Privatize Me, Corporatize Me, Blackwaterize Me...

As some have written and conjectured, the Posse Comitatus Act (passed by Congress during Reconstruction to prevent the government from using the military to enforce civilian law) is in serious jeopardy of going the way of the dinosaurs. Signs of ill portent for the Act are its statutory rather than Constitutional nature (leaving it much more vulnerable to legislative changes), the federal government's use of the military to fight the "War on Drugs" along America's borders, the precedent set by the deployment of Blackwater's military proxies in New Orleans, and the Bush Regime's repeated statement of its intention to rely heavily upon the military in times of domestic crisis (i.e. during future hurricanes, a potential outbreak of Avian Flu). Unfortunately, Posse Comitatus affords the American public about as much protection from martial law (at the whim of our deranged president) as the levees provided New Orleans from the ravages of Katrina. In a time that is roughly comparable to that of the Gilded Age, corporations and the wealthy elite in the United States revel in their virtually unparalleled power and wealth. Labor unions, whose membership peaked at 35% of the hourly wage force in the 1950's, now comprise less than 10% of the US work force. The wealth gap continues to widen to devastating proportions as the middle class slowly disappears. Statistically, unemployment is relatively low, but many of those who are working are under-employed or working multiple jobs just to make ends meet. As the wealthy elite continue to tighten the screws by raising regressive taxes and lowering progressive taxes, lowering wages and benefits for the working class, off-shoring jobs, and cutting social programs, the threat of riots and social unrest becomes real. Hence the Bush Regime's moves to lay the foundation for declaring martial law and the rising fortunes of companies providing private military forces, like Blackwater. Blackwater provides an interesting solution to the Bush Regime's dilemma in satiating its desire to employ martial law covertly. Despite their Social Darwinism, America's leaders prefer to maintain the illusion of "democracy and freedom" to keep the masses pacified. Just as they did in New Orleans, the federal government can now utilize the paramilitary employees of a company such as Blackwater to replace the overt presence of the US military. Rumsfeld, Chertoff, and company demonstrated that they can deploy a domestic military presence "under the radar", enabling them to side-step potential public backlash and legal challenges. Their reach is global and they are not your average "civilians" Here is what Blackwater has to say about itself on its Website at http://www.blackwaterusa.com/: We have established a global presence and provide training and operational solutions for the 21st century in support of security and peace, and freedom and democracy everywhere. Blackwater's global presence includes Iraq, where the murder of four of their employees triggered the US military's vengeful attack on Fallujah in which it committed heinous war crimes and atrocities against hundreds of Iraqi civilians. Why the four Blackwater contractors were near Fallujah the day of their deaths remains unclear. The mainstream media, Blackwater and the US government claim that they were on security detail protecting a food delivery. However, some suggest that the claims of protecting a food caravan were a ruse to cover the fact that Blackwater employees were completing a military operation. While the facts remain unclear, it is certain that the mainstream media's portrayal of the Blackwater victims as "civilian contractors" was significantly inaccurate. http://civillibertarian.blogspot.com/.

Note: http://www.blackwaterus... http://civillibertarian...