Martial Law, coming to city near you?
The provision, signed into law in October, weakens two obscure
but important bulwarks of liberty.
The newly enacted provisions upset
this careful balance. They shift the focus from making sure that federal laws
are enforced to restoring public order. Beyond cases of actual insurrection, the president may now use military troops as a domestic police force in
response to a natural disaster, a disease outbreak, terrorist attack or to any “other condition.”
Changes of
this magnitude should be made only after a thorough public airing. But these new presidential powers were slipped into the law without hearings
or public debate. The president made no mention of the changes when he
signed the measure, and neither the White House nor Congress consulted in
advance with the nation’s governors.
Jane Smiley asks, if W declared martial law would you laugh?
