"Since March 9, 1933, the United States has been in a state of declared national emergency

"Since March 9, 1933, the United States has been in a state of declared national emergency....Under the powers delegated by these statutes, the President may: seize property; organize and control the means of production; seize commodities; assign military forces abroad; institute martial law; seize and control all transportation and communication; regulate the operation of private enterprise; restrict travel; and, in a plethora of particular ways, control the lives of all American citizens."

"A majority of the people of the United States have lived all of their lives under emergency rule. For 40 (now 63) years, freedoms and governmental procedures guaranteed by the Constitution have, in varying degrees, been abridged by laws brought into force by states of national emergency....from, at least, the Civil War in important ways shaped the present phenomenon of a permanent state of national emergency." -
Senate Report, 93rd Congress, November 19, 1973clearing the proposal for President Gerald Ford’s signature on
September 14.57
As enacted, the National Emergencies Act consisted of five titles. The first of
these generally returned all standby statutory delegations of emergency power,
activated by an outstanding declaration of national emergency, to a dormant state two
years after the statute’s approval. However, the act did not cancel the 1933, 1950,
1970, and 1971 national emergency proclamations because these were issued by the
President pursuant to his Article II constitutional authority. Nevertheless, it did
render them ineffective by returning to dormancy the statutory authorities they had
activated, thereby necessitating a new declaration to activate standby statutory
emergency authorities.http://www.fpc.state.gov/documents/organization/6216.pdf

I personally think that people should be encouraged to smoke celebratory bong hoots when assholes like Strom Thurmond, Agosto Pinochet, Jerry Falwell, and Suharto get their one-way tickets to Hell.

Fuck each and everyone of 'em for making our lives difficult. :smoke:

that happened to them and their neighbors.

Regarding what is known as a State of National Emergency, Paula Demers writes: "According to the United States Constitution, Article 1, only Congress shall make federal law. However, since the War and Emergency Powers Act of 1933, every president has usurped lawmaking powers. Their 'laws' are called Executive Orders (EOs). These EOs, not our Constitution, are what is governing America today. The War and Emergency Powers Act enables ... the president to declare a national emergency, and thereby become a dictator."<1>

"Presidents can also carefully choose their words and declare a war on anything, in order to give them dictatorial control. For example, the War on Drugs makes it possible to use federal authorities, such as FBI, FEMA, BATF, and the military against American citizens. A well-known example is Waco. Another example is Hurricane Opal. After Florida was declared a nation emergency, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) arrived on the scene and residents were placed under marshal law (restricted to the point of not going outside their door). When the federal government does this, it is going against the Constitution. The War and Emergency Powers Act is an unconstitutional act on the part of our government, created so that presidents can bypass Congress, and do whatever they choose."<2>

"It also makes it possible to do away with posse comitatus in cases of 'emergency'. Posse comitatus is what protects American citizens from the military being used against them."<3> http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=National_Emergency_of_March_9%2C_1933