Why hasn't this been talked about more in the media?
Asked by
Ozzman (
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March 19th, 2009
About a week ago, a small town in Alabama witnessed a string of 11 homicides. U.S. Army troops, not the National Guard mind you, but U.S. ARMY TROOPS, were called in to aide the police. The Govenor was called about why ground troops were there in the first place. Govenor said he didn’t know anything about this. So who called them in? According to the U.S. Constitution this is illegal. Back in 1868, I think it was, President Hayes signed a new law that prevents the U.S. military from aiding civil law enforcement. So if the Govenor didn’t call them in then maybe it was President Obama? I’m just guessing. Its a very interesting topic, just wanted to get anyone elses opinion on this event. Kind of strikes me weird that no one in the media has brought this to our attention. Let me know what you guys think.
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27 Answers
Where are you getting your information from? Do you have a link with more info about this event?
I was watching the Glen Beck show on Fox news and he mentioned this
that’s just it though, there is no link, no one but the glen beck show became aware of this.
I have not heard about this at all.
Did it actually happen?
yes. sometime last week. thats what is so shocking to me. how is it that the media is not covering this matter which is totally illegal. you can go to glenbeck.com and find out more i guess. i saw it on tv last nite.
Didn’t Bush change that law about the army aiding law enforcement? I thought I read that a while back…
idk. i was watching tv last nite and it was said that this is totally illegal they even had an expert on legality with the consitution and confirmed this being illegal.
apparently they were helping out with traffic, and road closures.
They didn’t appear to be armed.
The town’s police department has 5 people…they called in whoever could help.
it doesnt matter if they had 5 or 500 police. the main point not to forget is that the u.s. army is not allowed to aide in any way. and also don’t forget that the govenor had no idea this was going on in his state.
Sorry, Glenn Beck is not a credible person, and FOX News is not a credible news source, thus I don’t believe anything they say at all without looking at the proof for myself. Often, this proof does not exist.
He, or another FOX host, also talked recently about how Obama was setting up FEMA camps to arrest republicans. This thought is absolutely ludicrous, slanderous, and even paranoid. I have tried very hard to find my source, I read it this morning, but I can’t find it now, sorry.
FOX News is not a good news station to be watching if you care about actual true news. They are not credible, they have lied in the past to increase ratings, and have been proven many times in the past and currently to simply regurgitate talking points from republican and other right leaning groups.
Calling them journalists is like calling the weather guy on the 6 o clock news a groundbreaking scientist.
lol, so how do you really feel dynamicduo about foxnews? i respect your opinion.
I dunno, I know its against the constitution but I think you have to use common sense too. The town probably really needed help and just needed some traffic cops while the other cops did the real work. Its not like it was a military take over of law operations in a major city. Thats why the news didn’t cover it because its not really a problem.
well and it’s fine with me if the town needed the help. i just wanted to let everyone know what I saw .
well gotta get back to work.
Sigh… if we’re not going to follow the Constitution, then we should abolish it. The President should not “swear to uphold” it when taking the Oath of fucking Office if he or she is going to constantly defy it. If it means nothing, then we need to get rid of it. This is a large part of why our nation is so incredibly daft… we “honor” this document ideally, but when it comes to something we just really want (like a teenager really wants to go to the movies) we do it whether it’s constitutional or not. Retarded. Makes no sense. I can’t believe people in this country call me, an anarchist, unAmerican. Ridiculous… By the way, the army not being allowed to aid in civil disasters is a dumb ass rule anyway. Who comes up with this BS?
The Posse Comitatus act isn’t Constitutional; it’s an ordinary law, just like any other passed by Congress. The idea is that it’s a very clear distinction, so that the federal military is not used to intervene in state matters, principally to protect state’s rights and local sovereignty.
This is why the state National Guard units can be used for this purpose, but the federal Army cannot.
Thank you very much cwibur. I couldn’t remember the name of that law.
If there is a military base nearby, they probably have access to more resources than the police department of a small town. They may or may not have been functioning “on duty.”
For example, I know that Marines at Camp Pendleton outside San Diego have helped fight wildfires because the local emergency response forces were so strapped.
I’m agreeing with Dynamic on this, if one rather unreputable news source is the only one covering it, it’s probably not “missing” in the rest of the media, it’s probably bullshit that they are trying to twist around to make it seem worse than it is.
Well I took a deep, deeeeep breath and scrolled through Glen Beck’s website, and did not find anything relating to this story. So most disappointingly I can’t address his particular report.
I’m wondering what he suspects happened? Does he really suspect the President of shenanigans? What type of shenanigans? What would be his devious motive? I can’t even imagine the conspiracy Mr. Beck suspects…
Assuming the use of military troops does violate current federal law (not suspended under Bush policies), then my best guess is that it happened because of poor dicision making and know-how by local leaders.
I’m afraid jumping to point the finger at Pres. Obama is red flag that this is just another act of paranoia by the extreme right. He’s not out to get anyone, he’s not a fraud, he’s not the end of the country or world – whether or not you agree with his politics.
(I’m not aiming those last comments at anyone on these boards, but more at media personalities such as Mr. Beck or Mr. Limbaugh.)
“http://www.newsmeat.com/news/meat.php?articleId=45267918&channelId=2951&buyerId=newsmeatcom&buid=3281”
Found this, too.
No idea how credible it is as a source of news.
After a little more poking around, I conclude that this is not being talked about in the media beyone Fox because it’s a non-story. Seems like someone wants to make a mountain out of the proverbial molehill.
Bytheybay’s link is actually from Alabama.
I’m curious to know who ordered the troops there.
Ok, so no one knows who’s responsible…yet. Although I’d be interested for mainstream media to pick it up more as a question and point of intrigue, I’d be grateful is networks like Fox News refrained from “guessing” who could be behind it without any facts to back it up.
I saw yesterday that the mayor asked the troops to come in to help with traffic control and that type of thing. They were only there for a few hours.
The town has an agreement with the base/fort to help in times of need and the base commander agreed to assist.
I don’t think this is anything sinister or any sort of overstepping of boundaries.
This was a small town in an immediate crisis.
I think the larger media outlets are not following this story because it is not a story.
The AP has carried the story, but there’s been no update since the 18th of March.
Perhaps once there’s an answer to the question, the news media will assuage concerns with a follow up story.
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