National Police?

It’s reported that Mr. Obama is once again calling for a “National Police Force”, intended apparently to provide federal augmentation to the local Gendarmes nationwide, and naturally to provide “security” within our borders. During the late presidential campaign, Mr. Obama claimed that “We cannot continue to rely on our military in order to achieve the national security objectives we've set. We've got to have a civilian national security force that's just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded.” Something might occur within the United States that the US ARMY with a million or so soldiers can’t handle!? That I find very hard to believe! And now we need a civilian police type “security force” armed with machine guns, tanks, and attack helicopters!? And all this time I thought that having Police SWAT teams and FBI snipers was quite bad enough.

My first thought was why can’t the Army handle things? After all, the Posse Comitatis Act was passed in 1878 and was intended to severely limit the federal government in using the military for law enforcement. But, recent bills passed by our Congress allow the armed forces to be used under the revised “Insurrection Act”, to “restore public order and enforce the laws of the United States when a natural disaster, epidemic, or other serious public health emergency, terrorist attack or other such condition occurs in the United States, or when the President determines that domestic violence has occurred, where the legal authorities of that State are unable to maintain public order, or to suppress any insurrection, domestic violence, unlawful combination, or conspiracy. Also, if such a condition hinders the execution of the laws of a State, or if a State opposes or obstructs the execution of the laws of the United States.”

Then there are an entire series of “Executive Orders” authorized in times of “increased international tension, economic crisis, and/or financial crisis”, to “institute industrial support, to establish judicial and legislative liaison, to control all aliens, to operate penal and correctional institutions, and to establish control over the mechanisms of production, distribution, energy sources, wages, salaries, credit, and the flow of money”. “Homeland Security Presidential Directive HSPD-20”, signed by President Bush, claims the power to execute procedures for continuity of the federal government in the event of a "catastrophic emergency", construed as "any incident, regardless of location, that results in extraordinary levels of mass casualties, damage, or disruption severely affecting the U.S. population, infrastructure, environment, economy, or government functions." Naturally most of these presidential directives and executive orders are classified, so we really have no idea of what they say the president can or can’t do, and at present even interested congressmen are denied access to them. But an unclassified portion of one directive claims that the president has the power to declare a catastrophic emergency, but does not specify who has the power to declare the emergency over. The signing of these directives were not covered by the media, or discussed by Congress, which has, according to the National Emergencies Act passed in 1976, oversight of presidential emergency powers. On October 1, 2002 the United States Army established it’s “Northern Command”, to provide command and control of Department of Defense homeland defense mission, and to coordinate the DoD support of civil authorities. Again, the Army is supposed to handle whatever situation, not some sort of presidential Preatorian Guard. What’s interesting here is that Congress has over the years delegated much of it’s authority to the office of the president, with no oversite or “checks and balances” in place, and I have yet to see anything in the Constitution allowing them to do that! It sounds to me as if the White House has pretty well covered everything needed to seize total control of this country and everyone in it, and yet Mr. Obama is now calling for additional federal forces!?

So what are we to think of this “National Police” organization? Perhaps we’re to have our very own Secret Police? Secret police (sometimes called political police) are defined as a government agency which operates in secrecy against internal threats to the state. Such police forces are nearly always associated with totalitarian regimes where they’re used to maintain the “president for life” in political power, and are quite often used to uphold the dictator’s orders by operating above and beyond duly established law. “Secret police” are accountable only to the executive branch, with their operations hidden from the public and most government officials, and are used as instruments of political repression. And we might remember that, after the Ruby Ridge and Waco Texas incidents, and along with the clandestine records keeping and electronic eavesdropping going on, the FBI is considered by many people to be a secret police agency in it’s own right.

Probably the best known secret police organization was the Geheime Staatspolizei (Secret State Police, abbreviated “Gestapo”) organized by the Nazis in 1933. The Gestapo, through its power of arrest and confinement without recourse to law, was the principal means for eliminating any enemies of the Nazi regime. They operated without any restriction by civil authority, which meant that its members could not be tried for any crimes committed in the course of their “police” activities. Under the law, the only appeal of the accused was to the next higher authority within the Gestapo itself. They were given the responsibility of administering the concentration camps, wherein the arrest and commitment to the camps was usually because the person “endangered, by his attitude the existence and security of the people and the State”. This included offenses like "working against the Greater German Reich with an illegal resistance organization," "being a Jew," "suspected of working for the detriment of the Reich," "being strongly suspected of aiding desertion," "because as a relative of a deserter he is expected to take advantage of every occasion to harm the German Reich," "refusal to work," "sexual intercourse with a Pole," "religious propaganda," "working against the Reich," "loafing on the job," or "defeatist statements." Concentration Camps huh… Well, at least we don’t have to worry about that… or do we?

While the stories are impossible to properly confirm or deny, reports abound that a number of internment camps have been established, and are ready to detain citizens if mass insurrections occur. These reports come from a wide range of sources, both from the far right, and even from members of the US Congress! Rep. Paul Broun (R-Ga.) declared that the government “might use a pandemic disease or national disaster as an excuse to declare martial law.” (I’ve noticed that the government is threatening us with a Swine Flu epidemic this fall…) In his September 2008 newsletter, Rep. Ron Paul (R-Tex.) stated “Even though we know that detention facilities are already in place, [the government] now wants to legalize the construction of FEMA camps on military installations using the ever-popular excuse that the facilities are for the purposes of a national emergency.” Legislation introduced by Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-Fl.) would have the DHS establishing at least half a dozen national emergency centers for large-scale imprisonment of American citizens on military installations in a Guantanamo-style setting… after martial law is declared. To counteract these charges, some claim the “renovated military bases” will simply be used to hold illegal aliens. The Idaho Observer recently reported that “… it was revealed that Halliburton subsidiary, Kellogg, Brown & Root (KBR), had received a $385 million contract to build detention facilities ‘for an emergency influx of immigrants.’” Halliburton? It figures.Claiming that these camps are to hold illegal immigrants doesn’t make much sense either, considering that the government is so “undocumented immigrant” friendly. More likely detainees would be tax protesters and those deemed “extremists” and “enemies of the state” by the recent DHS report about “homegrown right-wing terrorists.” I’ve personally seen the rather disturbing U.S. Army advertisement recruiting soldiers who might be interested in becoming ‘internment / resettlement’ specialists. The job description is “Internment/Resettlement (I/R) specialists in the Army are primarily responsible for day-to-day operations in a military confinement/correctional facility or detention/internment facility.” That’s normally not a military job that needs much recruiting, as there isn’t much call for those troops, and the position is usually filled by regular Military Police personnel. With that, I’ve also seen pictures of what are reported to be the prison railcars, again built by Halliburton, to be used to transport “detainees” to the camps.

Is all this for real, or is it nothing more than another panicky conspiracy theory? Personally I don’t know, and I guess I won’t know until it happens. But remember, the US Government has a history of illegally imprisoning dissidents that goes clear back to 1836, and Mr. Obama did quite plainly tell us that he planned to “Change America”. He just didn’t say what he and the far left intend to change us to… And remember that government, no matter how well intentioned it may claim to be, is inherently the enemy of freedom.

A lot of European Jews disbelieved the rumors of Nazi evils, right up to the point they were being herded into the gas chambers.

Pride

Somewhere along the line, the idea of going to Congress to serve the country for a couple of terms has changed into going off to Congress as self serving long term career politicians. With that, politics have become increasingly polarized into left and right; conservative and liberal; with only a few middle of the road politicians representing those who see themselves as moderates. Fortunately, there are sometimes a few notable exceptions to this general rule. However, far too many recent members of Congress fall into the category of "gutless wonders", and it’s totally amazing to me that these clowns can keep getting re-elected! From what I’ve seen and read lately, there is less respect for members of Congress today than there is for lawyers or used car salesmen, because of their embarrassing antics, chronic misbehavior, elitist attitudes, and constant bowing down to what has become an imperial presidency! Still, with a little effort Congress could restore the Republic and accomplish just about anything else it set its mind to. But here the question is, will Congress ever again work as a unified political body rather than as a mob of self centered special interest supporters? After all, our political system is supposed to be about what is best for America and American citizens, and not necessarily what’s best for illegal aliens, petty South American dictators, or perhaps even Toyota!

I also find it quite disturbing that we don't seem to be making anything in North America anymore. A quick check through nearly any store will reveal that most of the products for sale are cheap made-in-China junk that self-destructs within a few weeks of purchase. Even NASA buys rocket engines from Russia, the Air Force buys tanker planes from Europe, the Marines buy armored vehicles from Canada, and the Army buys machine guns from Belgium. “Cash for Clunkers” saw a big boost in auto sales… for Toyota and Nissan. Our Electronics come from Asia, as do most of our clothes. American auto parts are… made in Mexico. Buy a steak at the grocery store, and chances are that the beef came from Argentina or Australia! There was a time when we had confidence in our society and our beliefs, which was reflected in our institutions, our manufacturing, and in our inventiveness. We were confident, strong, proud, mostly self supporting, and not afraid to say so. Yet today it seems we are ashamed of ourselves, and want to apologize to the world for who we are and what we have accomplished (I won't mention any names here), which amounts to little more that national suicide! One quite important reason to produce our own products is called "NATIONAL SECURITY", the antithesis of globalization. Sure, we have the knowledge and technical skills to do most anything, but where is the manufacturing capability? When our leadership comes back to the realities of national pride, strong borders, take no crap - give no excuses, protect our citizens, and live by the "Walk Softly and Carry A Big Stick" attitude we will be much safer as a nation. Why is it that we have the resources and the know-how to be almost completely self-sufficient, yet we steadily send our jobs and our money overseas… and import their oil? Our armed forces are ready, willing, and able to defend this nation, yet it appears that our government can’t get its national defense act together no matter what… why is that? What caused this rapid deterioration in the American national character?

There was a time when we were all “Americans”, primarily of European Celtic-Germanic-Norse stock, and that did included a hefty mix of other “races” as well. But today, with rampant illegal immigration, and of course the loony left’s politically correct “diversity”, we’ve happily become a hodge-podge of African-Americans, Mexican-Americans, Asian-Americans, Arabic-Americans, and lord only knows what else. All these hyphenated groups cling to their perceived “national identity” complete with language, social mores, mode of dress, national allegiance, and even their criminal gangs! America, and the few “American-Americans” remaining, are rapidly becoming a shrinking minority! It appears we have a poison flowing through our national character and our politics. We not only disagree with each other more than ever, but have almost come to detest one another. Politically, culturally, racially, we seem ever ready to go for each others' throats. Pat Buchanan recently asked “In what sense are we one nation and one people anymore? For what is a nation if not a people of a common ancestry, faith, culture and language, who worship the same God, revere the same heroes, cherish the same history, celebrate the same holidays, and share the same music, poetry, art and literature?” Well, Christmas and Easter once united Americans in a common celebration. Now we fight over whether they should even be mentioned in our public schools! We used to share classical, pop, country & Western and jazz music, now we have varieties tailored to specific generations, races and ethnic groups. One part of America loves her history, another reviles it as racist, imperialist and genocidal. Our old heroes like Columbus, George Washington, and Stonewall Jackson are being replaced by Che Guevara, Dr. King and Cesar Chavez. The American Left has pretty well rewritten our history books, and they are now loaded with PC garbage that makes the Founding Fathers into greedy racist slaveholders, the pioneers into a rapacious mob of outlaws and gunfighters, and of course FDR’s welfare state is turned into our ultimate social triumph. From the Puritans to the Clinton administration, everything is “explained” from a far left view, irregardless of the truth.

In quotes from letters written by fourth-graders in 1976, predicting life in the 'year 2000', there are many of the old images of life in the future as envisioned in that era. But one little girl's thoughts are evidence that the leftist propaganda was being drummed into children's brains fairly successfully by 1976. She wrote “The government will pay every person as much as they want without them having to work.” Another thought is that these children would now be in their mid-40’s. I wonder if they still believe in the government paying every person as much as they want without them working'? If they’re Democrats, I doubt they’ve changed their thinking since the fourth grade.

Are our present difficulties a result of our loss of confidence and optimism, or was it just the constant liberal cries of 'waste!' that caused us to lose interest in the future? Or perhaps the liberals among us feel guilty because we excelled at just about everything we set our hand to, and thus caused the rest of the world to feel envious and resentful? As our social spending increased throughout the seventies and afterward, one wonders what might have been, had we not been pressured into a ''war on poverty''. In retrospect, did all that spending help ''pull people up from poverty'' as promised, or result only in the demand for even more handouts? Meanwhile the kids of the 70s are now middleaged, and having been spoon-fed that leftist pap since birth, is it any wonder we've come to where we are now?

Gadsden Flag

It would seem that the Obamacrats are somewhat angry about the public opposition to Mr. Obama’s ideas of universal health care, which of course I can well understand. Having looked through the proposed universal health insurance system, it is, in my view, nothing more than a European style plan for socializing our medical care nationwide. That however is not the subject of this weeks rant. But rather, the loony left is also upset by the “small yellow flags” being handed out as a symbol of “resistance” at some of the Town Hall Meetings where assorted politicians attempt to convince us that all those expensive ideas are intended to do “what’s good for us”, and of course to “save us from ourselves”.

Those small flags being passed out are copies of the renown “Gadsden Flag”, reputed to be the first flag flown by the fledgling the United States of America. The flag was designed by, and is named after, an American general and statesman, Christopher Gadsden of South Carolina. It was reportedly used by the United States Navy and Marine Corps as their first national banner. There's also an interesting history behind the Gadsden flag, and its diamondback rattlesnake, entwined with one of America’s most outstanding personalities, Benjamin Franklin.

In 1751, Franklin wrote a satirical commentary in his Pennsylvania Gazette suggesting that as a way to thank the British for their policy of sending convicted felons to the colonies, Americans should send rattlesnakes to England. In 1754 he published the first known political cartoon in an American newspaper, which was the image of a snake cut into eight sections, each representing one of the individual colonies. The small New England colonies were combined into one section as the head of the snake, while South Carolina was at the tail. Beneath the snake were the ominous words "Join, or Die", meaning that the colonies must unite politically if they were to survive England’s ministrations. The snake illustration or variations of it were reprinted from Massachusetts to South Carolina, and Franklin's rattlesnake became an early symbol of American national identity.

A merchant ship called the Black Prince returned to Philadelphia in 1775 from a voyage to England, and was carrying letters to the Second Continental Congress informing them that the British government was sending ships to America loaded with munitions for the British troops stationed in the colonies. Congress decided that General Washington needed those arms more than General Howe, and devised a plan to capture the British ships. They authorized the creation of the first Continental Navy, and additionally the mustering of five companies of Marines. Christopher Gadsden was an American patriot leading the Sons of Liberty in South Carolina who was later made a colonel in the Continental Army. In 1775 he was in Philadelphia representing his home state in the Continental Congress. He was also one of the Marine Committee who decided to outfit and man the first Navy ships (one of which was the Black Prince, armmed and renamed “Alfred”).

In December 1775, "An American Guesser" wrote to the Pennsylvania Journal: "I observed on one of the drums belonging to the marines now raising, there was painted a Rattle-Snake, with this modest motto under it, 'Don't tread on me.' As I know it is the custom to have some device on the arms of every country, I supposed this may have been intended for the arms of America." The writer then speculated on why a snake might be chosen as a symbol for America. First, "the Rattle-Snake is found in no other quarter of the world besides America. The rattlesnake also has sharp eyes, and may therefore be esteemed an emblem of vigilance." Furthermore, "She never begins an attack, nor, when once engaged, ever surrenders: She is therefore an emblem of magnanimity and true courage. ... she never wounds 'till she has generously given notice, even to her enemy, and cautioned him against the danger of treading on her." "I confess I was wholly at a loss what to make of the rattles, 'till I went back and counted them and found them just thirteen, exactly the number of the Colonies united in America; and I recollected too that this was the only part of the Snake which increased in numbers. "'Tis curious and amazing to observe how distinct and independent of each other the rattles of this animal are, and yet how firmly they are united together, so as never to be separated but by breaking them to pieces. One of those rattles singly, is incapable of producing sound, but the ringing of thirteen together, is sufficient to alarm the boldest man living." Many scholars agree that this "American Guesser" was Benjamin Franklin.

Congress chose a Rhode Islander, Esek Hopkins, as the first commander of the new Navy. The flag that Hopkins used as his standard was designed by Gadsden, adapted from those yellow drumheads with their fierce rattlesnake, and was presented to Hopkins. It's reported that John Paul Jones, as the first lieutenant aboard the flagship, ran it up the gaff. The Gadsden flag was widely used during the American Revolution as there was no standard flag at that time, which left people free to choose their own banner. After the Revolution, George Washington and many members of Congress preferred stars and stripes to rattlesnakes, and the Gadsden flag, losing official favor, became associated with the spirit of the rebellion and its resistance to tyranny, rather than serving as our national ensign.

Reportedly, a Louisiana driver was recently stopped and detained for having a "Don't Tread on Me" bumper sticker on his car. The "suspect" was held for some time, being investigated for "extremist" activities, and warned about the "subversive" message it sent before he was released. This incident is rather suspicious I’d say, particularly as it occurred shortly after the DHS report warning of “potential terrorists” and political bumper stickers was sent to tens of thousands of law enforcement officers. Still, the report can’t be confirmed, and it does read somewhat like an advertisement for bumper stickers.

But then perhaps I’ll be an extremist as well, and acquire a Gadsden flag with its fierce coiled rattlesnake and defiant ‘Don't Tread on Me’ motto, flying it as a reminder to all that some of us still prefer our liberty and independence, rather than the latest home grown version of communism.