We Need Marshall Law, not Martial Law

Since the Bush administration was installed into this country by the Supreme Court - and quite literally "by hook and by crook" - conspiracy theorists, pundits, analysts, beltway junkies, and average citizens alike have speculated about the supposed Rove doctrine to maintain a president for life. To essentially create the role of King of America, a position George Washington adamantly declined when offered. The only likely way to achieve this is through martial law. Well...

Beginning in October, the Army plans to station an active unit inside the United States for the first time to serve as an on-call federal response in times of emergency. The 3rd Infantry Division’s 1st Brigade Combat Team has spent thirty-five of the last sixty months in Iraq, but now the unit is training for domestic operations. The unit will soon be under the day-to-day control of US Army North, the Army service component of Northern Command. The Army Times reports this new mission marks the first time an active unit has been given a dedicated assignment to Northern Command. The paper says the Army unit may be called upon to help with civil unrest and crowd control. The soldiers are learning to use so-called nonlethal weapons designed to subdue unruly or dangerous individuals and crowds.

Why? This is a question everyone should be asking, especially if they believe that they are still being protected by Posse Comitatus, the Act which states: "Whoever, except in cases and under circumstances expressly authorized by the Constitution or Act of Congress, willfully uses any part of the Army or the Air Force as a posse comitatus or otherwise to execute the laws shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than two years, or both."

In other words; "The Act prohibits most members of the federal uniformed services (the Army, Air Force, and State National Guard forces when such are called into federal service) from exercising nominally state law enforcement police or peace officer powers that maintain 'law and order.'"

Given Bush's penchant for rolling society back by generations, and now centuries, it's no surprise that he wants to break a long-standing, 100-year prohibition. Corporate controlled media will continue to put the positive spin on the story, but it's just another pig with a new application of lip gloss. We need Marshall McLuhan, and maybe even Marshall Crenshaw, right now more than we need martial law. The medium is the message. And where are the soldiers of love we were promised?

(Wikipedia the McLuhan and Crenshaw references on your own; I'm tired).