John Warner Defense Authorization Act of 2007" (H.R.5122) (2),

Chastity Powers Does the News

Wealth Bondage is Authoritative in Google for "John Warner Defense Authorization Act of 2007 (H.R.5122) (2)."

UPDATE as of November 13. Go to the Martial Law Link Bank maintained by a mole. Isn't it sad, that the end of democracy is best covered by a busty brunette bound, blindfolded, and gagged in the newsroom in Wealth bondage, and a mole reporting from the field beneath Wealth Bondage? Where are the "real" reporters? Covering Britney Spears? I mean, I am flattered to be number one in Google for this important story - but the real story is why is it not the NY Times?

Comments

[J. Alva Scruggs]

Voting, Chastity, will give that double bottom line boost to freedom.

[a.mole]

 

These links first appeared deep in the comments section (below the main post) of another thread on the same subject. I repost them here to assist those doing research.
 

Frank Morales -  Bush Moves Toward Martial Law

Bio on Wikipedia

2005 interview (audio)

Co-founder FREE.THE.MEDIA!

Authored article "U.S. Military Civil Disturbance Planning"

Active comment thread (after the original Morales article)

 

Doug Thompson -  Bush Could Seize Absolute Control of U.S. Government:

[Jan 2006] President George W. Bush has signed executive orders giving him sole authority to impose martial law, suspend habeas corpus and ignore the Posse Comitatus Act that prohibits deployment of U.S. troops on American streets. This would give him absolute dictatorial power over the government with no checks and balances.

Bio and commendation

Ex-daily reporter at Capitol Hill Blue gives finger to Patriot Act demand

 

Kurt Nimmo -  Bush’s Martial Law Act of 2007

On October 17 [2006], with little fanfare, the unitary decider signed H.R.5122, or the John Warner Defense Authorization Act of 2007. “The act provides $462.8 billion in budget authority for the department. Senate and House conferees added the $70 billion defense supplemental budget request to the act, so overall, the act authorizes $532.8 billion for fiscal 2007,” explains Jim Garamone of the American Forces Press Service.

Bio on Wikipedia

 

Gregory Diamond -  We Can Repeal This Law - F.I.N.G.E.R.

...FINGER hopes that the President will voluntarily pledge – before the November 7 election – that (1) he will not exercise any power to call upon National Guard troops newly granted to him by this law, and (2) that he will sign a new bill reversing this outrage. This would be a satisfactory temporary solution before Congress repeals this new law. FINGER will pursue that avenue aggressively through November 7.

Due to the press of other business – or because the President believes that this law does and should outrageously expand his power – that agreement may not be immediately forthcoming. To provide for that possibility, FINGER seeks the commitment of all members of Congress and candidates for Congress that they will repeal Section 1076 at the earliest opportunity – ideally during this November’s session. FINGER wants the commitment of all Governors and candidates for Governor that they will resist any attempt by the President to federalize the National Guard for any reason not already authorized prior to the enactment of this law... [excerpted from an action fax meant to be distributed before the Nov 7 2006 election]

Daily Kos Diary: Major Danby (pseudonym from Catch 22)

Daily Kos Diary: Greg at Carter for Nevada

FINGER blog

Just shut up about violent revolution

Kos and the Martial Law Democrats

 

Martial Law entry on Wikipedia

 

[a.mole]

...and a couple more:

 
Aldous Huxley -  The Ultimate Revolution (real audio)

There will be, in the next generation or so, a pharmacological method of making people love their servitude, and producing dictatorship without tears, so to speak, producing a kind of painless concentration camp for entire societies, so that people will in fact have their liberties taken away from them, but will rather enjoy it, because they will be distracted from any desire to rebel by propaganda or brainwashing, or brainwashing enhanced by pharmacological methods. And this seems to be the final revolution.

 

Arianna Huffington - Summer Camp 2006: "Hello Mudda, Hello Fadda" Has Been Replaced by "Hello Druggist, Hello MD"

As Labor Day approaches, it's time to look back on our favorite summer memories: family vacations, cookouts, days at the beach... children being plied with powerful pharmaceuticals.

When my 15 year-old daughter returned home from sleep-away camp this summer and began recounting her typical day, I was surprised to learn that it started not with swimming or camping or arts and crafts -- or even breakfast -- but rather with her fellow campers lining up to get their "morning meds."

[Tutor]

Wealth Bondage as "a painless concentration camp." If you mind or heart wanders, seek help.

[a.mole]

...and another:

 
Ted Rall -  Like Cornered Rats, GOP Losers More Dangerous Than Ever

...About a week ago some left-wing bloggers began circulating rumors that Bush had secretly signed something called the "John Warner Defense Authorization Act of 2007" that "allows the president to declare a 'public emergency' and station troops anywhere in America and take control of state-based National Guard units without the consent of the governor or local authorities, in order to 'suppress public disorder.'" I couldn't find the text of the law at the time, formerly H.R. 5122, or a reliable media account, so I decided not to report on it.

I can now confirm the bloggers' account. Bush signed the JWDAA hours after the MCA, in a furtive closed-door White House ceremony. There is, buried deep down in Title V, Subtitle B, Part II, Section 525(a) of the JWDAA, a coup. The Bush Administration has quietly stolen the National Guard away from the states...

...As far as I can determine this column marks the first time the JWDAA has been mentioned in the mainstream media. [Nov 7 2006, my emphasis]

Bio on Wikipedia

(Cartoonist/Columnist) Ted Rall Online

 

[Tutor]

Thanks for staying on top of this, Mole.

[a.mole]

I mean, I am flattered to be number one in Google for this important story - but the real story is why is it not the NY Times? - Chasity Powers reporting for WB

Several months later, the NYT checks in. (Maybe it's a time zone thing.)

February 19, 2007
Editorial
Making Martial Law Easier

A disturbing recent phenomenon in Washington is that laws that strike to the heart of American democracy have been passed in the dead of night. So it was with a provision quietly tucked into the enormous defense budget bill at the Bush administration’s behest that makes it easier for a president to override local control of law enforcement and declare martial law.

The provision, signed into law in October, weakens two obscure but important bulwarks of liberty. One is the doctrine that bars military forces, including a federalized National Guard, from engaging in law enforcement. Called posse comitatus, it was enshrined in law after the Civil War to preserve the line between civil government and the military. The other is the Insurrection Act of 1807, which provides the major exemptions to posse comitatus. It essentially limits a president’s use of the military in law enforcement to putting down lawlessness, insurrection and rebellion, where a state is violating federal law or depriving people of constitutional rights.

The newly enacted provisions upset this careful balance. They shift the focus from making sure that federal laws are enforced to restoring public order. Beyond cases of actual insurrection, the president may now use military troops as a domestic police force in response to a natural disaster, a disease outbreak, terrorist attack or to any “other condition.”

Changes of this magnitude should be made only after a thorough public airing. But these new presidential powers were slipped into the law without hearings or public debate. The president made no mention of the changes when he signed the measure, and neither the White House nor Congress consulted in advance with the nation’s governors.

There is a bipartisan bill, introduced by Senators Patrick Leahy, Democrat of Vermont, and Christopher Bond, Republican of Missouri, and backed unanimously by the nation’s governors, that would repeal the stealthy revisions. Congress should pass it. If changes of this kind are proposed in the future, they must get a full and open debate.

Couldn't find any responses in a NYT Letters search. Who reads those things anyway.

[a.mole]

James Bovard - Working for the Clampdown
What might the president do with his new power to declare martial law
from The American Conservative Magazine - 4/23/07

[..]

The story of how Section 1076 became law vivifies how expanding government power is almost always the correct answer in Washington. Some people have claimed the provision was slipped into the bill in the middle of the night. In reality, the administration clearly signaled its intent and almost no one in the media or Congress tried to stop it.

[..]

Section 1076 was supported by both conservatives and liberals. Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.), the ranking Democratic member on the Senate Armed Services Committee, co-wrote the provision along with committee chairman Sen. John Warner (R-Va.). Sen. Ted Kennedy openly endorsed it, and Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.), then-chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, was an avid proponent.

[..]

Congressional Quarterly’s Jeff Stein wrote an excellent article in December on how the provision became law with minimal examination or controversy. A Republican Senate aide blamed the governors for failing to raise more fuss: “My understanding is that they sent form letters to offices. If they really want a piece of legislation considered they should have called offices and pushed the matter. No office can handle the amount of form letters that come in each day.”

Thus, the Senate was not guilty by reason of form letters. Plus, the issue was not on the front page of the Washington Post within the 48 hours before the Senate voted on it. Surely no reasonable person can expect senators to know what they were doing when they voted 100 to 0 in favor of the bill? In reality, they were too busy to notice the latest coffin nails they hammered into the Constitution.

[..]

Senators Leahy and Kit Bond (R-Mo.) are sponsoring a bill to repeal the changes, but it is not setting the woods on fire on Capitol Hill. [emphasis added] Leahy urged his colleagues to consider the Section 1076 fix, declaring, “It is difficult to see how any Senator could disagree with the advisability of having a more transparent and thoughtful approach to this sensitive issue.”

He deserves credit for fighting hard on this issue, but there is little reason to expect most members of Congress to give it a second look. The Section 1076 debacle exemplifies how the Washington establishment pretends that new power will not be abused, regardless of how much existing power has been mishandled. Why worry about martial law when there is pork to be harvested and photo ops to attend? It is still unfashionable in Washington to worry about the danger of the open barn door until after the horse is two miles down the road.

Bio on Wikipedia

[a.mole]

S.513
Title: A bill to amend title 10, United States Code, to revive previous authority on the use of the Armed Forces and the militia to address interference with State or Federal law, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Sen Leahy, Patrick J. [VT] (introduced 2/7/2007) Cosponsors (8)
Related Bills: H.R.869
Latest Major Action: 4/24/2007 Senate committee/subcommittee actions. Status: Committee on the Judiciary. Hearings held.

H.R.869
Title: To amend title 10, United States Code, to revive previous authority on the use of the Armed Forces and the militia to address interference with State or Federal law, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Rep Davis, Tom [VA-11] (introduced 2/7/2007) Cosponsors (24)
Related Bills: S.513
Latest Major Action: 2/7/2007 Referred to House committee. Status: Referred to the House Committee on Armed Services.

[a.mole]

Naomi Wolf - Fascist America, in 10 easy steps

...If you look at history, you can see that there is essentially a blueprint for turning an open society into a dictatorship. That blueprint has been used again and again in more and less bloody, more and less terrifying ways. But it is always effective. It is very difficult and arduous to create and sustain a democracy - but history shows that closing one down is much simpler. You simply have to be willing to take the 10 steps.
As difficult as this is to contemplate, it is clear, if you are willing to look, that each of these 10 steps has already been initiated today in the United States by the Bush administration.

Because Americans like me were born in freedom, we have a hard time even considering that it is possible for us to become as unfree - domestically - as many other nations. Because we no longer learn much about our rights or our system of government - the task of being aware of the constitution has been outsourced from citizens' ownership to being the domain of professionals such as lawyers and professors - we scarcely recognise the checks and balances that the founders put in place, even as they are being systematically dismantled. Because we don't learn much about European history, the setting up of a department of "homeland" security - remember who else was keen on the word "homeland" - didn't raise the alarm bells it might have.

It is my argument that, beneath our very noses, George Bush and his administration are using time-tested tactics to close down an open society. It is time for us to be willing to think the unthinkable - as the author and political journalist Joe Conason, has put it, that it can happen here. And that we are further along than we realise...

Bio on Wikipedia

[a.mole]

Mrs Pickles on the ball at this site, compiling and cataloguing the erosion and decline.

"Old librarians never die," she might say, "they simply file away."