To The News Media And The US Government

 by Lewis Seiler

Since 9/11, and seemingly without the notice of most Americans, the federal government has assumed the authority to institute martial law, arrest a wide swath of dissidents (citizen and noncitizen alike), and detain people without legal or constitutional recourse in the event of "an emergency influx of immigrants in the U.S., or to support the rapid development of new programs."

Beginning in 1999, the government has entered into a series of single-bid contracts with Halliburton subsidiary Kellogg, Brown and Root (KBR) to build detention camps at undisclosed locations within the United States. The government has also contracted with several companies to build thousands of railcars, some reportedly equipped with shackles, ostensibly to transport detainees.

According to diplomat and author Peter Dale Scott, the KBR contract is part of a Homeland Security plan titled ENDGAME, which sets as its goal the removal of "all removable aliens" and "potential terrorists."

Fraud-busters such as Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Los Angeles, have complained about these contracts, saying that more taxpayer dollars should not go to taxpayer-gouging Halliburton. But the real question is: What kind of "new programs" require the construction and refurbishment of detention facilities in nearly every state of the union with the capacity to house perhaps millions of people?

Sect. 1042 of the 2007 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), "Use of the Armed Forces in Major Public Emergencies," gives the executive the power to invoke martial law. For the first time in more than a century, the president is now authorized to use the military in response to "a natural disaster, a disease outbreak, a terrorist attack or any other condition in which the President determines that domestic violence has occurred to the extent that state officials cannot maintain public order."

The Military Commissions Act of 2006, rammed through Congress just before the 2006 midterm elections, allows for the indefinite imprisonment of anyone who donates money to a charity that turns up on a list of "terrorist" organizations, or who speaks out against the government's policies. The law calls for secret trials for citizens and noncitizens alike.

Also in 2007, the White House quietly issued National Security Presidential Directive 51 (NSPD-51), to ensure "continuity of government" in the event of what the document vaguely calls a "catastrophic emergency." Should the president determine that such an emergency has occurred, he and he alone is empowered to do whatever he deems necessary to ensure "continuity of government." This could include everything from canceling elections to suspending the Constitution to launching a nuclear attack. Congress has yet to hold a single hearing on NSPD-51.

U.S. Rep. Jane Harman, D-Venice (Los Angeles County) has come up with a new way to expand the domestic "war on terror." Her Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007 (HR1955), which passed the House by the lopsided vote of 404-6, would set up a commission to "examine and report upon the facts and causes" of so-called violent radicalism and extremist ideology, then make legislative recommendations on combatting it.

According to commentary in the Baltimore Sun, Rep. Harman and her colleagues from both sides of the aisle believe the country faces a native brand of terrorism, and needs a commission with sweeping investigative power to combat it.

A clue as to where Harman's commission might be aiming is the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act, a law that labels those who "engage in sit-ins, civil disobedience, trespass, or any other crime in the name of animal rights" as terrorists. Other groups in the crosshairs could be anti-abortion protesters, anti-tax agitators, immigration activists, environmentalists, peace demonstrators, Second Amendment rights supporters ... the list goes on and on. According to author Naomi Wolf, the National Counterterrorism Center holds the names of roughly 775,000 "terror suspects" with the number increasing by 20,000 per month.

What could the government be contemplating that leads it to make contingency plans to detain without recourse millions of its own citizens?

What could the government be contemplating that leads it to make contingency plans to detain without recourse millions of its own citizens?

Lewis Seiler is the president of Voice of the Environment, Inc. Dan Hamburg, a former congressman, is executive director. !@

There's a nice interview with Howard Zinn, Rebels Against Tyranny, in which Zinn highlights what it is that we are all working toward. We are anarchists. We want to rule ourselves. We don't want to be ruled. We are "unruly". 

The seats of power will never be on "our side". Mass media concentrated as it is now will never serve our needs. We need to work steadily for the decentralizaion of power and for our own empowerment. This is Mike's message with the NI4d. 

If Mike wins the election in November, or if Nader wins or McKinney wins our work just begins then. And if none of them wins then our work just begins then. It is a long term investment of energy in any case if not a long term process. 

I am suggesting to those I communicate with that they vote for Gravel/McKinney/Nader this election, and that I like Mike Gravel. But the real work is in organizing and realizing the NI4d and in building and then utilizing our own electoral apparatus to get the NI4d passed. 

We can and should "just do it". Take charge ourselves first in a parallel universe of our own creation and then by granting ourselves and our creation legitimacy as lawmakers, with our role explicitly laid out in our Constitution. 

For one man's, Michael Allan in Toronto's, well thought out design and flegling implementation see: 

http://zelea.com/project/votorola/home.xht

http://zelea.com/project/votorola/d/use.xht

http://zelea.com/project/votorola/d/theory.xht

It's heavy going at first, perhaps, but well worth understanding. It is the means of implementing the NI4d. And a giant step forward towards anarchy. 

Forget the MSM. We all know who they work for. You or I can scratch up an event anywhere on earth and predict the MSM's "newstory" on it with 99% accuracy. That and a dollar will get us a cup of coffee. Real change requires a continuing act of creation on our part.  

I think you'll find Michael Allan's proposal stimulating. It is certainly well grounded.

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Times have changed. We are going to empower the American people. Let’s work together. I am tough. I’m not afraid. None of this politics as usual. Mike Gravel