Martial law supposedly implemented in the US

Tim May tcmay at got.net
Tue Oct 16 16:34:34 PDT 2001


On Tuesday, October 16, 2001, at 04:04 PM, Greg Broiles wrote:

> At 05:45 PM 10/16/2001 -0500, measl at mfn.org wrote:
>> On Tue, 16 Oct 2001 jamesd at echeque.com wrote:
>>
>> > According to Pravda, the US is now under martial law
>> >
>> > http://english.pravda.ru/main/2001/10/08/17359.html
>>
>> For all intents and purposes, we are.
>
> Well, no. "Martial law" usually implies that civil authorities have 
> been replaced or overriden by military command, and that civilian law 
> is not in effect, having been replaced by orders from a military 
> command structure; and it's usually imposed on formerly hostile 
> territory, or territories considered very close to conflict spatially 
> or temporally.
>
> That has not happened in the US, except arguably at the ground zero 
> site, and even there it sounds like it's civilian police officers and 
> elected officials, not military officers, who are setting policy.
>
> Unconstitutional, in many cases? I think so. Martial law? No, that's 
> not accurate. That term has historically meant a lot more that some 
> National Guard troops in the airports.

Agreed, not martial law.

However, America operates on the ratchet principle: the tightening of 
liberties _always_ proceeds in the forward direction. Each new crisis, 
each new emergency order, each new federal agency, each new 
law...everything cranks the ratchet wheel toward less liberty.

And even our supposed "voices of reason," like "Reason," cough, cough, 
are publishing crap about how untappable conversation is "scary." The 
"Wall Street Journal" has Dorothy Rabinowitz and that pansy Indian guy 
calling for "national ID cards."

The issue of whether these measures will make us "safe" is neither 
interesting nor germane. The Constitution used to be clear on issues 
like habeas corpus, fourth amendment protections, and the inability of 
the government to tell us how we can communicate. No longer.

As Pravda said, the U.S. is (effectively) under martial law. It's just 
that our colonels and generals are politicians in D.C. Notice how 
"states rights" has vanished as an issue? Someone finds white talcum 
powder and the FBI and FEMA are called in. Everything is being 
federalized.

And former libertarians, in name, are now leading the charge toward 
statism. I say we kill them all.

--Tim May, Occupied America
"They that give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety 
deserve neither liberty nor safety." -- Benjamin Franklin, 1759.





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