Future of the Posse Comitatus Act

The AP reports that the Senate has confirm Air Force Gen. Hayden to be the new Director for the Central Intelligence Agency.

For details, click here: AP News Article

Gen. Hayden is an active duty officer in the United States Air Force. He has never indicated that he'd be willing to resign his commission to become DCI. The White House is not on record as questioning his active duty status. There seems to be no opposition on Capitol Hill to his active duty status.

In the past, it's been an unwritten tradition that military personnel retire before becoming the head of a Federal agency. Before Mr. Hayden, there have been five retired career officers to hold the post of DCI.

Does the deliberate appointment of an active duty officer signal a shift in Federal policy that might result in ammendment or termination of the Posse Comitatus Act?

Posse Comitatus Act of 1878

There's a chance that we could be seeing the early stages of a new form of power grab. It's not really all that new since I and many authors like me have written about it, but, it could be actually happening right in front of us.

Under the Constitution, the military is subordinate to the civilian government. Putting ative duty officers in charge of Federal agencies could, in the long run, result in a centralization of power that's just too dangerous for us to ignore. If we do not see Hayden's appointment challenged in court, we'll know that this was very likely the intention of the people who nominated him for the job.

I'm not convinced that this is the start of a long and drawn out military coup, but I'm willing to hear the arguement. The stage appears to be set for a civilian power grab that takes advantage of the military's Constitutional role.

Sir,

Check out my posting submitted today:

www.abovetopsecret.com...

It proves your hunch more than correct and helps to show the cause. It proves that War was called for in order to destroy the lives of CONSTITUTIONAL TROOPS, so that the others can install tyranny against us. Only certain troops were selected for the front lines by infiltrator generals and commanders who have been trained in the beliefs of major American enemies.

All this is discussed on my website:

www.seventh-dayadventism.com...

The purpose of the Patriot Act is to record the words and thoughts of the American citizens to then form an Inquisition against them in the future. On the website is a dialogue with someone who attacked us because we opposed the Patriot Act, telling us we are terrorists for working to tie the hands of the government to save this country from terrorists. Later on he slipped up and commented smugly that America is already fallen because of its own inadequacies and that it is hopeless to save it now.

As you may know, certain members of Congress are bent out of shape that Federal police were used to apprehend Representative Jefferson after a $100,000 sting operation. A very cranky Speaker of the House (Hastert) demanded to know why the "problem" wasn't handled by the investigative arm of the Captol Police. As part of his effort to put a lid on the situation, he pursuaded the courts to seal the evidence against Mr. Jefferson for 45 days.

The whole thing smacks of a cover-up. It's true that the FBI broke an unwritten rule when they "crossed the line" to bust Rep. Jefferson, but, the fact is...his crime was committed in their jurisdiciton, on their watch, and through one of their monitored undercover agents. the only real beef that House and Senate leaders seem to have is the complaint that they didn't get a chance to clean up their own mess.

The Capitol Hill PD is loyal to the government. Bear in mind that this is NOT the Senate PD, which is a seperate unit. You may remember that the Captiol cops did a bang-up job covering for Representative Kennedy after he had his little accident at 3 AM. That particular cover-up would not have been possible if the arrest had been made by a civilian police officer.

This takes me back to the matter of Gen. Hayden. If it becomes possible for our career politicians to put loyal followers in to high office, it will only be a matter of time beforethey remove us from the equation altogether. In time, the government will no longer be answerable to us.

As we prepare for the 2006 hurricane season, it's not out of line to suggest that President Bush may consider putting an active duty career military officer in charge of FEMA. The "Hayden precident" should be enough for White House laywers to defend the decision.

A sitting Presidentw ould NOT have to fill his/her cabinet with career military officers to abuse this loop hole in the current rules. It's enough that the intelligence community is being muzzled. We should look for this predicent to be abused again later in the year, when the NSA directorship is up for grabs.

Any President or political party that could control the content and flow of intelligence data t othe private sector would gain a new degree of power that past leaders have never had.

They've been disregarding Posse Comitatus since before the ink was even dry. Its probably one of the most ignored laws in our country.

I am starting to figure that out. It now seems that the rush is on to completely negate this law. I now expect some ammendment to the Posse Comitatus to be put in pace by Congress this summer as the hurricane season unfolds. Most likely it will involve the National Guard deployments in to badly hit areas. The feeling among lawmakers may very well be that they should have the legal power to arrest looters.

Couldn't Bush just claim it doesn't apply to him. Maybe he could include it in a signing statement that it does not apply to GW Bush in any way shape or form. It's so nice to have a Constitution that only applies when and where the executive branch deems it does. Now that checks and balances for you.

It does not surprise me that Gen. Hayden was confirmed as CIA Director. I still wonder if they even took his associations in the same circles as Kyle "Dusty" Foggo and Jack Abramoff seriously. However, I believe that the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878 was violated.

Gen. Hayden has too many conflicts of interests. As CIA Director, anyone he appoints will be under suspect. Anything he does will be under suspect. And anything he says will be laced with the attitudes of his cronies in the military. If military loyalty is what it is, he is not going to break those ties in a civilian job. He's going to continue them and use them especially on certain missions, law or no law.

Who here thinks Gen. Hayden wouldn't?

I think no one in this government is above getting their hands dirty. I think they're way in the quicksand of lawlessness now and there's no pulling them out of it.



[edit on 1-6-2006 by ceci2006]

Originally posted by ceci2006

I think no one in this government is above getting their hands dirty. I think they're way in the quicksand of lawlessness now and there's no pulling them out of it.

I think you are right. It took me a long time to put all the pieces together, but I do believe this "trend" has been in effect for quite some time. Ultimately, that's why I published.

Near as I can tell, we are within two years of seeing the end of the Posse Comitatus. My speculation is that this summer's hurricane season will play some role in the "decision." I think they've already made up their minds, and they're just waiting for the opportunity to show itself without too much behind-the-scenes engineering.

It's really quite brilliant when you stop to think about it. With a little spin, they'll make us want what they already plan to do to us. Hayden's appointment is the barometer for this one. If he's not challenged in court by the end of this year, you'll know that the fix is in for the Posse Comitatus. Look for the next President to ask for a "restructuring" or a "modernization."

The 2006 hurricane season is now officially under way. As FEMA performs badly...again...we may very well see a drive to put that agency under military leadership. By this, I mean they may very well appoint an active duty military office to run that agency. Now that there seems to be no resistence to the idea, it would be just one more way for the inner circle that runs Washington to enhance their power.

Didn't a Coast Guard officer take control of FEMA during Katrina ?

You are referring to Gen. "don't get stuck on stupid" Honor-ay (sp). He was given temporary authority to coordinate relief efforts in and around New Orleands. He was not at any time in charge of any Federal agency. Whilst the Coast Guard boss was trucking around Lousiana, Michael "I need a haircut" Brown was in charge of FEMA.

There have been no legal challenges to the Hayden appointment, so it would seem possible for an active duty Coast Guard officer to be nominated to run FEMA. You laugh, but that might happen if this year's hurricane season gets really bad.

The implications are significant.