House OKs Speedy Elections if Attacked

[PfcHammer]

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040422/ap_on_go_co/congress_continuity_7

House OKs Speedy Elections if Attacked
11 minutes ago Add Politics - U. S. Congress to My Yahoo!

By JIM ABRAMS, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - Fearing that terrorists might target Congress, the House on Thursday approved a bill to set up speedy special elections if 100 or more of its members are killed.

The House, in a 306-97 vote, put aside for now the larger issue of whether the Constitution should be amended to allow for temporary appointments in the event that an attack caused mass fatalities among lawmakers.

The House, said Judiciary Committee (news - web sites) Chairman James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., sponsor of the elections bill and a foe of appointments, "is rooted in democratic principles and those principles must be preserved at all costs."

Thursday's vote came two and a half years after the Sept. 11 attacks and the crash in Pennsylvania of United Flight 93, a plane that many believe was destined for the U.S. Capitol.

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[mouse7]

1. Okay... "Congress, you SUCK!" I attacked Congress.

Can we have special speedy elections now?

[sweetladybug]

2. Elected Democrats had better watch out. We don't want to forget

about the Anthax that was sent to Democrats. It sounds like the Republicans are getting their ducks in row.
ELECT KERRY 2004!!!!

[The Sushi Bandit]

3. READ THIS! ON HR 2844

HR. 2844 states in part

"Continuity in Representation Act of 2004 - Amends Federal law concerning the election of Senators and Representatives to require States to hold special elections to fill vacancies in the House of Representatives within 45 days after a vacancy is announced by the Speaker of the House in the extraordinary circumstance that vacancies in representation from the States exceed 100. Waives the 45-day requirement if a regularly scheduled general election for the office involved is to be held at any time within a 75-day period beginning on the date of the vacancy announcement. "

I DONT LIKE THIS PART!!!!

"Permits the political parties of a State that are authorized to nominate candidates by State law to each nominate one candidate to run in the special election not later than ten days after the Speaker announces that the vacancy exists. Sets forth requirements for judicial review of any action which is brought for declaratory or injunctive relief to challenge an announcement made under this Act. Requires a final decision in an action to be made within three days of filing of such action. Makes a final decision non-reviewable."

So no one can "Run" for this office. It is the party leaders who will choose one candidate.... and the courts can-not stop it!

[zbdent]

8. Hmm, technicality - allows them to kill off 99 Democrats

and still keep things happening for Bush.

So, we would just need to have one Repuke er, pass on.

[hang a left]

11. One of the first things that popped into my head was........

Democratic Convention. Naaaaah........they wouldn't try that........would they?

[Misunderestimator]

13. Oh Why'd you put that thought in my head?

You've gone and done it... If something happens at the convention I will immediately become a conspiracy theorist.

[hang a left]

17. Hell why wait? After several months around here I developed

an anxiety disorder and paranoid tendencies. I was fine before that:evilgrin:.

[Ganja Ninja]

27. Go with those feelings. Your fine now.

Paranoia is a normal healthy state of mind under this administration.

[Lindsay]

21. The convention was my first thought, too.

Dunno if my tinfoil hat is on too tight or what....

[mobuto]

12. Not remotely likely, but here's a real concern

Could 100 Congressmen simply resign en masse, thus creating 100 vacancies and force early elections? How does this work?

[zbdent]

9. Another thought - why did this all of a sudden come up after W said

that we were very likely to be hit because this country is a "big place to defend"????

[progressivebydesign]

10. I'm getting freaked...

.. I have been reading some interesting things, independent of each other, lately from Bush & Co. There was a comment from Tom Ridge that even though we may not be at "heightened alert status" we are still at heightened alert status. I think they know that using those colors now until November is a big no-no for Bush's re-election. AND.. they are just power-hungry enough to disregard our safety in pursuit of their own politcal gains.. (as in 9/11). This talk from Bush about the country being unable to defend.. etc.. scares me. They're setting us up!

[The Sushi Bandit]

28. Here are some possible constitutional amendments being proposed.

Rep. Brian Baird H.J. Res. 77 - A constitutional amendment allowing for temporary appointments by Member pre-desgination in the case of mass vacancies in the House of Representatives.

Sen. John Cornyn S.J. Res. 23 - a constiutional amendment implementing legislation providing for the event that one-fourth of the Members of either the House of Representatives or the Senate are killed or incapacitated.

Rep. Brian Baird H.J. Res 67 - a constitutional amendment to give governors the power to make temporary appointments to the House of Representatives if more than 25% of the members have been killed or incapacitated.

Rep. Zoe Lofgren H.J. Res. 77 - a constitutional amendment to allow Congress to make provisions for temporary appointments of members if 30% of the seats are vacant.

Sen. Arlen Specter S.J. Res. 30 - a constitutional amendment to give governors the power to make temporary appointments to the House of Representatives if more than 50% of the members have been killed or incapacitated. Temporary members shall be of the same party as the member who previously occupied the seat.

[NewJerseyDem]

4. Dana Rohrabacher has an interesting proposal

He wants to have it so that when members run for congress (senate or House) they would have a list of successors prepared in the event they died or resigned. Or, if a member was seriously ill they could resign temporarily and resume service when they are better. It is unlikely to get passed but it is an interesting proposal. I don't know if it is even a good one, but it is something to consider. This is a constitutional amendment by the way.

[LiberalFighter]

15. Not a good idea

That would be no different then gw* deciding who replaces him if he resigns or gets killed.

[SoCalDem]

16. Ummm.. that's kind of WHY we formed this country in the FIRST PLACE

to avoid the "royal succession" crap..

It's getting "deeper" by the minute..

[The Sushi Bandit]

22. Dana Rohrabacher is a DICK!!

He give me the KREEPS!!!

[Piperay]

24. Rohrbacker is a lunatic

a far-right neo-con in the same mold as B-1 Bob Dornan, I wouldn't consider a single thing that nutcase suggests. :crazy:

[andyjackson1828]

30. Dalaware already has this....

It's a relic from the cold war. Each Member of the Assembly and the Senate submit a list of 3 to 7 people who would succeed the official in case of catastrophe. Don't really think that Dover is high on the list of anybody's targets, but I don't think it is necessarily a bad idea. But something should be done. There has to be a way of repalcing congressmen quickly to ensure continutiy and legitmacy in the Congress.

[wasichu]

5. good bye constitution

"appointments" are already covered in the constitution and we just got butt fucked by these fascists.

[mulethree]

29. appointments are there for senate not house

[maddezmom]

6. wonder why they waited so long...

[Jacobin]

7. constitution, constismushan

"We're the junta and we can do what we want."

Our forefathers must be spinning in their graves.

USofA....T'was nice while it lasted.

[icymist]

14. How come so many Dems. voted for this bill?

:wtf:

[demdave]

18. Do you have a link to who voted which way???

Thanks.

[maddezmom]

19. here ya go

http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2004/roll130.xml

[Imalittleteapot]

20. Just more manipulation of the masses.

Gee, if Congress is taking precautions in case they are attacked and killed, golly, we REALLY must be in danger. We better vote for Bush to protect us.

:crazy:

I can't believe Dems got sucked into this. Shame.

[Voltaire99]

23. October surprise?

Say it ain't so. . .

[truthisfreedom]

25. how did they come up that arbitrary figure? is there some magic thing

that happens at 100? why not 50? or 4?

[dusty64]

26. The contingency

plans and excuses for another "terra" attack seem to be all over the place lately. Kinda makes one wonder what they've got up their sleeves as it seems to be becoming pretty transparent.

[JohnOneillsMemory]

31. Wow. This is self-inflicted terrorism. Perfect. Psy-ops a raging success!

In the guise of something as seemingly responsible as political continuity of government, look at the psychological leverage creating radical changes in our constitutional republic.

Congress is being manipulated to give up power in the same way that the public is, through fear. This is state-sponsored terrorism, something the CIA and the White House have excelled at for decades.

By focusing on their own political 'last will and testament,' members of Congress are once again softened with terror just as the US weapon-grade anthrax mailings led them to hand over the Bill of Rights unquestioningly to the 'Patriot Act' in November of 2001. The White House is busy lobbying for renewal of that rollback of the Constitution which is set to expire in 2005. The criminal who had access to US weapon-grade anthrax was never found and the story has died despite or because of the same thing happening to prominent members of the press.

The sniper murders in the Washington DC area at the same time heightened the terror in the Beltway and few people know that one of the victims was Linda Gail Franklin, a 47-year-old analyst at FBI headquarters in Washington, DC, shot dead in the parking lot of Seven Corners mall, in Arlington, Virginia. Franklin's employer, the National Infrastructure Protection Center at the FBI, is the bureau's hi-tech leg for its domestic terrorism group.

The Center's website describes its mission as follows:

"The National Infrastructure Protection Center (NIPC) serves as a national critical infrastructure threat assessment, warning, vulnerability, and law enforcement investigation and response entity. The NIPC provides timely warnings of international threats, comprehensive analysis and law enforcement investigation and response. The mission of the NIPC is to:

detect, deter, assess, warn, respond, and investigate unlawful acts involving computer and information technologies and unlawful acts, both physical and cyber, that threaten or target our critical infrastructures;
manage computer intrusion investigations;
support law enforcement, counterterrorism, and foreign counterintelligence missions related to cyber crimes and intrusion;
support national security authorities when unlawful acts go beyond crime and are foreign-sponsored attacks on United States interests; and
coordinate training for cyber investigators and infrastructure protectors in government and the private sector."

So far, only the United States very own WMD has been used against the representative body of our government. And the fact that NORAD did not protect them from whoever flew those planes on 9/11 must give Congress an especially adrenaline-heightened sense of terror in contrast to their previously assumed immunity and outright impunity as a highly privilaged and protected 'gated community' rich white men sitting on top of the world's largest weapon arsenal.

We already have an official 'shadow government' outside Washington DC that is supposedly mirroring the (not very) visible government in town. The privitization of 'democracy' continues and the feeble link between the unprotected electorate and the unelected government in undisclosed bunkers continues to widen by the minute.

While Americans watch the general election horse race at home and the Chalabi-run 'war crimes trials' in Iraq waiting for Saddam's turn in the docket like an international OJ spectacle, Congress will be passing arcane unreported legislation that prepares for the further elimination of our Constitution as a response to violent domestic 'events'. High school and college kids will have one last summer of low-wage jobs to make money for trips to the mall before the draft is revived like an old vampire with the stake removed from its heart to bring the fear of death back into every child's day. Spreading fear, not freedom, is the goal of fascism and terrorism. They are brothers in arms just like George W. Bush and the Saudi's US ambassador Prince Bandar.



(This photo ran in US papers in August 2002 when the story leaked that a civilian advisor to the Pentagon suggested invading Saudi Arabia because it was "active at every level of the terror chain." Many column inches were taken up by the White House's assurances that all was well with the 51st United State of Oil and the Bush's personal friends and business partners to assuage Wall Street.

However, in the UK's Telegraph newspaper the same picture ran on the front page with the remarkable story of the Saudi ruling family giving millions of dollars to Osama bin Laden to pay him off for taking his terrorism outside of the Saudi kingdom to, say, America. I saw this newspaper with my own eyes at a Borders periodical shelf of foreign newspapers and was stunned by what the American press doesn't tell its readership. I was reminded again during the February 2004 US coup in Haiti.)

Since Americans spend most of their time watching TV, one hopes they watch the History Channel's endless reruns of grainy black-and-white WWII footage of the rise of Hitler's fascism. Maybe they might make a connection between the Reichstag Fire and the Twin Towers. If we are to have a chance at finally realizing the 'American Dream' of democracy and a more peaceful world instead of slipping into another war century like the last one, this year's Fourth of July will have to be about more than brass bands, picnics, and nationalistic sing-alongs.