that lead to the Tonkin Gulf Resolution by the Congress. That, in turn, is what formally placed the United States into a state-of-war with North Vietnam; an unpopular war that lasted 13 years. It was a full 10 years after we got out of Vietnam before the American people and the Congress learned that the “attack on a US military ship by the North Vietnamese” was a total fabrication intended to dupe the Congress and the American people into entering the war.

I now reference the two Executive Orders now in effect. On the surface they appear reasonable enough and even necessary for the purpose stated. While reading them carefully, notice two things. First is that they reference and thus include sections of the United States Code, and in particular Title 50 War and National Defense. One must read this in order to really understand the powers being invoked. Second, make note of the vague and all-encompassing scope of the orders. For instance, while the order does not specifically define the scope of the power of the Secretary of Transportation, when taken in the context of the orders and Title 50, it is quite clear that the movement and communications of the US citizenry can be totally controlled and inhibited. Notice that the Department of Labor, again using Title 50 specifically has the power of the Selective Service to “draft” ordinary citizens to perform whatever form of “labor” is determined to be needed.

Virtually every sentence, when one reads between the lines, effectively turns the United States into a martial state controlled exclusively by the Executive Branch, with the powers of the Legislative and Judicial Branches of government relegated to simply receiving reports from time-to-time. These two Executive Orders can be found on the White House web site.

Read carefully, and you will note the President even has the power to suspend elections and remain in office until the “State Of National Emergency” is lifted! How convenient all this is in the government’s secret preparations for 2003! Readers please understand that what I am attempting to deal with here is what I consider the “worse case scenario.” I am consciously “suspending disbelief” for the moment so as to address what I would rather not think of, or believe. There is no intent here to scare or cause undue anxiety on the part of the reader; but to layout in clear terms what I believe we should be considering as we plan for the eventuality of 2003.

Offered by Ron.