I was listening to public radio this morning, and heard a disturbing report about the timing of the terrorist car bombing attempts in Great Britain, occurring just at the moment of a political power exchange between Prime Ministers Blair and Brown to maximize confusion and potentially muddle the government response.  This in and of itself is a matter of concern, as one would expect terrorists to deliberately take advantage of the relative disarray that accompanies a transition of government.

But what was really disturbing were the comments of experts and U.S. government officials drawing from the lesson of this terrorist attack, and stressing the importance for broad contingency plans in this country to protect our vulnerable underbelly during the upcoming elections.  Although on the surface, this would mean smoothing the transition of Executive and Congressional power to allow for the continuity of high-level expertise and rapid federal emergency response, it is the undertone of the conversation that concerned me.  Particularly, the idea that ELECTIONS ARE DANGEROUS to our national security.

I am increasingly paranoid that NSPD 51-  a presidential directive quietly put into place by our defender of the Constitution, George W. Bush, to preserve continuity of government in case of national emergency - has a sinister role to play here.  We all are now aware that the emergency that would justify the implementation of NSPD 51 is strictly a "judgement call" of the President, and the duration of martial law is at his sole discretion.  We also know that although NSPD assures us that the President will work in comity with the other two branches of government to preserve CONSTITUTIONAL government.  Comity means friendship.  When was the last time this President worked in "friendship" with the Congress or the Courts?  Finally, we know that NSPD 51 can be implemented in the event of national emergency . . .  not necessarily arising on U.S. soil.

I am no knee-jerk conspiracist, but I am beginning to see the writing on the wall, related to a President who appears increasingly at risk for impeachment, and whose recent actions confirm the scary notion that he really has NOTHING LEFT TO LOSE.  How about a successful terrorist attack upon our closest ally, Great Britain, during the early days of the Brown administration, echoing the tragedy of 9-11 during the early transitional days of the Bush Administration?  Since the attack occurred upon our ally, and not on U.S. territory, the Bush Administration can ascribe it to Britain's obvious softening on the war on terror, as measured by their troop draw down in Iraq.  Nonetheless, the attack will call for an immediate and strong response from America.  It will call for an alert state and drastic measures -- temporary of course!  It will call for a suspension of those 2008 elections that would unnecessarily make us even more vulnerable during these dangerous times.  It will call for NSPD 51, recently prepared by this President with great foresight and wisdom to keep us safe from THEM.

I hope I'm just getting carried away with all this, and that the Bush Administration really just has our best interests in mind.  But then I think back to every action this Administration has taken since coming to power on January 20th, 2001, and then I am not so sure.  When the scary music starts to play during the horror movie, and the inebriated kids climb into bed for hanky-panky, it is best to be prepared for what is coming next.