If this were a dictatorship...
August 6, 2006 4:38 PM   Subscribe

This post was deleted for the following reason: newsfilter, as you said.



 
It's interesting to see how far you have to push before people grow spines. Why is it that a private army promotes fear, and not the erosion of civil rights?

Oh, right.
posted by ®@ at 4:43 PM on August 6, 2006


Isn't the Army the President's private army?
posted by joegester at 4:46 PM on August 6, 2006


I got to say, UU, this reminds me a lot of your previous post from yesterday, taking a normal new piece and increasing the ominous factor with your leading question. The article you link states exactly the reason for why the National Guard needs to be changed --its failure during Katrina.

What leads you to believe that this makes the National Guard into Bush's private army? Doesn't he already have an army? (and a navy, and an airforce...)
posted by blahblahblah at 4:49 PM on August 6, 2006


maybe this... oh never mind, x1000
posted by joeblough at 5:00 PM on August 6, 2006


The final quote in that article is very slanted... it feels like either the quotee's or the paper's real goal is to get things federalized. It's defensive..."despite Katrina it works well". By framing it that way, he's already lost the argument, and I can't help but wonder if it was deliberate.
posted by Malor at 5:03 PM on August 6, 2006


And blahblahblah... there was plenty of blame to go around. FEMA was itself a disaster. Giving those morons yet more control strikes me as exactly counterproductive.

There's no reason not to require the state's permission. If it's really an emergency and federalizing the Guard will actually help, the state will be happy to grant it.

This is REALLY about removing yet another check on absolute executive power. Framing it in terms of Katrina is just a snow job.
posted by Malor at 5:05 PM on August 6, 2006


What kind of emergency? The 2008 elections.
posted by blue_beetle at 5:10 PM on August 6, 2006


Aren't the republican's the ones that favor states rights?!
posted by photoslob at 5:11 PM on August 6, 2006


photoslob: One of the biggest failures of the left appears to be the near complete inability to realize that the right is no longer the same group they used to square off against.
posted by nightchrome at 5:16 PM on August 6, 2006


This is what you get for writing Blanco and Nagin free passes so you can blame everything on Bush. Way to go.
posted by techgnollogic at 5:34 PM on August 6, 2006


If the President has been keeping up with current events at all, he may believe that the National Guard is needed to combat the recent epidemic of snakes on planes. From an unnamed source I have heard that:
"Bomb squad missed them. Particle detection missed them
and the goddamn infrared team missed them. Because the
fucking bastards are cold-blooded."

It seems they represent a real threat. Perhaps with more wiretapping we will be able to find all of the snakes on all of the planes and Americans can sleep safely again.
posted by BeReasonable at 5:38 PM on August 6, 2006


The idea, spurred by the destruction and chaos that followed Hurricane Katrina's landfall in Louisiana and Mississippi, is part of a House-passed version of the National Defense Authorization Act. It has not yet been agreed to by the Senate.

Good God! What else is in this National Defense Authorization Act that those bozos in the House have already passed?
posted by leftcoastbob at 5:45 PM on August 6, 2006


"Isn't the Army the President's private army?"

"Doesn't he already have an army? (and a navy, and an airforce...)"


Yes, but it's my understanding that under current law, the president couldn't legally authorize them to mobilize within the US borders, take American citizens as prisoners, kill them, etc. That sort of thing would fall under the purview of the National Guard. The Bu$h Admini$tration is trying to insure that it has a private domestic army. And I'd agree with blue_beetle, it might just be for the 2008 elections.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 6:03 PM on August 6, 2006


This is what you get for writing Blanco and Nagin free passes so you can blame everything on Bush. Way to go.

What exactly did Nagin do wrong? And don't tell me about the flooded out busses. There were tons and tons of busses in service before the hurricane -- taking people to the Superdome to await rescue by the federal government. It was a perfectly reasonable plan predicated on having a functional federal government.

Besides who the fuck cares about Nagin or Blanco? Would you really trust your life to your Mayor? I don't even know who the mayor of my city is. The governor, maybe, but ultimately full responsibility belongs for the inaction rests on the shoulders of the federal government. It's the federal government who we expect to handle things in national emergencies (not necessarily in a military manner) and any failure must rest firmly with them.

---



The idea, spurred by the destruction and chaos that followed Hurricane Katrina's landfall in Louisiana and Mississippi, is part of a House-passed version of the National Defense Authorization Act. It has not yet been agreed to by the Senate.

Bush sees the solution to any problem as being to give him more power. He's pathetic.
posted by delmoi at 6:05 PM on August 6, 2006


*blink*
posted by ZachsMind at 6:07 PM on August 6, 2006


"Bush sees the solution to any problem as being to give him more power. He's pathetic"

I don't think pathetic is the right word here... cunning? Evil? Undemocratic? Fascist? But not exactly pathetic.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 6:10 PM on August 6, 2006


What exactly did Nagin do wrong?

Oh, come on. Even Nagin's admitted he made mistakes. Not having an evacuation plan out of the city for disabled people is just the first thing that pops into my head.
posted by mediareport at 6:22 PM on August 6, 2006


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