Is there a secret presidential succession plan?

[KamaAina]

http://www.slate.com/id/2195384

New Yorker writer Jane Mayer's new book, The Dark Side, opens with a shocker. Apparently sometime in the 1980s, President Ronald Reagan issued a "secret executive order" that in the event of the death of the president and the vice president "established a means of re-creating the executive branch." Reagan's order violated the express terms of the Constitution and governing statutes.

Does a similar order exist today? We aren't told. But we do know that Dick Cheney participated in the secret "doomsday" exercises under the Reagan order, and given his central role at present, it is imperative for Congress to find out....

When confronting these competing claims, it would be the military that would call the shots. As the Washington Post reported three years ago, the Pentagon has "devised its first-ever war plans for guarding against and responding to terrorist attacks in the United States, envisioning 15 potential crisis scenarios and anticipating several simultaneous strikes around the country." In acting on these plans, would the Joint Chiefs choose to recognize the constitutional authority of Pelosi as commander in chief? Or would they respond to the commands of the executive official presiding over the "doomsday" crisis center at some "undisclosed location"? To ask the question is to answer it: The whole point of these "doomsday" exercises is to assure instant obedience to the will of the executive on the other side of the hot line. We are staring at a clear and present danger to the republic....

Despite the administration's repeated acts of lawlessness, I must confess to a certain naivete. It never occurred to me that Bush didn't care how Congress responded to the problem because he had issued a secret executive order that took the law into his own hands. After all, when he issued a public directive on the matter on continuity in government in 2007, he explicitly pledged to act "consistent" with the Presidential Succession Act. At the same time, however, his directive refers to a secret appendix. And as Ron Rosenbaum pointed out in Slate, even members of the House Committee on Homeland Security have been denied access to the document.

:scared: :scared: :scared:

[shadowknows69]

1. Wasn't this the plot to the TV series "Jericho"?

[TNOE]

2. A Shadow Government

was created after 9/11. But of course, nothing is known about it that I know of.

It is later revealed that only hours after the 9/11 attacks, a US “shadow government” is formed. Initially deployed “on the fly,” executive directives on continuity of government in the face of a crisis that date back to the Reagan administration are put into effect. Approximately 100 midlevel officials are moved to underground bunkers and stay there 24 hours a day. Presumably among them are a number of FAA managers, members of a designated group of “shadow” managers, who slip away from their usual activities around midday. Officials rotate in and out of the shadow government on a 90-day cycle. While the measure is initially intended only as a temporary precaution, due to further assessment of the risk of terrorism, the White House will decide to make it a permanent feature of “the new reality.” A senior official tells CNN that major factors are the concern that al-Qaeda could have gained access to a crude nuclear device, and the “threat of some form of catastrophic event.” However, this same official will admit that the US has no confirmation, and “no solid evidence,” that al-Qaeda has such a nuclear device, and says that the consensus among top US officials is that the likelihood of this is “quite low.” When the existence of the shadow government is later revealed, some controversy will arise because it includes no Democrats. In fact, top congressional Democrats will remain unaware of it until journalists break the story months later.
Entity Tags: United States, US Congress
Timeline Tags: Complete 911 Timeline, 9/11 Timeline, Civil Liberties
http://tinyurl.com/5j5ex7

[shadowknows69]

4. I had nothing to do with it

[mod mom]

3. Congress MUST demand answers to this!

[TheWatcher]

7. Congress can't even represent the People at this point.

The only thing they are going to demand is another raise.

I wouldn't put too much faith in them stopping anything. If anything they only thing they will stop is any accountability or enforcement of the Rule Of Law toward this administration for the crimes they continue to commit.

[RB TexLa]

5. If it ever gets to the Speaker of the House, whoever Sec. of State is will challenge that law

and in my opinion win as members of congress can not be "officers of the United States," and can not serve as acting president.

[tammywammy]

10. It's in the Constitution

It's not an arbitrary law Congress just made up. If Sec of State challenged it would be thrown out.

[Island Blue]

6. Remember when Reagan was shot,

and Alexander Haig said "I'm in control here" and everyone kind of laughed at him - maybe he really was. :scared:

[cloudbase]

8. I don't think it's a problem.

Military officers swear to uphold the constitution, and there is more honor among this group than in the entire congress. If need be, they'll do the right thing.

[Clear Blue Sky]

9. I'm sure such plans are in place.

Wiser to have them in place before they are needed than to try to cobble something together amidst chaos after the fact. Congress can exert it's oversight if capable, though they have trouble finding their asses using both hands.