Team Obama has crafted this whole gun issue masterfully. So much so that I’m having a flashback to 9/11 and that state of emergency…
Consider the following list of Executive Orders that Bush signed into law on September 14, 2001.
(The above image shows the Bushes and Obamas at the 9/11 memorial in New York City, a secret place for Chief Executives of the United States, symbolic of just how much power they really have.)
As you read the following list, think to yourself – is this REALLY necessary? Are we reacting to World War III and the invasion of 10 million Chinese and North Koreans along the entire west coast, or to a terrorist event carried out by two dozen jihadists and four commercial jets?
(You know damn well Bush knew the extent of the attack long before he signed these Executive Orders.)
Each Executive Order (number) “allows the government to:”
(10990) .. take over all modes of transportation and control of highways and seaports
(10995) .. seize and control the communication media
(10997) .. take over all electrical, power, gas, petroleum, fuels, and minerals
(10998) .. take over all food resources and farms
(11000) .. mobilize civilians into work brigades under government supervision
(11001) .. take over all health, education, and welfare functions
(11002) .. designates the Postmaster General to operate a national registration of all persons
(11003) .. take over all airports and aircraft, including commercial aircraft
(11004) .. allows the Housing and Finance Authority to relocate communities, build new housing with public funds, designate areas to be abandoned, and establish new locations for populations.
(11005) .. allows the government to take over railroads, inland waterways, and public storage facilities
(11310) .. grants control to operate penal and correctional institutions
(11921) .. gives the Federal Emergency Preparedness Agency control over the mechanism of production and distribution, of energy sources, wages, salaries, credit, and the flow of money in U.S. financial instructions.
I can see the need for controlling all airports and aircraft. That’s where the threat was and there were absolutely no indications the threat was anywhere else. So, why include the entirety of our entire infrastructure?
Are there no limits whatsoever on what the President can do? Personally, I think the whole sense of emergency about all of this shouldn’t be about how to stop gun violence but how to reign in the Chief Executive’s limitless authority.
You can bet these 23 gun control Executive Orders are only the shot across the bow. We have sequestration and the debt ceiling and the annual budget fight coming up. Expect more extreme measures.
Finally, I leave you with the sobering thought: Were any of these executive orders ever revoked? Could you trust any president to sign an executive order revoking them, giving up all that enormous power?
Banzai!
