Americans deserve look at U.S. emergency defense plans :Greeley

[jbfam4]

http://www.suntimes.com/output/greeley/cst-edt-greel09.html


Americans deserve look at U.S. emergency defense plans

July 9, 2004

BY ANDREW GREELEY


''Fascism'' is not an exaggeration. It is, among other things, a political philosophy that says that the leader is above the law, that a commander in chief in a time of war has unlimited power in the name of national security. This is a claim that has been made seriously by lawyers in the White House, the Pentagon and the Justice Department in recent years.

Some liberals suggest that the administration is capable of canceling the November election on the grounds of national security if it looks like Bush would lose. I doubt this. Yet I don't doubt that somewhere in the bowels of Justice or the Pentagon or Defense, one might find a note or two hinting at the possibility of such behavior. The election will go ahead regardless of the polls -- though perhaps another terror attack might put it in jeopardy.

It is known that some time ago (before the World Trade Center attack), Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Vice President Dick Cheney had drafted proposals for what should happen if most of the members of Congress were killed in an attack. Surely there should be plans for such an eventuality. Yet given the contempt for the Constitution that seems to exist among some administration lawyers, those plans should be made public and discussed to make sure that a surviving president -- any surviving president -- cannot suspend the Constitution and impose a new form of government on the country.

Under any circumstances, the disaster blueprint should be made public. However, the lack of regard for the Bill of Rights in the Justice Department under Attorney General John Ashcroft and the suggestion by White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales that the Geneva Convention is "quaint" make it imperative that Americans know before this election what plans the administration has to reconstitute the country after a disaster.

[tom_paine]

1. Might as well ask for a Floor Plan of Auschwitz

Because, in essence, that what you WOULD be asking the Busheviks for in asking for this document.