In an 11 August 2003 article for CounterPunch, titled “Homeland Security for Whom?“, I suggested that Bush’s homeland security apparatus “might even bankrupt the country and, perhaps intentionally, throw it into a Depression.”
Why, four years ago, did I believe that Bush would intentionally throw the country into a depression?
Because, having already shot his terror load on 9/11, it was obvious that he would need another pretext to impose the de facto military dictatorship he and his oil company coterie so cravenly desire.
The pretext presented itself yesterday, when the Republicans (of all people!) voted down Bush’s 750 billion dollar bailout package for the rich. I watched on TV while a newscaster quoted White House spokespeople as saying that Bush was upset, but not especially concerned, because he did not need Congressional approval to get his way. They said he could use special executive powers.
Is that true?
Yes, indeedy.
In May 2007, Bush issued NATIONAL SECURITY PRESIDENTIAL DIRECTIVE/NSPD 51 and HOMELAND SECURITY PRESIDENTIAL DIRECTIVE/HSPD-20. These directives gave Bush the authority to assure the Continuity of the Federal Government in the event of a Catastrophic Emergency that resulted in, among other things, some extraordinary disruption of the economy.
Under Presidential Directive/HSPD-20, a single National Continuity Coordinator is responsible for coordinating the development and implementation of Bush’s Federal continuity policies. Currently, the Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism (APHS/CT) is the National Continuity Coordinator.
That was Ms. Frances Fragos Townsend a former Assistant Commandant for Intelligence at the Coast Guard, until November 2007. I believe the job is currently vacant.
The National Continuity Coordinator works in coordination with the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs (APNSA), Stephen John Hadley, a Bush political hack of the upmteenth degree.
There is also a Continuity Policy Coordination Committee (CPCC), chaired by a Senior Director from the Homeland Security Council staff. The members of this coommitte will be designated by the National Continuity Coordinator, and act as “the main day-to-day forum for such policy coordination.”
HSPD-20 makes no reference to Congress. Only Bush need determine that a national emergency exists.
Would Bush dare use the current economic crisis as a pretext to declare a national emergency and invoke his continuity powers?
Yes, indeedy! In fact, he’s been waiting for this moment for a long time, all along. And now, with McCain in a tailspin and about to crash like he did 41 years ago, and with the Afrrican-born Muslim and black anti-Christ Barack Obama about to ascend, with the help of dirty Democrat majorities in both houses in Congress, the moment for direct political action has never been riper.
Hang onto your hats, kids, it’s gonna be a wild ride ahead.
And you heard it here first on CounterPunch.
DOUGLAS VALENTINE is the author of The Hotel Tacloban, the story of his father’s experiences in a Japanese POW camp in World War Two. The Hotel Tacloban is available at Mr Valentine’s websites http://www.DouglasValentine.com and http://valentine.sb2.authorsguild.net
