Snipped from WhiteHouse.gov.

All Bush needs to do now is just change the Constitution so that he can stay in office indefinitely. If you haven’t been paying attention to what Bush has been doing lately, you may be in for a surprise. There has been a new “National Security and Homeland Security Presidential Directive”, and it is quite a doozy. This directive was written just in case America ever gets attacked by, well, anything — like a hurricane, terrorist group, tsunami, foreign country — the President assumes dictator like power until the emergency is declared over. The document describes this catastrophic event 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 …” Well then, that is quite general and subjective. It could mean anything depending on how it is read.

Basically, when the President has declared something as a catastrophic event — mind you with no authorization from Congress — he/she can then take over direct control over the entire federal government and “State, local, territorial, and tribal governments, and private sector owners and operators of critical infrastructure …” by way of the assistant to the president for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism. And that my friend, is the powers a dictator declares. It even mentions how they have designed this obvious breach of the Constitution to “Defend… the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic, and preventing or interdicting attacks against the United States or its people, property, or interests …” Now that is ironic!

Here are portions of the directive that I find the most upsetting, including the fact that Congress is not mentioned at all in the document. Therefore, there is no authorization needed for this declaration.

This directive establishes a comprehensive national policy on the continuity of Federal Government structures and operations and a single National Continuity Coordinator responsible for coordinating the development and implementation of Federal continuity policies. [sounds like a single entity — no balance of powers — will control the entire “Federal Government”.]

“Catastrophic Emergency” means 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; [too general as it could mean anything]

The President shall lead the activities of the Federal Government for ensuring constitutional government. In order to advise and assist the President in that function, the Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism (APHS/CT) is hereby designated as the National Continuity Coordinator.

The National Continuity Coordinator, in consultation with the heads of appropriate executive departments and agencies, will lead the development of a National Continuity Implementation Plan (Plan), which shall include prioritized goals and objectives, a concept of operations, performance metrics by which to measure continuity readiness, procedures for continuity and incident management activities, and clear direction to executive department and agency continuity coordinators, as well as guidance to promote interoperability of Federal Government continuity programs and procedures with State, local, territorial, and tribal governments, and private sector owners and operators of critical infrastructure, as appropriate. The Plan shall be submitted to the President for approval not later than 90 days after the date of this directive.

The Secretary of Homeland Security shall coordinate the integration of Federal continuity plans and operations with State, local, territorial, and tribal governments, and private sector owners and operators of critical infrastructure, as appropriate, in order to provide for the delivery of essential services during an emergency.

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