Michael Snyder
The Economic Collapse
What is Barack Obama preparing for? What does Barack Obama actually
expect to happen in November? Does he believe that the upcoming
election could actually spark rampant civil unrest inside the United
States? The conditions are certainly ripe for civil unrest in this
country. A multitude of recent polls and surveys have shown that
Americans are angrier and more frustrated than ever. Sadly, we are
taking a lot of that anger and frustration out on each other. America
is more divided today than at any other time since the Civil War era.
The left absolutely hates Mitt Romney the Republicans, and the right
absolutely hates Barack Obama and the Democrats. If you doubt this,
just surf political blogs for a few hours and read the comments that
people leave. This country is a boiling cauldron of hatred and anger
and all it is going to take is just the right “spark” to cause all of
this hatred and anger to absolutely explode. This upcoming election
season is likely to be one of the most heated and divisive election
seasons in U.S. history, and if there is not a clear winner on election
night there is the potential that chaos could be unleashed that would be
far, far worse than anything we saw during the Bush/Gore debacle of
2000.
Right now, the polls tell us that this is likely to be a very, very
tight election. If you doubt this, just check out the daily Gallup
tracking poll.
As I write this, Obama and Romney are tied at 46 percent.
In 2008, a wave of positive emotion helped Obama secure a solid
victory on election night where there was no doubt about the outcome.
But this time there is not going to be the same wave of positive
emotion behind Obama, and that means that the election is likely to be
much, much closer.
One thing that set off alarm bells for me is when various news
stories starting discussing the “legion of lawyers” that Barack Obama
was recruiting for this election. The following is from a recent
article in the Huffington Post….
President Barack Obama’s campaign has recruited a legion of lawyers
to be on standby for this year’s election as legal disputes surrounding
the voting process escalate. Thousands of attorneys and support staffers
have agreed to aid in the effort, providing a mass of legal support
that appears to be unrivaled by Republicans or precedent.
- A d v e r t i s e m e n t
Did you catch that?
Obama’s “unprecedented” legion of lawyers is definitely getting prepared for something.
In a tightly contested race, would Obama use every legal angle that
he possibly could to take the election away from Mitt Romney?
Would Mitt Romney potentially do the same to Obama?
How would the rest of America respond to another huge legal struggle over the presidency?
Let us hope that we never find out the answers to any of those questions.
But fighting in court is not the only avenue that Barack Obama could potentially use to keep his spot in the White House.
There is also the possibility that Barack Obama could use his executive powers to influence the outcome of the election.
This year, Obama has issued a whole series of very strange executive orders.
Many have been wondering what the true purpose of these executive orders really is.
For example, EO 13603 enables Barack Obama to take total control over
all food, all energy, all health resources and all transportation
resources with the stroke of a pen.
The following is from an article about this executive order by Jim Garrison in the Huffington Post….
President Obama’s National Defense Resources Preparedness Executive
Order of March 16 does to the country as a whole what the 2012 National
Defense Authorization Act did to the Constitution in particular —
completely eviscerates any due process or judicial oversight for any
action by the Government deemed in the interest of “national security.”
Like the NDAA, the new Executive Order puts the government completely
above the law, which, in a democracy, is never supposed to happen.
Later in that same article, he detailed some of the extraordinary
powers that the executive branch would be given if Barack Obama decided
that “national security” required it….
• The Secretary of Defense has power over all water resources;
• The Secretary of Commerce has power over all material services and facilities, including construction materials;
• The Secretary of Transportation has power over all forms of civilian transportation;
• The Secretary of Agriculture has power over food resources and
facilities, livestock plant health resources, and the domestic
distribution of farm equipment;
• The Secretary of Health and Human Services has power over all health resources;
• The Secretary of Energy has power over all forms of energy.
According to this executive order, a “national emergency” is not even
required to activate these powers. If Barack Obama decides that there
is a threat to “national security” (or to his job security) he could
activate these powers at any time.
Another executive order, EO 13618, would potentially give Obama power over all communication resources in the United States.
So does that mean that Obama could potentially pull the plug on the Internet during a crisis?
That is a very good question.
Overall, Obama has issued more than 900 executive orders during his
time as president. The amount of power that he now claims to possess is
absolutely mind blowing.
So will he ever actually attempt to use the powers that he has granted himself under these executive orders?
Let’s hope not.
In addition, it appears that the Department of Homeland Security is gearing up for something.
An article posted on RT the other day entitled “DHS gears up for
civil unrest prior to presidential elections” detailed some of the
purchases that the Department of Homeland Security is looking to make….
The DHS submitted a rushed solicitation to the Federal Business
Opportunities site on Wednesday, which is a portal for Federal
government procurement requisitions over $25,000. The request gave the
potential suppliers only one day to submit their proposals and a 15-day
delivery requirement to Alexandria, Virginia.
As the brief explains, “the objective of this effort is to procure
riot gear to prepare for the 2012 Democratic and Republican National
Conventions, the 2013 Presidential Inauguration and other future similar
activities.”
The total amount ordered is about 150 sets of riot helmets, thigh and
groin protectors, hard-shell shin guards and other riot gear.
Specifically, DHS is looking to obtain:
- “147 riot helmets” with “adjustable tactical face shield with liquid seal”
- “147 sets of upper body and shoulder protection”
- “152 sets of thigh and groin protection”
- “147 hard-shell shin guards” with “substantial protection from
flying debris, non-ballistic weapons, and blows to the leg” and
“optimized protective design for severe riot control or tactical
situations.”
- “156 forearm protectors”
- “147 pairs of tactical gloves”
The riot gear will be worn by Federal Protective Service agents who
are tasked with protecting property, grounds and buildings owned by the
federal government.
You can find the DHS solicitation right here.
Also, as I have written about previously, earlier this month FEMA
posted a solicitation for a large number of pre-packaged meals.
According to the solicitation, the maximum number of meals that would be
provided to FEMA under the contract would be 17.5 million meals. The
following is from the FEMA solicitation document….
As referred to in paragraph (b) of FAR Clause 52.216-22, “Indefinite
Quantity” of this contract, the guaranteed contract minimum is 21,000
packaged meals to include the base and option periods. The contract
ceiling amount shall not exceed 17,500,000 packaged meals.
So do those solicitations mean anything special or are they just part of normal government operations?
That is a good question.
But what we do know is that U.S. military personnel are going to be
deployed at the Democratic and Republican national conventions in
support of U.S. Secret Service personnel. The following is from a
recent Stars and Stripes article….
“During the Democratic/Republican National Conventions, Department of
Defense personnel will support the U.S. Secret Service,” a Northern
Command spokesman said in an email.
“For operational security reasons we do not discuss the numbers of
military personnel and resources that are involved,” U.S. Navy Lt. Cdr.
William G. Lewis said. “Additionally, we do not share our operational
plans.”
Could the same forces be deployed to quell civil unrest sparked by a controversial election result in November?
Let us hope that this upcoming election season is not as bitter and
divisive as many are projecting and let us hope that there is a clear
winner in November.
The conditions are definitely right for America to be absolutely torn apart if the “perfect controversy” comes rolling along.
At this moment, Americans are incredibly frustrated. Our economy has
been in the dumps for quite a few years, and now it look like another
recession is starting. The patience of the American people is running
out.
Over much of the western United States things are so hot and dry
right now that just a single spark is often enough to set off a forest
fire that can burn for weeks. Well, the same thing can be said for the
political climate in the United States right now.
The American people are so hot and so angry that it would not take much to set off a raging political fire.
Let us hope that cooler heads prevail, because a single spark could set this country ablaze.
