The White House’s late-week release of
an executive order has sent the online community into an uproar, worried
that President Obama had secretly provided himself means to institute
martial law in America.
In the common practice of dumping
government documents on a Friday afternoon, just as the news cycle is
wrapping up for the week – a move critics say allows the administration
to avoid widespread coverage of embarrassing actions – the White House
released an executive order on “National Defense Resources
Preparedness.”
Filled with language about
“government-owned equipment” and a “defense executive reserve,” among
other vague statements, rumors began to spread that the executive order
expanded the president’s power to do everything from seizing whole
industries to drafting private armies.
A Canada Free Press article titled
“Obama Executive Order: Peacetime Martial Law!” spread concerns of
gasoline ration cards; while an Examiner article declared the order
would “nationalize everything” and “allow for a civilian draft.”
Facebook, email and Twitter were suddenly abuzz, and even the extremely
popular Drudge Report posted a link to the White House release under the
title “Martial Law? Obama Issues Executive Order.”
Screen shot of Drudge Report, "Martial
Law" headline highlighted
But are the cries of martial law and
expanding executive power justified?
No, says William A. Jacobson,
associate clinical professor at Cornell Law School.
“If someone wants to make the argument
that this is an expansion of presidential powers, then do so based on
actual language,” warns Jacobson. “There is enough that Obama actually
does wrong without creating claims which do not hold up to scrutiny.”
Discover how deep Obama’s violation of
Constitution really does go with David Limbaugh’s “Crimes Against
Liberty.”
Then tell America you’ve had enough
with these shenanigans. Get the AVOID OBAMA TRAUMA magnetic bumper
sticker!
As it turns out, Obama’s executive
order is nearly identical to EO 12919, issued by President Clinton on
June 7, 1994, which itself was an amendment to EO 10789, issued in 1958
by President Eisenhower, and which in fact, was later amended by EO
13286, issued in 2003 by George W. Bush.
Obama’s executive order specifically
assigns “executive departments and agencies responsible for plans and
programs related to national defense” to do five things:
“identify” requirements for
emergencies;
“assess” the capability of the country’s industrial and technological
base;
“be prepared” to ensure the availability of critical resources in time
of national threat;
“improve the efficiency” of the industrial base to support national
defense;
“foster cooperation” between commercial and defense sectors.
Later provisions in the order establish the protocol for government
agencies to purchase equipment needed in times of national emergency and
even make loans to ensure the availability of that equipment.
Despite the vague nature of the
functions, none mention anything about martial law or seizing private
property. The five functions are also identical to those identified in
Clinton’s EO 12919.
So why did Obama issue the order at
all?
A side-by-side analysis of Obama’s
order compared to Clinton’s, conducted by Ed Morrissey of HotAir.com,
reveals Obama’s order is essentially just an update to reflect changes
in government agency structure.
“If one takes a look at EO 12919, the
big change is in the cabinet itself,” Morrissey writes. “In 1994, we
didn’t have a Department of Homeland Security, for instance, and some of
these functions would naturally fall to DHS. In EO 12919, the FEMA
director had those responsibilities, and the biggest change between the
two is the removal of several references to FEMA (10 in all). Otherwise,
there aren’t a lot of changes between the two EOs, which looks mainly
like boilerplate.
“I’m not ruling out the possibility
that this is more than it seems,” adds Jacobson, “but unless and until
someone [demonstrates any expansion of powers in the order], I’ll
consider this to be routine.”
“The timing of this release might have
looked a little strange,” Morrissey concludes, “but this is really
nothing to worry about at all.”
(Source: World Net Daily March
18, 2012 -
http://www.wnd.com/2012/03/executive-order-panic-martial-law-in-america/
)
Other example:
This is NOT good!! An excerpt from the
article “The National Defense Resources Preparedness order gives the
Executive Branch the power to control and allocate energy, production,
transportation, food, and even water resources by decree under the
auspices of national defense and national security. The order is not
limited to wartime implementation, as one of the order's functions
includes the command and control of resources in peacetime
determinations. Read the rest of the article and you will see in
includes everything in the way of resources: food, water, businesses,
gasoline. Anything they want to control they can now with this new
Executive Order.
I don’t believe they left any stone
unturned!! The Dictator is ruling by Executive Orders!!
Other example:
Obama Executive Order: Peacetime
Martial Law
by josephwouk
Israpundit » Blog Archive » Obama
Executive Order: Peacetime Martial Law.
This Executive Order was posted on the WhiteHouse.gov web site on
Friday, March 16, 2012, under the name National Defense Resources
Preparedness. In a nutshell, it’s the blueprint for Peacetime Martial
Law and it gives the president the power to take just about anything
deemed necessary for “National Defense”, whatever they decide that is.
It’s peacetime, because as the title of the order says, it’s for
“Preparedness”. A copy of the entire order follows the end of this
story.
Under this order the heads of these cabinet level positions;
Agriculture, Energy, Health and Human Services, Transportation, Defense
and Commerce can take food, livestock, fertilizer, farm equipment, all
forms of energy, water resources, all forms of civil transporation
(meaning any vehicles, boats, planes), and any other materials,
including construction materials from wherever they are available. This
is probably why the government has been visiting farms with GPS devices,
so they know exactly where to go when they turn this one on.
Specifically, the government is allowed to allocate materials, services,
and facilities as deemed necessary or appropriate. They decide what
necessary or appropriate means.
What happens if the government decides it needs all these things to be
prepared, even if there is no war? You likely won’t be able to walk into
a store to purchase virtually anything because it will all be
requisitioned, “rationed” and controlled by the government. Construction
materials, food like meat, butter and sugar, anything imported, parts,
tires and fuel for vehicles, clothing, etc. will likely become
unobtainable, or at least very scarce. How many things are even made
here in the USA any more?
WWII era gas ration cards via Old Chester PA. You couldn’t go on
vacation without a “vacation pass”.
Under this new Executive Order, cabinet heads are authorized to loan
money, offer loan guarantees and even subsidize payments at above market
rates (no bid contracts?) for whatever they need. This could make
Solyndra or Halliburton look like Junior Achievement. Nothing like a war
will generate these kinds of huge profits for the corporate “partners”
and you can bet the bankers and contractors are already lining up for
this one — because under this order no war is even required!
Here’s where you can find the Executive Order: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2012/03/16/executive-ord…
