Re: [privacy] Bush and Martial Law

["Brian Loe" <knobdy () gmail com>]

On 10/31/06, Valdis.Kletnieks () vt edu <Valdis.Kletnieks () vt edu> wrote:
> On Tue, 31 Oct 2006 08:35:31 CST, Brian Loe said:
> > On 10/31/06, Valdis.Kletnieks () vt edu <Valdis.Kletnieks () vt edu> wrote:
> > > Odd.  I thought it turned out that the governor *did* call Washington
> > > and ask for help.
> >
> > By every account I've read, you're wrong.
> ...
> > I recall correctly, the governor didn't call until the next day!!! For
>
> So which is it?  All the accounts you read said the gov didn't call,
> or you recall the gov called the next day?

Its exactly as I said it. She didn't call until AFTER it was too late
for IMMEDIATE action. The work was already begun, of course, but the
red tape requires the governor to ask for help.

> And note that if the gov called "the next day", that means that *somebody* had
> a 24 hour heads up to say "Holy bleep, the levee broke, this can't be good" and
> start getting guardsmen ready to move. Getting guardsmen alerted when the levee
> broke so they can move "3 hours after the gov calls the next day" shouldn't be
> a big challenge.

The levee didn't break until the next day... I'll have to go look, but
I think it was quite a bit of time after the hurricane went through
even. The guardsmen, by the way, WERE gearing up (for one, the
governor is in charge of her state's national guard) but considering
the logistics and staging required... Don't forget too that the mayor
didn't bother to do anything until it was too late - then the best he
could muster was whining.

We can argue the nuances of this case all you want but the point
remains the same - the law only provides for a way for the President
(who could be anyone in 2 years) to act in the case of a national
emergency BEFORE being asked. I'm not *real* comfortable with it, but
that is exactly what was asked for by everyone on both sides of the
aisle.
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