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Shadow Government: Of the Government, By the Government and For the Government by Rick Gee Apologists
for the socialist collective commonly known as the United States of
America (the good ol’ US of A) typically cite security, or protection of
the masses, as a chief justification for the Leviathan State. This
illusion of security continues unabated even after 9/11. Despite the
unmitigated failure of the government’s intelligence agencies—surely a
first-ballot inductee into the Misnomer Hall of Fame—to detect and/or
prevent the calamities, the majority of Americans have decided to roll
over and play dead as the Feds grab ever more power and treasure. This
acquiescence is now called patriotism. First it was another layer of
inefficient and redundant bureaucracy, the eerily Sovietesque Office of
Homeland Security, followed soon by the Orwellian USA PATRIOT Act. The
timing of the annual State of the Union address provided George W. Bush
the opportunity to propose a $48 billion windfall for the Pentagon, most
of which will be spent not on fighting the ubiquitous war on terror, but
rather to pay off defense contractors for obsolete weapons programs that
were designed during the Cold War to fight the Soviet Union. The
wise and prescient Ben Franklin once remarked, “They that can give up
essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither
liberty nor safety.” It’s a lesson that remains mostly ignored. The
promised security never materializes, while the liberty of the individual
inexorably diminishes. Air travelers confront endless lines and degrading
searches while being assured that they are safe now that security
personnel are in the employ of Washington. Considering a national I.D.
card politically unfeasible, the Department of Transportation quietly
directs the Departments of Motor Vehicles in all 50 states to develop
uniform drivers’ licenses complete with biometric identifiers such as
thumb prints or retina scans. Never mind that motivated individuals can
always forge such documents or pay off unscrupulous DMV functionaries.
Also overlook the fact that the alleged perpetrators of 9/11 were in the
country legally and probably carried legal identification. While the government can no more protect you than it can provide education, healthcare or a financially secure retirement, it is proficient at one thing: protecting itself. Recall that President Bush spent most of 9/11 within the confines of Air Force One crisscrossing the nation’s air space. Remember the October Anthrax Scare? Once it hit the Hart Senate Office Building, the pols went scurrying for cover, seemingly unconcerned with the safety of post office workers who presumably had to handle the tainted envelopes before they ever reached Tom Daschle’s office. Vice President Dick Cheney appears in public about as often as Hugh Hefner sleeps alone. Now comes word from the Washington Post that President Bush has executed long-dormant plans for a shadow government, a cadre of government officials that operate secretly in underground bunkers outside Washington. Originally devised to respond to a potential ICBM attack by the Soviet Union, the “Continuity of Operations Plan” was resurrected by Bush in case Al Qaeda sends a martyr (“think about it Habib–eternal life with 72 virgins!”) into DC with a suitcase nuke. Fittingly, the executive branch, which has been successful in tipping the balance of power in its favor ever since Abe Lincoln discarded the Constitution to “save the Union,” did not apprise the other branches of the plan. So much for checks and balances. “There are two other branches of government that are central to the functioning of our democracy,” said Rep. William Delahunt (D-Mass.), a member of the House Judiciary Committee. "I would hope the speaker and the minority leader would at least pose the question, ‘What about us?’” The average American could reasonably ask the same question. “I pay my taxes; where’s my underground bunker?” If at first that sounds absurd, consider the always-expansive cradle-to-grave nanny state that engulfs us. We live in an age when the intelligentsia constantly exalts the munificence of our rulers while looking askance at the voluntary actions of individuals in the free market. It was the latter that brought down the Enron juggernaut, not the federal Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which promises protection for the little-guy investor against Big Bad Business. “OK, your total for this year comes to just $423 million. Come again next year.” So much money, so little to show for it. And that is but one example of countless dozens. According to the Post, the shadow government, referred to as COG (continuity of government) by insiders, “would try to contain disruptions of the nation's food and water supplies, transportation links, energy and telecommunications networks, public health and civil order.” What? The shadow government is going to accomplish something that the regular government cannot? Such hubris on the part of the power elite does not surprise, but it does tend to stir risibilities. It ignores the fact that individuals, acting in their own self-interest in the arena of voluntary choice, can provide all these things just fine without the guiding hand of government. Is this, as New York Times columnist and Keynesian mouthpiece for the state Paul Krugman would say, a “blind faith in the market”? Perhaps, but I’ll put my faith in peaceful exchange over menacing coercion every time. When Bush created the office of Homeland Security via Executive Order last October, he charged the first director Tom Ridge with the responsibility to “review plans and preparations for ensuring the continuity of the Federal Government in the event of a terrorist attack that threatens the safety and security of the United States Government or its leadership.” It’s not securing the homeland that’s important--again, that’s a task that the Empire, with its far-flung presence as global policeman, cannot possibly accomplish. Instead they are principally concerned with their own survival. Maybe that’s wise on their part. Maybe they know deep inside that if a weapon of mass destruction did liquidate every elected politician, appointed official and bureaucrat in Washington, DC, the American people would be just fine. Maybe if the nanny state did collapse under such catastrophic conditions, a period of chaos would ensue, but would be temporary. Once enough people realized that life goes on and the end of the omnipresent State did not result in lawless bedlam, maybe the game would be over. But with a shadow government in place and the complaisant major media still around to manipulate public opinion, those among us who aspire to positions of power so that they may reward their friends and punish their enemies will do everything they can to maintain domination over the sheeple. March 12, 2002 Rick
Gee resides in
paradise, also known as Santa Fe, New Mexico. He writes about liberty, sports,
film and other topics for The Valley
News. In addition to being a Root
Striker, he is a columnist at anti-state.com
and a commentator at LewRockwell.com. |