The Posse Comitatus Act was passed in 1878 in response to the Union Army’s occupation of the Confederate states following the Civil War, and prohibited the deployment of US troops within the borders of the United States. Having never met a law or constitutional stipulation that he liked, George Bush is working hard to deploy up to 20,000 US troops within the United States borders.

Posse Comitatus has interfered with government plans in the past and has been whittled away over time, for example permitting the use of military assets in the so-called “war on drugs”. But this is a wholesale overturn of the act under the guise of “disaster preparedness”. Once again, the specter of 9/11 is being used to undermine the constitution and our civil protections.

Our already overstretched military will now be deployed within the United States “just in case” there are multiple simultaneous mass terrorist attacks. Doesn't that sound reassuring? Now you can relax in the knowledge that after the bombs go off, the US military will be there to shoot anyone walking around after curfew. You can read all the details here. 

Let's hope that these and other similar illegal and anti-constitutional activities will be scaled back or canceled after January 21, 2009.