In a stealth maneuver, President Bush has signed into law a provision which, according to Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont), will actually encourage the President to declare federal martial law (1). It does so by revising the Insurrection Act, a set of laws that limits the President’s ability to deploy troops within the United States. The Insurrection Act (10 U.S.C.331 -335) has historically, along with the Posse Comitatus Act (18 U.S.C.1385), helped to enforce strict prohibitions on military involvement in domestic law enforcement. With one cloaked swipe of his pen, Bush is seeking to undo those prohibitions. (source: Toward Freedom)

This is starting to feel like the Weimar Republic’s Weimar ConstitutionArticle 48:

In the event a state government failed to fulfil its obligations under the constitution or Reich law, the President could use armed force to compel the state to do so. Furthermore, in the event of a serious threat to public safety or Reich security, the President could take measures — including the use of armed force — to restore law and order, and could suspend civil rights if necessary. The President was required to inform the Reichstag of these measures and the Reichstag could nullify such a presidential decree. (This provision was the infamous Article 48 used by Adolf Hitler in 1933 to quash the civil liberty provisions of the constitution and facilitate the establishment of a dictatorship.) (source: Wikipedia)

Legislation passed under this article of the constitution was referred to as Notverordnung (emergency decree). Article 48 was used by Adolf Hitler in 1933 to establish a dictatorship, ending the Weimar Republic and ushering in the Third Reich. (source: Wikipedia)

Also, we are getting close to:

The Reichstag Fire Decree (Reichstagsbrandverordnung in German) is the common name of the decree issued by German president Paul von Hindenburg in direct response to the Reichstag fire of February 27, 1933. The decree nullified many of the key civil liberties of German citizens. With Nazis in key positions of the German government, the decree was used as the legal basis of imprisonment of anyone considered to be opponents of the Nazis, and was used to suppress publications not considered “friendly” to the Nazi cause. The decree is considered by historians to be one of the key steps in the establishment of a one-party Nazi state in Germany. (source: Wikipedia

This should not be passed! What do you think?

(via Barbelith; Slashdot; Toward Freedom [caution: bias])

Also Reference: OverthrowTheGovernment.org