Obviously, the intent of Bush’s action was to insure the continuity of business and government in the event of a severe natural emergency or an attack like 9/11. Just as was the case with the Patriot Act, our president and federal government greatly overreacted and are guilty of overreaching.
The frightening aspect of NSPD is that it was not temporary and remains on the books today. President Obama embraced this Bush directive and took it to further extremes by creating declared martial law administered by a board of governors who answer directly to the president. The powers of this directive, stated and implied, give a president the tool to declare an emergency and impose martial law, suspend elections, seize property and trample the Posse Comitatus Act and the National Emergency Act of 1976. Although it was virtually unnoticed at the time, Obama declared a national emergency during the October 2011 flu outbreak. What we are continuing to experience with storm Sandy opens the door scarily wide for abuse of presidential powers.
The far-reaching direct and indirect fallout from 9/11, which clearly triggered these directives, will haunt us for ages. Regrettably, the price we will continue to pay in lost liberty and altered lifestyle will be much greater than the 3,000 lives lost and property damage. While 9/11 brought us closer together and made us more vigilant, we must remain on guard to the loss of our freedom at the hands of the highest levels of our government.
James W. Anderson
Talladega
