"In May 2007, a major presidential National Security Directive was issued (NSPD 51)... [which] establishes procedures for "Continuity of Government" (COG) in the case of a "Catastrophic Emergency" ...defined in NSPD 51 as "any incident, regardless of location, that results in extraordinary levels of mass casualties, damage, or disruption severely affecting the U.S. population, infrastructure, environment, economy, or government functions."

NSPD 51 grants extraordinary Police State powers to the White House and Homeland Security (DHS), in the event of a "Catastrophic Emergency". The Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counter terrorism (APHS/CT), who is slated to play a key role in the eventuality of martial law, is a key White House adviser, Frances Fragos Townsend."

Let's see...after "any incident" that results in "disruption" of "government functions", the President can suspend the Constitution at his discretion. How about an anti-war protest that blocks the streets of Washington D.C.? Or another "anthrax scare" that shuts down the Congress? Or even a bunch of irate phone calls that jams the White House switchboard?

Ms. Fragos-Townsend, the current Homeland Security Advisor, is a Catholic lawyer from New York who served her apprenticeship as a Justice Dept. officer under Janet Reno ("the butcher of Waco") during the Clinton administration.

See: Global Research article (2007-06)