Is Bush going to leave office?
Silly question right? Directive 51 and a combat brigade assigned to the “homeland” suggest otherwise.
”...if you look at that National Security Presidential Directive, what it says, that in any incident where there is extraordinary disruption of a whole range of things, including our economy, the President can declare a catastrophic emergency. Well, we’re having these huge disturbances in our economy. President Bush could today pick up that National Security Directive 51 and say, “We’re in a catastrophic emergency. I’m going to declare martial law, and I’m going to use this combat brigade to enforce it.”-Matthew Rothschild, editor of The Progressive magazine
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24 Answers
Good Lord, what a horrible thought!
From the article you posted
COL. MICHAEL BOATNER: No, this basically only boils down to self-defense. Any military force has the inherent right to self-defense. And if the situation was inherently dangerous, then potentially the Secretary of Defense would allow them to carry their weapons, but it would only be for self- and unit-defense. This force has got no role in a civil disturbance or civil unrest, any of those kinds of things.
Too bad the Col. isn’t the one calling the shots. Remember Kent State
“The Adjutant General of the Ohio National Guard told reporters that a sniper had fired on the guardsmen, which itself remains a debated allegation. Many guardsmen later testified that they were in fear for their lives, which was questioned partly because of the distance of the wounded students. Time magazine later concluded that “triggers were not pulled accidentally at Kent State”. The President’s Commission on Campus Unrest avoided probing the question regarding why the shootings happened. Instead, it harshly criticized both the protesters and the Guardsmen, but it concluded that “the indiscriminate firing of rifles into a crowd of students and the deaths that followed were unnecessary, unwarranted, and inexcusable.”
He never really wanted to be President in the first place, so I kinda doubt he’d try to hang on. Cheney and the neocons promised him Saddam’s head on a stick in exchange for the ability to make his decisions for him. He had to run for a 2nd term because even though they had started the Iraq war, they hadn’t yet delivered Saddam….they waited until Bush’s re-election for that one. The only way Bush even got through this whole thing was to take ample vacations, he has no desire to be there any longer and the neocons’ hung their hats on McCain, who it turned out had no idea how to campaign. They might love to invoke this article, but Bush’d have to go along with it, and I’m pretty sure he wants nothing more than to return to Crawford and read My Pet Goat every now and again.
He should of been impeached years ago.
Bush has always struck me as simple too. But who says he has to stay in power? Once he’s the dictator he can appoint anyone who makes him.
By the way, one brigade wouldn’t be enough to do anything other than scare people. But that may be all that is necessary.
These guys failed, they are going to take the money and run.
Even if it were technically feasible I think he is smart enough to realize that almost everybody dislikes him so intensely that he surely wouldn’t survive the attempt.
No. Although it would make a great movie.
We can’t afford for him to stay in office.
He will not stay in office. There are so many real things to worry about, why focus on this non-issue?
I’m going to personally kick his Texas ass if he does not get it the hell out of there.
It’s an important issue, people could be caught unaware if they didn’t know the possibilities here, something like this would be very confusing and scary. No need to dwell on it, just don’t forget in case something else happens.
I’ve been afraid of this for some time. I guess we’ll see.
He won’t. He’s already said he’s looking forward to the downtime next year.
Our senior military people are not automatons. When Dirty Dick was in his last days before he was forced to resign, orders were issued from within the Pentagon to the effect that he was not to be obeyed. If W tried to pull that kind of crap, the same thing would happen.
W will leave office on January 20, 2009. I believe Barack Obama will be standing in his place after that. The people who operate Bush will buy him a six pack and busy themselves with trying to orchestrate a Whitewater-style witch hunt. If you want some bad dreams, think about that.
Sorry: My response should say “He won’t extend his time.” Or “He will leave office”. Right now it is unclear.
Remember when Pelosi took impeachment off the table (before the new Congress was even sworn in, I might add)? That was a calculated political move…they didn’t want Democrats in Congress to come off as highly partisan, or look like they were trying to get revenge for blowjobgate. If Bush isn’t out of there by noon on January 20, 2009, guess what goes back on the table (and in front of what is almost sure to be a fillibuster proof Senate at this point).
In case you haven’t noticed, Dubya has left the building…
W will leave office 19 days after New Year’s Day. No need for self-delusion.
Is Directive 51 constitutional?
You can make any law, directive, regulations you want. If they are unconstitutional then there null and void.
My opinion is that Directive 51 would not survive a court challenge.The constitution is the law of the land
Hope you are right, hope there would be a court challenge. How is our Constitution, strong as ever?
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