Our first political discussion! Not suitable for TISM fans.
A reletively recent and very quiet development in America recently came to my attention. On the 30th of September 2006, the US congress modified the Insurrection Act of 1807. This act determined how the president could use military force within US borders to 'put down lawlessness, insurrection and rebellion'. The entire article is here:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insurrection_Act, but the gist of it is thus:
Originally, the president could only deploy troops in the above mentioned scenarios and only with the permission of the governers where they were being deployed. The changes allow him to deploy troops for a 'natural disaster, epidemic, etc, or when the President determines that the authorities of the state are incapable of maintaining public order' WITHOUT consulting the state governments.
This means that the President can effectively declare martial law whenever he feels like for almost any reason. For example, if Richard Nixon had this power he would have been able to declare martial law to prevent himself from being impeached, or even remove the legislation allowing impeachment to take place.
Now, you don't pass laws you don't intend to use. Bear in mind that there has been talk of a Democrat majority in both US houses and the possibility of Bush being impeached circulating for months. The question is; What is President Bush planning to do with his new laws?
I realise that there is a great likelyhood that this is an entirely inappropriate topic for a forum devoted to TISM. Oh well.
A reletively recent and very quiet development in America recently came to my attention. On the 30th of September 2006, the US congress modified the Insurrection Act of 1807. This act determined how the president could use military force within US borders to 'put down lawlessness, insurrection and rebellion'. The entire article is here: