Today, I came across active duty soldiers on the Portland waterfront. They have been deployed there by the president in order to prepare for any challenges “Little Beirut” may offer up in the near future.
When I first came across the soldiers, I assumed it was some sort of art project, but then came across a tag on one of the soldiers pointing me to WhenJohnnyComesHome. See, recently, President Bush deployed the US Army’s 3rd Infantry’s 1st Brigade Combat Teams to North Com (the United States) to be an on-call federal response force. Yep, remember the Bruce Willis movie The Siege about when US ARMY forces were deployed in NYC? It could actually happen. While the US has used national guard to help out in natural disasters and civil unrest, this use of the US Army is directly against the Posse Comitatus Act.
I’m nervous. Seriously. Portland is one of those cities that is passionate about its politics. I could see shit going down if the election doesn’t go the way people want it to go. If that happens, and Portland Police want help, they can call in the Army. The Army is a broad sword, not a scalpel. That scares the shit out of me.
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Yikes.
Insurrection Act. q.v. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Posse_Comitatus_Act#Exclusions_and_limitations
Bush could always invoke the Insurrection Act as was done during the ‘92 L.A. riots.
q.v. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Posse_Comitatus_Act#Exclusions_and_limitations and
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/09/army_homeland_090708w
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