Dambala calls our attention to the National Security and Homeland Security Presidential Directive, which appears to have been made law May 9 essentially by decree. Dambala says it “supercedes the National Emergency Act and re-constitutes the mandates of martial law.”
In the event of a ‘national emergency’ . . . defined by the executive branch . . . the President can incorporate martial law and bypass all levels of government from Congress down to “tribal” levels. The previous law which mandated such a scenario was the National Emergency Act, passed in 1976, which gave Congress oversight of the Executive Branch and allowed them to retract such dictatorial authority if they deemed it unnecessary.
For the next national emergency we have a lot of detention centers ready to go – the ones built for immigrants are also for displaced persons and anyone else the government might want to place somewhere secure. Thinking darkly, I do not know that we are having another Presidential inauguration anytime soon. We could go into a “state of emergency” and get a ruling junta — in our case, probably a corporate, rather than a military one.
Axé.
coldhearted scientist وداد 