Militarizing the Police and FEMA

Hi All,

As Rita bypassed Houston and central Texas slamming instead into the Texas-Louisiana border area, Bush was among the first responders...to San Antonio. There he gave a valiant press statement where he advocated making the military the primary responder to natural disasters. Other Republicans have started making noises about repealing the 130 year old law that prohibits the military from being used a police force inside the United States (a main component of making the military the primary "first resonder"). Even Arlan Specter asked pointedly last week if this law was the reason that the Defense department destroyed evidence that they had collected on Mohammed Atta (in connection to the brewing "Able Danger" story).

So here is the strategy of the New Republican party: Step one) make sure that every federal agency other than the military is incapable of doing its job. Step two) argue that the military take over those jobs. Step 3) ....Trust us.

Folks, I'm not saying that Bush is trying to pull off a coup d'etat, yet. But this is what coups d'etat look like when they happen slowly.