I Was Just Kidding!

September 24, 2005 Anti-War Rally in Washington, D.C.
Photo: Rick McKay, Cox Washington Bureau

I was just kidding, no seriously, I was just kidding.

On July 17th, The White House quietly announced an Executive Order entitled "Blocking Property of Certain Persons Who Threaten Stabilization Efforts in Iraq." This order, among other things, gives Bush the power to "block" the property of people in the US found to "pose a significant risk of committing" an act of violence which might undermine "political reform in Iraq".

The terms "significant threat" and "act of violence" are unclear. If you attend a demonstration against Bush’s definition of "political reform in Iraq", as the tens of thousands of people in the above picture are doing, would that count? How about writing a letter or blog posting against the war?

The order also makes illegal "the making of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services by, to, or for the benefit of any person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to this order." What if you donate to an anti-war group which, outside of your knowledge, has been blacklisted by the government? Does that mean that your property can be “blocked”?

Here is the press release.

Here is something I blogged a couple of days ago, before I was aware of this executive order. And the money quote is: "Rove knows that one big event that is perceived as a military challenge to America can erase all the accumulated negative perceptions of Bush for enough time to ride the next Republican presidential candidate through an election cycle (or according to the worst fears of some, suspend the elections based on Executive Branch emergency powers that Bush has been incrementally accumulating through executive orders and with the consent of Congress.)"

It is not about what is good for our country, it is about keeping the power. And it appears the Republicans have a play book that makes the Democrats look like squabbling children. On a local level, look at how Mel Hancock's changed stance on term limits will be used. Here are some reactions to the SNL Tony Messenger's article and his blog:
"Hancock and the rest of the Republicans wanting to end term limits are hypocrites. These frauds don'[t care about lobbying and government jobs - they now have the incumbancy and want to keep it by ending the term limits that got them the majority." Posted by: Casino on Sat Jul 21, 2007 10:24 am

"Its ironic that when Democrats were in control Mr. Hancock wanted term limits. Now that term limits endangers potentially safe and powerful Republicans when the state is in Republican control, suddenly its a bad idea." Posted by: vampireduck on Sun Jul 22, 2007 1:29 pm