Who Will Rule Us After the Next 9/11? The reality of NSPD-51 is almost as bad as the paranoia.

[Andre II]

To the mods:
This Slate article has NOTHING to do with discussing 9/11 but only the NSPD-51 directive.



"Oh, god. I'm reluctant to write this particular column. I've been scarred by this kind of story before. I've learned that it's difficult to write about the sources of paranoia without spreading paranoia.

But the subject, NSPD-51—that's National Security Presidential Directive 51—and the attendant explosion of blogospheric paranoia about it deserve attention. Even if you don't believe, as I don't, that NSPD-51 is a blueprint for a coup in the guise of plans for "continuity of government" in the event of a national emergency (such as a terrorist attack during an election campaign). Even if you don't believe, as I don't, that it will be used as a pretext for canceling the upcoming presidential election and preserving "continuity" of this administration in office.

Nonetheless, the specifics of the directive are a matter of legitimate concern that has not been given the urgent and sustained attention it deserves by Congress or the mainstream media."


More here:
http://www.slate.com/id/2176185/pagenum/all/

[H2O Man]

1. This is an

interesting article, worthy of our attention.

[loudsue]

7. You're right on that, Waterman....the whole thing stinks, if you ask me.

I sure don't want bush, and most likely, Cheney, in charge of the government if another 9/11 happens near the election.

ESPECIALLY since "impeachment is off the table". We're in deep caca here.

:kick:

[seriousstan]

2. Loon

[tom_paine]

3. Of course it can't happen here. Simply EVERYONE knows that.

Totalitarianism is simply incompatible with the people and governemntal system of America. What kind of nut would think otherwise?

http://evans-experientialism.freewebspace.com/jaspers02.htm

Sheesh! Those crazy hippies!

[Prophet 451]

6. Saying "it could never happen here"...

...is, of course, a damn near certain way to ensure that it does.

[tom_paine]

9. Perhaps you would like to click on the link I provided

Guess I should have used a :sarcasm: tag, eh?

[Prophet 451]

11. Sorry, I got the sarcasm

I was agreeing with you.

[Major Hogwash]

10. Here's some other things that "could never happen here".

We'll never be attacked on U.S. soil by terrorists, they're just not sophisticated enough to pull off something like that.

We'll never have a national election stolen in the United States, they're just not sophisticated enough to pull off something like that.

We'll never be spied on by our own government, they're just not sophisticated enough to pull off something like that.

We'll never lie to the entire national assembly of the United Nations and fool every country, they're just not sophisticated enough to pull off something like that.

We'll never invade another country based on lies told by our own government, they're just not sophisticated enough to pull off something like that.

We'll never be lied to by a collective national press about what our government is doing, they're just not sophisticated enough to pull off something like that.

We'll never let a hurricane destroy an entire city without rebuilding it and taking care of the people affected by it, they're just not sophisticated enough to pull off something like that.

We'll never turn our backs on our children, we'll always provide for them, especially insurance for the working poor, they're just not sophisticated enough to pull off something like that.

We'll never deny that there is such a thing as global warming, they're just not sophisticated enough to pull off something like that.

We can always count on the CIA to tell us the truth.


Which of the above didn't happen?

[Prophet 451]

12. Misunderstanding

I wasn't rejecting Tom_Paine's post, I was agreeing with it.

[Major Hogwash]

17. Yeah, I know. I was simply adding to it.

Because when you examine the history of how conspiracies are denounced in this country, you learn a lot about how people try to manipulate the populace.

I never believed in the "magic bullet" theory of the JFK assassination.
I spent hours and hours reading books in the college library about it when I was in college.
I am convinced that the government is still participating in a cover up, all these many years later.
It doesn't make sense to me why they would lie to us this many years later.

Valerie Plame Wilson's book is really good. I am almost finished reading it.
It pretty much invalidates everything George Tenet said in his book about how well prepared he was to deal with Osama bin Laden.
But then, he got a Presidential Medal from Bush, didn't he?

[Baby Snooks]

13. Good Germans...

Quiet a few Germans in the 1920s didn't believe a lot of things could happen in Germany that then happened in the 1930s.

The recorded history of Germany then is not too different from the unfolding history of the United States now.

The Republican Party rhetoric about the Democrats, by the way, is not too different from the Nazi Party rhetoric about the Jews.

The wealthy Jews of Germany were educated, cultured, and listened to Wagner and ignored the rhetoric. The way the wealthy Democrats of the United States are educated, cultured, and listen to Wagner as well so to speak. And they are also ignoring the rhetoric.

"Such things cannot happen here. We are a federalist republic. A democracy."

The Jews were blamed for all the ills of Germany. Despite the Democrats not having had any real political power to speak of since 1994, a growing number of Republicans are nonetheless now blaming the Democrats for all the ills of the United States.

The Reichstag Fire occurred on 9/11. Crystallnacht awaits.

[Kermitt Gribble]

4. K&R

This needs to be kept fresh in everyone's mind for the next year.

[populistdriven]

5. "Comity" is the crux of the biscuit

It means we have a facade constitutional government where the president has omnipotent and complete power over all branches of government.

[sarcasmo]

8. IMHO, this has nothing to do with paranoia and everything to do with the facts.

The powers that be will not relinquish their power.

[MilesColtrane]

14. "If this were a dictatorship,....

...it'd be a heck of a lot easier, just so long as I'm the dictator."

— Washington, D.C., Dec. 19, 2000

[Igel]

15. Why is this version the problem?

Was "as a matter of comity" in Carter's directive to accomplish ostensibly the same thing?

Was it in Reagan's?

Did Johnson's continuity-of-government directive use the word "extraordinary" to characterize an event that could trigger implementation? Was it in Kennedy's?

Could * have done precisely the same thing some people are marginally concerned he might do under the terms of the Clinton's continuity-of-government directive? If so, shouldn't we blame Clinton? Or if it's essentially the same as Reagan's or Carter's, shouldn't we object to their infelicitous choice of phrases?

Why do I ask this? Because personally I find that releasing a type of document that Clinton, Bush I, Reagan, Carter, Ford, Nixon, Johnson, Kennedy (and, I think, Eisenhower) decided was *not* proper for us to see, that was classified and secret, is a good thing. Even if it comes as a shock that such a thing exists.

But pretending that the previous editions never existed seems silly, and trying to imply that something probably decades old is brand spanking new seems odd. Just because I don't know X exists doesn't mean I know X doesn't exist, unless I really am omniscient.

Now, I'd be interested in seeing what the previous editions of this kind of directive said. Because then I'd have the facts for a reality-based discussion.

[EVDebs]

16. Can NSPD's overrule the Constitution ? before they haul me away.