On Thursday, August 21, 2003, at 07:33 AM, Eric Murray wrote:

On Thu, Aug 21, 2003 at 08:17:35AM -0500, Harmon Seaver wrote:

...

So how much of the Constitution gets shredded by Bush's declaration of a "national emergency" right after 9/11, and how long can he maintain that. I mean, I realize the the Constitution/bill of rights is pretty much gone anyway,

Hasn't there been a perpetual "National Emergency", signed by every president since WWII or therebouts?

Is Bush's a double plus National Emergency?

Yes, some National Emergencies are more equal than others. Seriously, I recollect some studies done of just which National Emergencies, National Decision Directives, and Executive Orders were declared when, and for how long. My recollection is that the ones Lincoln declared remained in force for decades, until the next crop...and possibly were never rescinded. Some of the ones in the 1970s and 80s give the guy in the White House the power to seize all radio and television stations, all newspapers, and to take control of all factories. Pretty much the whole ball of wax, more than any of the fascists like Mussolini, Roosevelt, Tojo, or Hitler ever got. --Tim May "They played all kinds of games, kept the House in session all night, and it was a very complicated bill. Maybe a handful of staffers actually read it, but the bill definitely was not available to members before the vote." --Rep. Ron Paul, TX, on how few Congresscritters saw the USA-PATRIOT Bill before voting overwhelmingly to impose a police state