On May 1, 2003, President George W. Bush declared an end to major combat in Iraq. Since then, hostilities and death tolls continue to rise. Tensions between the once dominant Sunni minority and Shia majority also continue to escalate--From the CRS Report For Congress: Iraq Milestones Since The Ouster Of Saddam Hussein, updated June 19, 2007.
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08/31/2007

Executive Orders have NO Constitutional precedent

See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil,
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When our nation, i.e., we the people, are swimming in floods, the woefully and purposely inept responses thereof and/or debt, it becomes increasingly non-productive for us to care about the things that do not have a direct and immediate effect on us. And, it's easy to argue that that's just the way the people that foster those, "not as direct and immediate things" want it, because while you see disaster they see opportunity.
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We are currently being assaulted by "things" that others would have us ignore, things that are complex and in the realm of those who do have the luxury to think and plan and strategize. Things that take away our rights and hurl us headlong into an Orwellian nightmare.
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As citizens, or more primarily as consumers, we have become consumed by the everyday minutiae of our lives. Ignore something: making a payment, writing a letter, an appointment or getting all your kid's inoculations and the consequences will fester in some functionaries file cabinet until you eventually become a law breaker.
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The default state of man today is to be in jail and unfortunately, there are many paths to incarceration.
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Parallel paths to incarceration are growing and spreading like the blood vessels of a tumor. A nation can no longer be considered a nation when it advocates the fear and hatred of its own citizens or when dissent and protest are equated with disloyalty. That equation eventually collapses on both sides, the oppressors  always see more threats to stifle and the oppressed will eventually be forced to become legitimate threats in order to combat the gathering forces of dictatorship.
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Think I'm nuts?
From the latest issue of The Progressive, Watch Those Executive Orders by Matthew Rothschild:

On July 17, Bush issued· an executive order entitled "Blocking Property of Certain Per­sons Who Threaten Stabilization Efforts in Iraq." This order gives the Secretary of the Treasury the authority to freeze the assets of any person oppos­ing Bush's Iraq policy who may have committed an act of violence, or anyone who even poses "a signifi­cant risk of committing" such an act. And your assets are grass if you "assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, logistical, or technical support" for others committing such acts.

The acts that are now verboten would have "the purpose or effect of: (A) threatening the peace or sta­bility of Iraq or the Government of Iraq; or (B) undermining efforts to promote economic recon­struction and political reform in Iraq or to provide humanitarian assistance to the Iraqi people."

The International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977, which Bush cites as the authority for such an order, is intended to apply to foreign countries and foreign nationals, not to U.S. citizens. But this exec­utive order is worded so loosely that it applies to "any person." And it says that "any transaction by a Unit­ed States person" who "attempts to violate any of the prohibitions set forth in this order is prohibited."

So what could this mean in practice? The Secretary of the Treasury might be able to put a freeze on your financial assets, including your home:

If you are at an· anti-Iraq War protest and the Treasury Secretary asserts that you "pose a significant risk" of breaking a window.

Or if you throw a pie in the face of a legislator­say, Senator Joe Lieberman-as a way of drawing 'attention to his support for the war.

Or if you set up a speaking engagement for, or buy lunch for, an Iraqi oil worker who might have damaged a pipeline or burned an American flag to protest the oil bill that Bush wants the Iraqi parliament to pass-a bill that would give away that country's oil to Exxon­Mobil and other multinationals.

What's more, the language in this executive order could create an endless chain of repression. Any per­son who even is "purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly," someone whose property has been frozen by this order will also have his or her property frozen.

 So the Treasury Secretary could freeze your broth­er's house on the specious grounds that your brother might be violent at an anti-war protest, and if you hire a lawyer to help your brother with his case, both you and the lawyer you hire could have your financial assets, including your homes, frozen.

On August 1, a second "Executive Order" was issued, this one regarding Lebanon. Again, from the above mentioned article:

This executive order is harsher than the July 17 one in another way, as well. It gives the Treasury' Secretary the authority to freeze the assets of "a spouse or dependent child of any person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to this order."

Like the executive order on Iraq, this one also bans the provision of food, clothing, and medicine to any­one whose assets are frozen.

Representative Dennis Kucinich denounced this executive order as "reckless." He said it was part of Bush's "strategy to destabilize the region by targeting Syria and Iran."

It also is part of Bush's strategy to aggrandize the Executive Branch.

These orders will eventually be used to arrest and punish protestors. The monitoring and infiltration of protest groups is nothing new, nor is the incitation of violence by shadow government agencies.

On October 17, 2006 President Bush signed into law (PL 109-364) which has a provocative provision called “Use of the Armed Forces in Major Public Emergencies.” From Dying Freedoms Alert: We Just Repealed Posse Comitatus! « Renegade Waiter:

The thrust of it seems to be about giving the federal government a far stronger hand in coordinating responses to Katrina-like disasters.
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But on closer inspection, its language also alters the two-centuries-old Insurrection Act, which Congress passed in 1807 to limit the president’s power to deploy troops within the United States.
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That law has long allowed the president to mobilize troops only “to suppress, in a State, any insurrection, domestic violence, unlawful combination, or conspiracy.”
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But the amended law takes the cuffs off. Specifically, the new language adds “natural disaster, epidemic, or other serious public health emergency, terrorist attack or incident” to the list of conditions permitting the President to take over local authority — particularly “if domestic violence has occurred to such an extent that the constituted authorities of the State or possession are incapable of maintaining public order.”
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Since the administration broadened what constitutes “conspiracy” in its definition of enemy combatants — anyone who “has purposely and materially supported hostilities against the United States,” in the language of the Military Commissions Act (PL 109-366) — critics say it’s a formula for executive branch mischief.
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Yet despite such a radical turn, the new law garnered little dissent, or even attention, on the Hill.
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One of the few to complain, Sen. Patrick J. Leahy, D-Vt., warned that the measure virtually invites the White House to declare federal martial law.

This administration has been laying the foundations of tyranny from day one and has grabbed every catastrophe and tragedy, particularly 9-11 to further it's goals. You can cite any number of conspiracy theories to explain this power lust but that's not the point. The point is: it's happening and opposition is now a crime.    Gene

 

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