at least there thinking way i see it...

The article is from last October...kind of old....just thought I'd point that out.

Has anyone read the BF plan Pres.Bush prepared???????? MARTIAL LAW IS IN THERE, no surprise.  By the way I believe it is true  that if martial law is invoked the current President stays IN OFFICE until crisis is over

diod.........the presidency is not a person ,its an office    some occupents forget that..there is not a single past president that hasnt made mistakes ,with clinton i still supported the office, ive said it before and ill say it again if any one makes political hay out of this hillery will...... for good or bad im thankfull for a strong central government. we need to critique the office with votes,..not venum

Linda, I live in Oklahoma City, when the OKC bombing happend, the national guard came in and assisted, when the May 3rd tornado ripped a mile wide path 65 miles long right through densly populated areas, the national guard came in and assisted. I don't know, maybe I'm naive, but I was grateful they were  here both times. I know this is a different situation, but hasn't the national guard always helped out in emergency's.

Linda wrote: The article is from last October...kind of old....just thought I'd point that out. the idea of martial law is apalling. It is illegal for the Government to use the armed forces against a citizen.

rodin,   I know this is not political,  it is a very dangerous situation.

I don't want my weapons taken away, but I don't have a problem with the military taking control, especially if it gets really bad. If you have ever been in a riot situation or lived in a big city where things are unsafe anyway then I think that makes a difference in your thought process. The thugs and gang members will go wild without some type of control. I used to work in several residential treatment/psychiatric facilities with juveniles (mostly teenage gang members) and have been in riot situations (in controlled facilities with staff) and they are BAD, these gang members are ruthless, they don't care what they do or to whom, and there are thousands out in the streets right now, just waiting for the opportunities.....I have also lived in a couple of large cities and the gangs and thugs are everywhere, even when you live in a nice neighberhood, they will come looking for food, water and whatever else when they are desperate. I lived in Norfolk, VA in the 80's and early 90's and at that time there were approximately 100 different gangs in the Tidewater area, it can only be worse now. In the 90's I lived in Atlanta another city with gang problems. Even when we lived in near the Corpus Christi area in the late 90's they had gang problems, even the town 20 miles from us has gang problems, they are everywhere. Unless you have ever had contact with them, then you don't know what they are really like. I have worked with gang members here in Oklahoma, in Virginia and in Texas and they are all the same. In a bad situation, that may happen, then I would not mind the government stepping in. I personally don't care if the thugs and gang members get shot if they are doing something they are not supposed to be doing. If you are an ordinary citizen and abiding by the law then you shouldn't have anything to worry about.

It really does not matter who is in office right now. I think we need to pray that they will keep our collective best interests in their minds.

We have the leaders we have. Can't change that right now. We can watch what they do. We can choose to follow or not. But we can't change leaders for this looming crisis anyway.

Hey Bo,  Here you go:

If you wish to continue your anti-bush rant than please create a post in the Discussion area.   

Diode, you suspiciously sound like Hitech. considering you joined 31 May and Hitech hasn't posted since 1 Jun Ii suspect you may be one in the same.

I am not Hitech, why do you think only one person dissapproves of Bush's failures ?  His favorable ratings are a pathetic 30%.   After Iraq, Afghanistan, Katrina, I do not think he will do us any good if BF hits.

I mean,  look at his record.  Now he wants to turn the military loose on the American people.

He SHOULD have taken a pro-active approach to the threat of terrorism during his first nine months in office but did not.

He SHOULD have taken a pro-active approach to planning the war in Iraq but did not.

He SHOULD have realized that taking troops and resources out of Afghanistan would not be wise,  But did not.

He SHOULD have heeded the warnings about Katrina and acted accordingly,   But did not.

Now,  with the dangers of BF looming all he can think about is a military solution.

He should be co-ordinating a response with the agencies and resources he CURRENTLY has.   He should be in daily touch with WHO and CDC and FEMA. 

This thread started with his desire to use the military and I commented.

Hitech seems to be anti-government completely,  I am not,  I want real leaders and not a bumbling fool.

Instead of worrying about Isreal he should be more concerned about US.

If I were Pres I would do all I recommended above,  possibly consider restricting flights from Indonesia until we know more.  I would also call for meetings with local authorities to plan a response.  I would direct FEMA to have a plan on my desk by MONDAY or they will be fired.  I would at least take the lead instead of waiting for someone else to do something. I certianly would not send the NG to Iraq.  I read he is sending more to Iraq.

I am sure there are many others in this forum who would do more.

I feel like Paul Bremmer did back in Feb 01 about terror attacks:

 

Diode sounds like Hitech to me, Hey Hitech, hows it shakin?

What is a single mom with three children supposed to do without law and order?  Should I buy my college age children guns?  I don't see how "every man for himself" is any solution.  I know quite a few in the guard and the military who are there because they believe in this country and want to serve, not because they are a part of some massive plot.  I remember the same kind of language at the time of Vietnam.  Younger people reject the establishment - it's always been that way, and in a sense, it's their "job" to do so.  I would just encourage, like some already have, to create a discussion post for that topic and label it so that we can stay on track.  The topic here is "law and order" and it's a difficult subject so let's try to share points of view and limit the name calling.

thanks for getting us back on track gettingready. 

What do you think that too much is being mde out of the potential martial law situation? I just don't think that the numbers are there, especially not for a country as large as the US. Most of our troops are serving overseas, the military is stretched to the breaking point as is.

The military will be needed - martial law is just what is necessary.

I've never been in a disaster situation. I guess I can see how some sort of Martial law might be necessary. Certainly whatever way the government can come in to help although they've already made it pretty clear they would be streched to thin.  I can't imagine living in this country and being in a position like flholland describes. The stories that came out of New Orleans still haunt me... I can't imagine having lived them. The thought of marshall law strikes a nerve and I think it should in every American Citizen but I can see that there have been times and will be times it's needed. I have nothing but the utmost respect for the people who serve in our military. We're living and breathing a big chunk of history right now. Decisions made today will effect future generations....there has to be a balance. 

i amnot afraid of Law & Order, I am a law abiding citizen. What I am afraid of is the loss of liberty under marshall law. Also, under marshall law :

MARTIAL LAW

---

The following guide will help you plan, prepare, and get ready in the event that martial law threatens you safety and well being. It is divided into two parts. The first part describes the framework for martial law and the second part the actions to take in preparing or the actual declaration of martial law.

Martial law is defined as: military rule or authority imposed on a civilian population when the civil authorities cannot maintain law and order, as in a time of war or during an emergency.

•  
• Executive Order 10995: All communications media are to be seized by the Federal Government. Radio, TV, newspapers, CB, Ham, telephones, and the internet will be under federal control. Hence, the First Amendment will be suspended indefinitely.
• Executive Order 10997: All electrical power, fuels, and all minerals well be seized by the federal government.
• Executive Order 10998: All food resources, farms and farm equipment will be seized by the government. You will not be allowed to hoard food since this is regulated.
• Executive Order 10999: All modes of transportation will go into government control. Any vehicle can be seized.
• Executive Order 11000: All civilians can be used for work under federal supervision.
• Executive Order 11490: Establishes presidential control over all US citizens, businesses, and churches in time of "emergency."
• Executive Order 12919: Directs various Cabinet officials to be constantly ready to take over virtually all aspects of the US economy during a State of National Emergency at the direction of the president.
• Executive Order 13010: Directs FEMA to take control over all government agencies in time of emergency. FEMA is under control of executive branch of the government.
• Executive Order 12656: "ASSIGNMENT OF EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS RESPONSIBILITIES", "A national emergency is any occurrence, including natural disaster, military attack, technological emergency, or other emergency that seriously degrades or seriously threatens the national security of the United States. Policy for national security emergency preparedness shall be established by the President." This order includes federal takeover of all local law enforcement agencies, wage and price controls, prohibits you from moving assets in or out of the United States, creates a draft, controls all travel in and out of the United States, and much more.
• Martial law can be declared due to natural disasters, Y2k Crisis, Stock Market crash, no electricity, riots, biological attack, .... anything leading to the breakdown of law and order.

Power breeds the Need for more power.

There's one thing to keep in mind I think, the US military is made up of our family and friends. My brother serves in the Air Force. I think these people for the most part are very loyal americans, that's why they serve in the armed forces. The vast majority of them are NOT going to be a party to some kind of dictatorial(is that a word?) take-over. These are people that believe in 'the american way'. They all have families themselves. Even if our president had some kind of 'master plan' (which I find highly unlikely) he would not only find himself in a position of controlling the masses, he would also find himself in the position of controlling the military. I mean think about it, how many of you know someone that's in the military? Do you really believe that any of them would go along with that kind of a plan? Why would they? It's not like military pay is very high, so they would just continue to serve in an organization that no longer upholds the values they signed up to protect? For a pittance? I think most of them would go AWOL and reform to revolt against such a thing.