Emergency Powers. Thank you Patriot Act. {{facepalm}}

Hey, do you want to read something scary? Check this article in The Atlantic: What the President Could Do if He Declares a State of Emergency.

There were provisions in the Patriot Act that enhanced the ability of the president to take drastic measures in case of an emergency or faux emergency. You do not want to be “designated”. The scary thing is that concerned parties will immediately take it to the courts but who knows how long it will take to determine whether the president has abused his powers?

But wait! There’s more:

Due to the government shutdown, the courts will be the next entity to be unpaid. That will happen on Friday.

So, this shutdown looks like it was staged to create the maximum amount of dysfunction, to derail Congress and to impose some harsh autocratic rules.

The networks are doing all of us a disservice if they don’t focus on this tonight.

Here’s a short summary of the article: