WATCH: The U.S. Army Prepares to Invade the U.S.

When I first learned about Naomi Wolf's book, The End of America--in which she chronicles America's slide toward becoming a police state, I considered it a well-played game of "what if...?" I regarded it much in the same way that I regarded Alan Weisman's The World Without Us--as a mental exercise exploring alternate realities, which serves to make us more appreciative and better stewards of our own reality.

Sadly, I was mistaken.

The ten steps to fascism that Wolf laid out in The End of America have occurred--all ten--like clockwork. Steps nine and ten occurred recently with the mass arrests of citizens and journalists at the RNC, and October 1st's U.S. military missions against U.S. citizens made possible by the suspension of Posse Comitatus in 2006. (Yes, reinstated later, but a signing statement made by Bush on the law frees him from obeying it.)

This is not an exercise in alternate realities. This is happening in America. With all that we know of human nature, the lessons from history, and the inevitably corrupting effect of power on the human brain, there should be no doubt left in our minds that if all the chess pieces are aligned, it is only a matter of time until checkmate.

So why do we do nothing? As Naomi Wolf points out in this early lecture she gave explaining why she wrote The End of America, many WWII-era German immigrants in this country are able to recall the pre-WWII German population's inaction through disbelief. "This happened in Germany, and we did nothing," Wolf recalls hearing repeatedly.

Much in the same way, I grew up thinking "They won't suspend habeus corpus, this is America." And, "They won't tamper with the voting system, this is America." And, "They won't tap our phone lines, this is America." And, "They won't use the military against us, this is America." But they've all happened. And yet, my kneejerk reaction--even after all these crimes against my freedom and voice as a citizen--is still, "They won't declare martial law, this is America."

Why!? And why is this true for so many fellow Americans? And what's more, why is mentioning these crimes met with scorn and contempt--as though I'm just stirring up trouble.

I'm not crazy. I'm just reading the news! Upon first glance the administration has plenty of excuses it could use to declare martial law: the plummeting economy, a potentially botched election, racists rioting at Palin rallies, domestic terrorists (real or make-believe), even simply not getting its petulant way (as with the bailout, as the video below will point out).

It seems that the folks over at CorbettReport are reading the news as well. They've put together this timely video explaining that the threat of martial law is real, and likely.

So, my fellow Americans, I ask you: What do we do to save our democracy...and our own skin?

J.S. McDougall is the head blogger at Chelsea Green -- a news site and book publisher covering the politics and practice of sustainable living.

Follow J.S. McDougall on Twitter: www.twitter.com/chelseagreen

Comments

[fmmcfarren]

I have been shouting this since 2001! just because I am not a journalist no one pays attention. Naomi Wolf and now JS McDougall are starting to get some traction and respect. I am very worried. Link this with the bailout, the new revelations about FISA abuse with the NSA, there are stories that pop in and out of existence. There was one right after Katrina about the government giving no bid contracts to companies for future mass detention.
This is very scary. I encourage everyone to start making contingency plans. Get a passport, learn about freenet's and encryption. You will need it sooner than you think.
I know this comes across as a "rant" or "crazy", but I assure you I am very sane. Look heed the advice of people shouting a warning, and maybe the worst-case­-scenarios never happen. You loose nothing by preparing.

[martinchill]

i've had this discussion with a neighbor.

the plan to enslave us all depends entirely on the military and police nationwide agreeing to cooperate with the neocon agenda, and then arrest virtually millions of people.

fat chance, i say.

[fmmcfarren]

you mean 18-21 year olds with a GED and no firm understanding of the law would willfully disobey a direct order from their superiors. NCO's who believe they are protecting the country will disobey their commanding officers. Junior officers with limited knowledge of UCMJ and "unlawful" orders, will disobey their CO's because of moral, legal, and constitutional questions.
Are you paying attention at all?

[aslinged]

The question of plausibility is not so simple. Of the 270 million guns in private hands in the US, how many are backed up with sufficient ammo, skill and experience to use them effectively against combat hardened troops----yes, those deployed in our country right now are returning from Iraq tours.

Further, consider the full arsenal of the military including long range microwave weapons, 500lb bombs and bio-weapons. Now add the NSA's techno capacities­----includ­ing access to credit accounts, cash, communications, media circuits including the internet..­...propaga­nda goes a long way in civil clashes, that's why it's used been used in every coup throughout history. It's cheap too.

Finally you've got transportation lines---use state police or national guard to employ a mass embargo aimed at attrition of goods including food, ammo and medical supplies simply by shutting off access to major highway.

LA has a four day supply of food for some 17% of the US population. Now duplicate that in the ten largest cities and count on Blackwater using helicopter extraction for the elites and you've shut down more than half the country. Game over.

It boils down here--it's much easier to just loot the people silently and steal the normal avenues of civic change than to enact martial law. But don't get any ideas that if one doesn't work the other won't be attempted. And then, are you willing to stand up? Or are you assuming others are going to do it for you?

[HeevenSteven]

Right at the two minute mark the narrator in this video said "....through both Republican and Democrat administrations". Democrat party? Anybody else catch that?

[fmmcfarren]

yes. I caught it.. This has always been more about power than ideology. Obama the man, might be above this, but not all of the people around him are.

[BadChristian]

I think it's clear that people have been de-sensitized to urban populations. If the government declared war on American cities, the people chanting "small town values" would be high fiving each other. All the while most commentators want to confuse this urban hatred with any of "ism" they can think of. The "red sea" has been whipped into a frenzy of hatred for "little blue islands," and McCane/Pallin is raising it to new levels.

[Zuzette]

Our faith in America as Facism-proof seems more & more misplaced with every news cycle. Yet another reason to vote for Obama, the only candidate who would find these power grab tactics of the wealthy as appalling as they truely are.

[TheIndependenceParty]

With Credit to David Crosby for "What Are Their Names".

[TheIndependenceParty]

This is timely indeed, and the video is expertly produced, and presents the information calmly and clearly. Thank you for posting it!

When I mention these concerns and others to my progressive and liberal friends and relatives, they scoff. I mention the internment camps and modified prison railcars, and they call me crazy. Would that I thought that I truly was. Does the anger and mob incitement at the McCain-Pailin rallies feed into this? Is it a part of it? Is Paulson withholdng the funds he was authorized to use on the economic debacle, until perhaps the social consequences are allowed to steep? I don't know the answers to these questions. With every word they utter, and every day that passes in which they fail to intervene, I do know that fear increases, and the consequences grow ever more dire.

(David Crosby, Neil Young, Jerry Garcia, Phil Lesh and Michael Shrieve)
[Instrumental (Electric Guitars)]

I wonder who they are
The men who really run this land
And I wonder why they run it
With such a thoughtless hand

What are their names
And on what streets do they live
I'd like to ride right over
This afternoon and give
Them a piece of my mind
About peace for mankind
Peace is not an awful lot to ask

[Instrumental Ending (Electric Guitars)]

[sticksnstones]

I bought and read Naomi Wolf's book two weeks ago. I guarantee, should anyone read this book, that it will change your entire outlook on the state of our nation. The book describes how the USA can and very well may be snatched away from all of us.

[RickO]

I've heard it said that something could come about that would change the course of the 2008 election, either by suspending it altogether or ensuring some other outcome contrary to the will of the voters. The typical trigger would be a major terrorism event but the financial system collapse in progress today is another possible justification. The inexplicable actions of McCain could be part of an orchestrated effort to harden the resolve of the party faithful (the new Brown Shirts) while the larger plan is being rolled out. I still think it's overly paranoid but it sure seems possible. Just read history and you'll see how things like this have been done many many times before.

[BLinCincinnati]

The only major mistake with the plan is the right's insistance on allowing easy gun access to everyone. There are more guns in the hands of citizens than there are in the hands of the remaining military.

[SpoxLogic]

I had a dream a long time ago about something like this. In my dream, a lot of the military folks decided not to follow orders and there was a civil war.