Mikael Thalen
A document currently circulating through the Washington state government details the attempt to vastly expand Continuity of Government powers by amending the state’s constitution.
Exclusively revealed to Storyleak, the document, entitled “Modernizing State’s Continuity of Operation Planning,” asks State Representatives to pass legislation concerning the government’s ability to implement COG. Spearheaded by the Washington Military Department and the State Auditor’s Office, the document also details the move to add Continuity of Operations planning to state law.
Created at the height of the cold war during the 1960s, the Continuity of Government (COG) program was designed to give the federal government martial law powers in the event of a nuclear attack. Now, states have begun following the federal government’s lead in granting themselves much greater COG abilities.
“Change ‘only enemy attack’ to ‘any emergency, disaster or attack’ in the state’s Continuity of Government Act, as well as the Continuity of Government provisions developed for the Office of the Governor, the legislature, county commissioners and city or town officers,” the document states.
The document also goes on to call for erasing the government’s requirement of bringing the legislative body together no later than 30 days after a disaster or attack, giving the governor the power to keep COG operations ongoing for undetermined lengths.
“Amend the provisions for the governor calling the Legislature into session from ‘as soon as practicable or no later than the 30th day after the attack’ to ‘as soon as practicable,’” the document reads.
Under revised amendments, each state agency, commission and board will be directed to begin developing and practicing a yearly continuity of operations plan.
“COOP is nationally recognized as a critical Continuity of Government component to ensure Washington citizens receive government assistance during emergencies,” the document’s first paragraph details.
While some feel the expansion of COG operations is a simple update, other laws passed in recent years seems to paint a more focused picture, as historically low government approval ratings coincide with increasingly authoritarian legislation.
President Obama’s extension of the National Defense Resources Preparedness executive order last year, which allows the government to completely take over all manufacturing, food, transportation and water resources in the event of any stated emergency, whether legitimate or not, followed several unprecedented law changes.
The 2012 and 2013 National Defense Authorization Act, signed by President Obama, not only declared the entire United States a battlefield in the never-ending war on terror, but granted the US government the ability to kidnap and detain any American citizen without charge or trial indefinitely.
H.R. 347, also known as the “Federal Restricted Buildings and Grounds Improvement Act of 2011,” was updated to more easily impose felony charges on citizens who protest at any location or event attended by anyone with secret service protection.
Recent revelations, such as the leaked FM 3-39.40 Internment and Resettlement Operations document, clearly outline the federal government’s plan to detain and “re-educate” political activists in military internment camps during times of unrest.
Military drills on the streets of America, which include unannounced machine gun fire from helicopters over busy city streets, have begun fueling debate over the government’s plans for the future.
With some of the world’s leading financial experts predicting the worst economic woes ahead of us, which are admittedly being carried out by design, the update to allow COG implementation over financial disruptions leaves little room for debate.
Now, the same government demanding increasing powers to protect citizens during disasters is stockpiling billions of rounds of ammunition while spending millions on paper shooting targets of pregnant woman and children. Unsurprisingly, the same government admittedly spying on mainline Americans, now deemed the main terrorist threat, is also unwilling to handle even the slightest disaster.
If Hurricane Katrina is any guide, the federal government’s main objective will be confiscating the guns of law-abiding citizens while others desperately wait for food and water. If Americans are lucky like New Yorkers, they will be greeted by “closed due to weather” FEMA signs instead of gun-confiscating soldiers during their next major disaster.
This post originally appeared at Story Leak
Criminal is a Criminal does. Beware the tyranny that is coming to your hometown.