Top Constitutional Scholar: Secret Bush Memos Reveal Plan For “Massive Military Takeover Of US”


Expert says Yoo memos instigate “Law by fiat”, “Fuhrer’s law”, “constitutes treason”

Steve Watson
Infowars.net
Thursday, March 26, 2009

A top constitutional scholar has said that recently released Justice Department memos prove that nefarious elements within the Bush Administration were planning a massive military takeover of the country and that the documents should be used to bring charges of treason.

In an interview with author Naomi Wolf, legal expert Michael Ratner explains how the move toward total elimination of First, Fourth and Fifth amendment rights, as outlined in the memos, cannot be taken in isolated relation to terrorism related prosecutions and instead represents a smoking gun of a larger intention toward the general population.

“The memos revealed how massive the takeover of our democracy was to be — that this wasn’t just going to be a few individuals here or there who suffered the arrows of a police state.” Ratner says.

“These memos lay the groundwork for a massive military takeover of the United States in cahoots with the president. And if that’s not a coup d’etat then, nothing is.”

The nine DOJ memos, released earlier this month, were mostly written by former assistant attorney general John Yoo. They reveal how the rights of all American citizens have been effectively stripped away under the auspices of the so called “war on terror”.

They argue for a broad range of powers under the office of the president that cannot be restricted by any law or constitutional right or treaty.

They argue that the legal rights of anyone considered a terrorist suspect can be completely rescinded by the president, that the president may order the military to operate in the U.S. without constitutional restrictions, that the prohibition on unreasonable search and seizure takes a back seat to fighting terrorism domestically, and that the president can, in the name of wartime restrictions, limit free speech.

Read our previous summary of the memos here.

(Article continues below)


Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, describes the legal arguments made in the memos as “Law by fiat”, underscoring the historical precedent of such attempts to subvert long established legal protections and processes.

“If you are familiar with the history of dictators, coups and fascism (as I know you are), they (the planners) prefer a veneer of legality.” Ratner explains.

“Hitler killed 6 million Jews with a veneer of legality — getting his dictatorial powers through the Reichstag and the courts. These memos gave the Bush administration’s [lawless] practices the veneer of legality.”

“Who has suspended the law this way in the past? It is like a Caesar’s law in Rome; a Mussolini’s law in Italy; a Fuhrer’s law in Germany; a Stalin’s law in the Soviet Union. It is right down the line. It is enforcing the will of the dictator through the military.”

Ratner believes that the memos provide ground for charges of treason against Bush Administration officials such as **** Cheney and the president himself.

“I do think that a plan to control the military, use it in the United States contrary to law and the Constitution and employ it to levy a war or takeover that eliminates the democratic institutions of the country constitutes treason, even if done under the president of the United States.”

“The authority given by these memos that could be used to raid every congressional office, raid and search every home, detain tens of thousands, would certainly fit a definition of treason.”

Perhaps most importantly, Ratner acknowledges the fact that the details outlined in the memos were, to a great extent, actively implemented.

“Here they crept right up and actually implemented part of the plan, with Padilla, with the warrantless wiretapping. Yet they are saying in the White House and in Congress that it is looking backward to investigate the authors of these memos and those who instructed Yoo and others to write them.”

“But investigation and prosecutions are really looking forward — to say we need the deterrence of prosecution so this does not happen again.” Ratner states.

As we have previously outlined, we have not seen any deviation from the Bush-era war on terror policies by Obama.

There has been no repeal of Patriot Acts I and II by the Obama administration. Nor have we seen a reversal of Bush’s signing statement that would effectively repeal the John Warner Defense Authorization Act, legislation that stemmed directly from the opinions and counsel offered in the previously secret Justice Department memos.

well. the man said in public that he wanted to be a dictator. he said it would certainly be an easier job..........he would even suck at dictating.... the man can't speak proper english, let alone rule a country. he even tried racial cleansing to my people in new orleans by starving them on purpose, and kept us away from the rations people sent down to us, by gunpoint of the nat'l guard........oh yeah, i wasn't suppose to uncover that. but there were miles of trucks with supplies for us on I-10 in the direction of LaPlace. just sick.

keep in mind Janet Reno used military forces twice on civilians, Ruby Ridge and Waco. That went COMPLETELY against the Bill of Rights and the Constitution. Where is she these days? She was under Clinton. Bush Sr. too if I remember right.

There is a lot more to the picture than meets the eye. First of all if Bush had attempted a full blown Coup de Ta there would have been armed rebellion and the military is spread far too thin not to mention the Militia groups that are legitimate law abiding men and women. Even a lot of military personnel are there to defend America and its constitution. It would have been a very ugly situation all around. First of all you have to ask yourself, a coup takes money to run no matter how you cut it. Money is the fuel of any war machine. The bush family is rich but not that rich and if he is tossed for a blatant act of treason who would fund and back his play? What he is and has been doing is part of a greater orchestration using psychology and mass media to guide perception away from the truth of it all. Our government is not our own any more. It is sold to the highest bidder.


Until then America will be weakened more and more until we break and then whoever tries to restore order will be saddled with a titanic wreck of what was once the greatest nation in the world!

First of all how do you weaken a nation from within? Drive away its industry with laws and taxation and inflated labor rates! When we were a manufacturing nation we had an economy but now what do we still manufacture in America these days? Cars? HAW! Ships? Um, not any more. Textiles? nope.

Once upon a time Unions were a good thing but now they have far too much power and have been damaging a lot of facets of manufacture.

Social spending on illegal immigrants is killing us along with feeding subsidies and ineffective and outdated programs and needless bureaucracy. Also privatization has added to the burden and grants corporations rights above the law with no accountability. government has been operating in bad faith for years and nobody has been able to stop it or get it through to people to stop lending confidence to people like Pelosi who is a blight on the congress. Our leadership have become like Roman senators who are far too steeped in their own opulence to see the reality of the situation we are facing and lending and borrowing money is not going to save us from sh*t but only aggravate a serious problem to a serious tragedy.


I am likening this to (and many a Texan would appreciate this) the appearance of a sink hole. The hole just opened up and nothing you can do will stop it from growing. We are facing a financial sink hole and Obama is throwing more money we don't have into it. Do you realize the Fed was the first real act of privatization in the history of America. It is run by (cough) private banks. And who was going crazy trying to get everyone to "borrow" and carry credit balances?

And all of them pass the buck so nicely!


Pot is bad but Bush doing Blow was fine...

Hope he enjoyed a few lines in the oval office...

I wish congress would share whatever it is they are smoking!

hmmmmmmm

Because I'm just a few miles from El Paso, I'm curious to see how much of a military buildup there will be along the border.

power to power elite be the tower, elite doth sleep busy on the reap, busy deeming self power to keep, equal be the quell that conquer the spell, that work with a cloak and equal the yoke, right the middle that subvert the drivel, equal the tower that equalize the power.

divide the peoples and conquer the people's, dose out the rhetoric and create the sentiment, spew the tell and paint the fear picture spell, make it look bad oh so sad, destroy self confidence create the fate, protect protect oh we protect and inspect, be the words don't forget the one's that beget, select the sequel and pour on the fecal, swirl up the fighting make a plight keep peoples fighting, keep the eye's on purtorted guise while we work in disguise, profits gleaned and coffers wiped clean, dazzle with some swell give em words cast the spell.

Well we have to be fair in our expectations of our leaders. Americans allowed Bush to do everything except stop any new elections to being an evil dictator in this country. And now they hold Obama to "higher" standards expecting him to over turn the evil of Bush and fix a failing economy, etc... in less than 100 days in office mind you.

This is the reason that I say there are ulterior motives for the dislike of Obama that are not about his performance. Those against Obama are unsatisfied and Obama hasn't even had a chance to do much of anything yet.


We gave Bush not only one term to screw us but two terms to dig it really deep and we can't give Obama 100 days to try.

Are we not permitted to be smarter today than we were yesterday?

I hate this blame game. I know i talk a lot about Obama being as bad as Bush. Truth is, niether one had much of a hand in anything. They are front men. There are real men of power, behind the curtains, pulling the strings.

This is why Obama's policies, replicate many of Bush's. The same men wrote them. It's not about giving them a chance. It's about pointing out where corruption is. Hell, congress writes the polices. Now we can blame the Dems...

My problem is when they vote something down, because it's just a stupid idea. And instead of trying a new approach they increase the bill by 800 pages, and rush it through without giving anyone a chance to read it. Retards vote it through anyway. Then they have the nerve to complain about the loopholes in this bill and how it gave multimillion dollar handouts to CEO's. This tactic was used under Bush, and Obama. That tells me that the people that were in charge are still in charge.

Nothing changed. Nothing is changing. I'm pretty sure unless we try a new approach nothing will ever change.

the only sell of good power that peace as equal do impell, speak of itself as the people all as one in the mind be the tell, love mouths that question and eye's that spell, invites minds that distain and embrace with love questions of profain, love dissent and honor it in it's tent.

I disagree. Those who are not giving Obama a chance were not going to give him a chance anyway. He is doing things and he is getting information from us for his decisions which I participate in.

I have heard since I was a little girl about all this corruption and the conspiracies of those unseen, etc... It is just another excuse for those Americans who believe the garbage to not participate in the process. It is a sorry excuse for being complacent and/or combatent without being productive about our government at any level.

So whoever wants to buy the excuses to not participate because of all of these lame excuses that offer no solution, may they be happy doing it. I will not use the excuses for non-participate in our processes here to improve American life. MOOC

No offense, but thats just bunk. I've never seen more active participants than those who fight for the truth, for Liberty and Freedom, such as the "We Are Change" civilian reporters.

Obama had a chance to do the right thing, he had a chance to not surround himself with the same old people we've been seeing for decades, all those Clinton Globalists, up to good ole Hillary, Brzezinski, Sommers,Kissinger... He's chosen to fudge, to push for horrific legislation, like the GIVE act.

Obama chose not to do the right thing (which is obey the Constitution), so I engage to expose the fact that he's just a PR man for the Globalist crowd that put him in office.

So let me be clear, Obama, just a puppet. Pull back the curtain and see what the real deal is around here. Why would Geithner, Bernakes underling, now stand up to him when they are all making each other powerful beyond belief?

Why would Obama do the bidding of the people, when it's the Fed. Res. member banks that put the green paper in his campaign coffers?

Why would we expect anything less from Hillary than to give China emminent domain rights in this country and to blame the drug violence on the southern border on her own fellow countrymen? Why would they do this if they loved this country, loved the Constitution and wanted to continue with our old tradition of Freedom and Liberty?

it lay in plain site, member to member pass the torch and plight, trilateral members wike list goes on and on, peace and love be in our heart to fawn, bohemian grove forest so beautiful and fare, all the names listed in plain sight and bare, pass the power brother to brother no trouble, equal be not the sight nor sequal, lay out the greenbacks and enter the lair, no worries dear soul why trouble your soul, we give you our word we will be fair, with all this power and money to spare.

Bohemian grove...

Not offended at all War No offense intended here either, I don't buy the old and tired lame excuses that are used to try to paralyze people into believing they are powerless because the conspiracy is too big or the corruption too much.

That is all I hear.

Obama was a constitutional professor he knows the constitution and I am sure he is going to right some of the things that have been violations to the constitution.

Now as for the second amendment, I don't believe we need a whole slew of weapons. The restrictions on this are appropriate. Just because you can't have the weapons you want doesn't mean that it is a violation of the second amendment.

"A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed"

So you have been allowed to keep the weapons the government says you can have so it is not infringed.

As for all the violations of Bush, Obama is working on some of those already.

Again, I will say, I will not be paralyzed by all the lame conspiracy theories and corruption talk because nothing will be done if we all buy into it.

terrorist might be your neighbor, evil doers in town to rob your fate, in the midst like a cloud and cist, look over there and under that chair, evil is lurking ready to destroy we declare, disent be terrorism help us as patroit's and ensnare, turn on each other and hand over the unfair, that question the power and trust not the soverign tower, demand trust mean inspection is a must, or foul knocks come in the night, speak not as one peoples and for heavens sake make not a blare, for we surely do hate any light or glare, let us protect you and make it all fair, report your neighors trash and spy on anything brash, give up the disentor's or surely you will be burned in the trash, these make chaos and speak with no respect to entreat, we aim to please and martial the law be but a breeze, so question us not or you will be forgot, put in a clamp your soul there to rot...

for when any power effectively has convinced a peoples, that to question be as the evil, all as be equal is but already lost, freedom and liberty as the great cost, scrutiny painted even as terrorism divide the peoples and create a horrible sequal.

I have to make it clear, I don't post "theories".
When Government seeks to decide what weapons you can and can't have, you walk a slippery slope, like our AG being the guy who authored the DC gun ban. A handgun ban, now are the criminals going to obey a gun ban? No. So all you've done is disarm the innocent.

Any regulation of the right to bear arms is unconstitutional, if you don't have a loose interpretation or have that sorry idea that the Constitution is a "living" document that can change defintions as time goes on.

Obama is working on Bush's stuff? More than half of them were done by signing statements, PDD's, EO's that kind of thing, he needs no Congressional approval to rescind PDD 51. He won't either, it's essential to the next step of the end of America.

oh, and no offense taken!

War, you rock man...

everyone is drinking here???? where is mine? don't tell me it's byob

Nah, i you know i got yo back...