"Shocking" is a strong word.
If this is legislation passed by the Bush administration, however, then no doubt it's disturbing. Shocking may be appropriate, but don't let the
vocabulary create unnecessary trepidation.
One has to wonder on what basis (i.e., with what prompting) this administration would feel the need to create provisions for a state of emergency
necessitating Martial Law that was not necessary when the greatest attack on our soil took place in September 2001. What about the aftermath, which
included anthrax attacks at several media and political headquarters in this same year?
Are they expecting a ragtag group of middle-easterners, who pulled off their last heist with box cutters, to make a quantum leap and procure a nuclear
weapon (or weapons) and to detonate it within the continental U.S.?
So what? I'm not being insensitive, I'm being real. These guerrillas, which in the worst case scenario is what they are, are not going to be able to
do enough damage to necessitate Martial Law in this country - even if they had several nuclear weapons.
The hype and disproportionate fear associate with "NUCLEAR WEAPONS" has been propagated by the United States government as a carte blanche for every
criminal and unconscionable activity that they have engaged in since the advent of this terrible technology.
The movies that depict a world devastated by a nuclear explosion are just that - movies! These are dramatic embellishments of definitely destructive
explosive devices, but are greatly exaggerated.
If we don't get a handle on the reality of this situation we're bound to let this government have their way, which means taking away the absolutely
last vestige of our freedoms - not by force, but by psychological manipulation. Believe me, force will not work in this country. If this government is
misguided enough to believe this, then they do so at their own peril.
Not one citizen in this country should be under this mistaken impression. If you are, stand behind me, because I'll be ready to go should it come to
this. I'm not speaking as a patriotic American; I'm speaking as a human being facing a despotic rule attempting to subdue a populace seeking to
protect their own countrymen, and god-given freedoms.
Reel it in a little, people. Look at the real
force of a nuclear explosion, and try
to get a handle on how many of these devices that terrorists would need to use to effect conditions necessitating a state of national Martial Law.
Does implementing a state of Martial Law seem slightly disproportionate to one, maybe two three-and-a-half mile explosions? Does it seem more of a
control tactic in response to an angry and refractory public who is clearly tired of this administration's reckless behavior? I say it's the
latter.
This report is a scare tactic. If the United States government enacted Martial Law they would be effecting their own demise. These reports are scare
tactics; a program that this administration has used to good effect without having to apply real force, for decades.
We don't need to worry about Martial Law - our government does. For if this were to actually become a reality this government would be overthrown and
a new rule put in place - a rule of the people.
To me, reports like this should only increase the fire of resentment this citizenry feels toward this administration. This is not a government trying
to protect its citizens from outside threats - it is a government trying to protect itself from its citizens. We need to begin reading these reports
as such.
To anyone alarmed by legislation, and articles spreading these reports, instead of allowing these articles create fear, let them create their
opposite; strength and resolve.
This administration survives on creating and perpetuating fear - "terror!" This is the one and only tool they have to keep the populace in check.
It's a paper tiger. It's only as effective as we let it be.
I heard a terrific summation of this government's policy, and that is that it has attempted to create solidarity in a country by creating an
enemy/foe (e.g., terror, or terrorism, fear, etc.), which it now has to feed and keep alive if it wishes to maintain its own power, and the solidarity
of its citizens.
The problem is that this commonality is based on a lie, and that lie is falling apart around this administration. This is just the natural result - it
is inherent - in a fabrication of this sort.
It is a flawed policy, and its days are coming to an end. The goal was never to have to implement Martial Law - only to create the perception of the
possibility as a last resort. It's a threat, but the threat can never work in practice. To believe as much is madness; fortunately, this madness only
exists in the administration who lives by such a policy - not in its citizens.
I am of the firm belief that there are forces beyond any government on this planet, for those with eyes to see and ears to hear, who are taking part
in these times of great strife and change. Nuclear weapons and war are not going to be a part of our future. The time for these things has come and
gone.
We are moving into a different future, one without fear or war. One indication of this new reality is the terrific solidarity the citizens of the
United States share in opposition to an administration gone wild. This administration is responding in fear - in a reactionary way- to this massive
call for an end to this insanity.
There is no legislation, and there are no weapons to quell a fire such as this once it is lit. And it's lit, so whatchoo gonna do now?