"I would authorize the use of tactical nuclear weapons if there was no other way to preempt those particular centrifuges,"

Said Republican presidential candidate and current US Congressman Duncan Hunter. Of course he wasn't alone in his sentiment, as the Washington Post describes,

Former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani said he believed that the job "could be done with conventional weapons," but he added that "you can't rule out anything and you shouldn't take any option off the table." Former Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore also left "all options are on the table" with regard to Iranian nuclear weapons. Said former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney: "I wouldn't take any options off the table."

And as I stated before, the top-tier Democratic candidates have also vowed to keep "all options on the table."

The language of the major Democratic presidential candidates, unfortunately, is equally clear: just as with Iraq, the law will not restrict our “options” with Iran.

John Edwards: “To ensure that Iran never gets nuclear weapons, we need to keep all options on the table. Let me reiterate -- all options must remain on the table....” (Jan. 22 2007, speaking via satellite to the Herzliya Conference in Israel)

Hillary Clinton: “We cannot, we should not, we must not permit Iran to build or acquire nuclear weapons....In dealing with this threat ... no option can be taken off the table." (International Herald Tribune, Feb. 1, 2007, speaking to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee)

Barack Obama: “I think we should keep all options on the table...” (Feb. 11, 2007, answering "60 Minutes" correspondent Steve Kroft’s question: “Would you advocate the use of military force to keep Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons?”)

It's tempting and reflexive to look away in discussed at the effects that nuclear war has had. But do not. This is what "all options on the table" means. What is this option? William Heaton describes it starkly,

The reason the catastrophe will be so immense is because our nuclear missiles will be vaporizing nuclear sites. When these sites are vaporized, all the enriched uranium and plutonium stockpiled there will be shot into the atmosphere as "weaponized" particles, along with the radioactive particles from the warheads themselves.

These radioactive particles will then be carried eastward by the jet stream and the trade winds across Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the other "stans," to India, China, and Japan – producing what Truman long ago described as "a rain of ruin from the air" the like of which the world has never seen.

For these deadly, life-deforming particles can be absorbed through the skin and inhaled through the lungs. They can also poison all forms of food and water, mother’s milk, and men’s semen. They can even poison people’s tears. Imagine such a thing.

Experts debate what the "blowback" of our nuking Iran will be. I say we shall reap the whirlwind.

As the death clouds created by our missiles move remorselessly across the face of Asia, cities will riot. Whole nations will erupt. Puppet governments from Morocco to Malaysia will fall in a hail of bricks and bullets. American businesses will be burnt to the ground. American tourists will be lynched in the streets. And with Pakistan’s nuclear missiles now in the hands of radiation-poisoned men with dead and dying parents, wives, and children, who knows where the next mushroom clouds will be?

Oh Yeah, did I mention that Bush just signed a presidential directive that gives him dictatorial powers in the event of a 'catastrophic emergency.' What exactly is a catastrophic emergency?

"Catastrophic Emergency" means any incident, regardless of location, that results in extraordinary levels of mass casualties, damage, or disruption severely affecting the U.S. population, infrastructure, environment, economy, or government functions;

Wonderful. Click here for my previous post or here for another or here for the New York Times article and here for more.

John Whitehead elaborates on the troubling developments and our slumbering country. I recommend reading his essay.

On May 9, 2007, with little attention from the snoozing media, George W. Bush issued a "presidential directive" that allows him to assume control of the federal government following a "catastrophic emergency."

In other words, the groundwork has been laid for the president of the United States to do away with our democracy, such as it is, and establish a dictatorship. The president, in effect, has become a power unto himself.

Having said that, I'm aware that I have opened myself up to accusations of paranoia and alarmist sentiment. However, if it is paranoid or alarmist to recognize the potential for abuse and urge Americans to guard against it, then so be it. It's time to sound the alarm.

James Madison, the father of our Constitution, said that Americans should take alarm at the first experiment upon their liberties. But this latest "presidential directive" is not the first attack on our liberties, and I dare say it will not be the last. We'd better open our eyes soon, lest we wake up one morning and find that we live under a new regime. Only, this time, it will be one of our own making.