Obama Establishes Council of Governors to Take Over When Martial Law is Declared

Is Obama Planning Council of Governors/Police Stability Force for the U.S. (Martial Law)?

By Eyes for You, Before It's News
January 12, 2010

Some time ago I came across an article about the Rand Corporation bidding on a "Police Stability Force" for the United States:

A Stability Police Force for the United States: Justification and Options for Creating U.S. Capabilities:

Establishing security is the sine qua non of stability operations, since it is a prerequisite for reconstruction and development. Security requires a mix of military and police forces to deal with a range of threats from insurgents to criminal organizations.

This research examines the creation of a high-end police force, which the authors call a Stability Police Force (SPF). The study considers what size force is necessary, how responsive it needs to be, where in the government it might be located, what capabilities it should have, how it could be staffed, and its cost.

This monograph also considers several options for locating this force within the U.S. government, including the U.S. Marshals Service, the U.S. Secret Service, the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) in the Department of State, and the U.S. Army's Military Police.

The authors conclude that an SPF containing 6,000 people — created in the U.S. Marshals Service and staffed by a “hybrid option,” in which SPF members are federal police officers seconded to federal, state, and local police agencies when not deployed — would be the most effective of the options considered. The SPF would be able to deploy in 30 days. The cost for this option would be $637.3 million annually, in FY2007 dollars.

Read Entire Document Online

NOW CANADA FREE PRESS IS REPORTING ON THE ARTICLE HERE ON BEFORE IT'S NEWS WHERE OBAMA QUIETLY — EVEN STEALTHILY — SET UP A "COUNCIL OF GOVERNORS"

Quietly—even stealthily—in the opening days of the New Year, President Barack Obama has set up a “Council of Governors.”

Like the 30-plus czars running America with neither the people’s nor the Congress’s blessings, the Council of Governors is already a done deal.

“Is this a first step towards Martial Law, or a tie to the InterPol, RAND National Police Force stuff we’ve been hearing about,” asked a Texas patriot who tipped off Canada Free Press (CFP) after finding news of the new Council of Governors on Twitter. “Is this a sort of Homeland Security Politburo?”

“I do know it’s another sleuth order executed without any announcement OR EXPLANATION to the People.”

Patriots know by now that the promised Obama “transparency” is a fog.

Checking the Net on the Council of Governors, CFP, found other than a few blogs, only UPI.com had the story as of this morning:

President Barack Obama Monday established a panel of state governors to collaborate with Washington on a variety of potential emergencies, the White Housesaid. (UPI.com, Jan. 11, 2010 at 11:54 p.m.).

Obama signed an executive order establishing a panel to be known as the Council of Governors, which will be made up of 10 state governors, to be selected by the president to serve two-year terms. Members will review matters involving the National Guard; homeland defense; civil support; and synchronization and integration of state and federal military activities in the United States, the White House said in a statement.

The statement said the White House would seek input from governors and governors’ association (sic) in deciding which governors to appoint to the council, which will have no more than five governors from the same party.

The secretaries of defense and homeland security will also sit on the council, as will presidential assistants for homeland security and counterterrorism, intergovernmental affairs, the U.S. Northern Command commander, the commander of the East Coast Guard, and the chief of the National Guard Bureau.

The panel was set up under a provision of the Fiscal Year 2008 National Defense Authorization Act, the White House said.

There was no timestamp on the latest Emergency Order from Whitehouse.gov, which readers can see below.

The Obama administration seems to be conducting the business of America under cover of the dark.

The rest of the CFP article can be found here; it is the almost verbatim of the one published here:
beforeitsnews.com/story/3456/New_Executive_Order,_IMPORTANT!

The executive order formed a Council of Governors, pursuant to the National Defense Authorization Act of 2008.

The Council will "strengthen further the partnership between the Federal Government and State governments to protect our Nation and its people and property." Provisions include:

1. The Council shall meet at the call of the Secretary of Defense or the Co-Chairs of the Council to exchange views, information, or advice with the Secretary of Defense; the Secretary of Homeland Security; the Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism; the Assistant to the President for Intergovernmental Affairs and Public Engagement; the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Homeland Defense and Americas' Security Affairs; the Commander,United States Northern Command; the Chief, National Guard Bureau; the Commandant of the Coast Guard; and other appropriate officials of the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Defense, and appropriate officials of other executive departments or agencies as may be designated by the Secretary of Defense or the Secretary of Homeland Security.

(a) matters involving the National Guard of the various States;
(b) homeland defense;
(c) civil support;
(d) synchronization and integration of State and Federal military activities in the United States; and
(e) other matters of mutual interest pertaining to National Guard, homeland defense, and civil support activities.

If you remember, the NSPD-51 "Continuation of Government"—martial law—vests all power in the executive branch and identifies the individuals who will be responsible for the oversight of the CoG government. Here is an excerpt:

The President shall lead the activities of the Federal Government for ensuring constitutional government. In order to advise and assist the President in that function, the Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism (APHS/CT) is hereby designated as the National Continuity Coordinator. The National Continuity Coordinator, in coordination with the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs (APNSA), without exercising directive authority, shall coordinate the development and implementation of continuity policy for executive departments and agencies.

The Continuity Policy Coordination Committee (CPCC), chaired by a Senior Director from the Homeland Security Council staff, designated by the National Continuity Coordinator, shall be the main day-to-day forum for such policy coordination.

The National Continuity Coordinator, in consultation with the heads of appropriate executive departments and agencies, will lead the development of a National Continuity Implementation Plan (Plan), which shall include prioritized goals and objectives, a concept of operations, performance metrics by which to measure continuity readiness, procedures for continuity and incident management activities, and clear direction to executive department and agency continuity coordinators, as well as guidance to promote interoperability of Federal Government continuity programs and procedures with State, local, territorial, and tribal governments, and private sector owners and operators of critical infrastructure, as appropriate.

The Plan shall be submitted to the President for approval not later than 90 days after the date of this directive.

The Secretary of Homeland Security shall coordinate the integration of Federal continuity plans and operations with State, local, territorial, and tribal governments, and private sector owners and operators of critical infrastructure, as appropriate, in order to provide for the delivery of essential services during an emergency.

Continuity requirements shall be incorporated into daily operations of all executive departments and agencies.

Remember, under NSPD-51, a disaster will be declared in order to justify the Federal siezure of state and local functions under the control of the executive branch with the legislative and judicial branches operating as advisors. A disaster is defined as:

The directive states that this power could/would be exercised in the case of a "Catastrophic Emergency," meaning "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 ..."

Connecting the Dots on Obama’s Council of Governors

Flopping Aces
January 13, 2010

With the less than opaque veil shrouding the current White House actions, Obama’s latest unheralded EO on Jan 11th, establishing the Council of Governors, sent the blog world into a tizzy. The extremes of reaction ran the gamut.

When Shutking broke out the “martial law” headline, commenter John Erickson, who’s blog profile says he works in government in Lincoln, Nebraska, tut tutted that view, saying they were only a federal advisory committee.

PropagandaMatrix comes thru with less sensationalist perspective, noting the other blog fears, but not casting its own lot into the more extreme theories. They did, however, note this

“clearly represents another assault on Posse Comitatus, the 1878 law that bars the military from exercising domestic police powers, which was temporarily annulled by the 2006 John Warner National Defense Authorization Act before parts of it were later repealed.”

As with most government powers, there is always the potential for abuse. In this case, there is cause for serious concern because every bit of this entails expanding traditional Command in Chief powers to the DOD, spreading troops around the US (potentially not American troops at that…) and deciding who has ultimate tactical command over reserves and Guard in the event of “emergencies,” terrorist attacks, or natural disasters.

Since we can’t expect much in clarification from this transparent administration, it’s up to us to sort out the intent, and inherent dangers to our founded Republic. And we sure we don’t need yet another head scratcher, like Obama’s INTERPOL executive order before Christmas. So I’m here to connect a few more dots on the Council of Governors.

A SERIES OF EVENTS LEADING TO EXPANDED DOD POWERS

The Council of Governors is not a complete bolt out of the blue, but another step in a series of events. The first recommendation of the Council came in a May 2007 commissioned report on the National Guard and Reserves by Arnold Punaro. The review noted that the Guard was short almost $40 billion in supplies and equipment due to commitments since the 911 attack, and that individual governors had been “slighted.” The commission recommended a creation of the Council of Governors so that

“… governors could provide direct input on National Guard issues to the executive branch.”

Month’s later, its creation was mandated by Congress, with no specific timeline to do so, via The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008. This was a bill first introduced by Ike Skelton in the House Jan 2008, and sailed through both chambers with almost unanimous bi-partistan support. It was signed into law January 28, 2008, by then President Bush and became Public Law No: 110-181.

Buried in the 602 page bill (page 498) was Section 1822 – aka the mandate:

SEC. 1822. COUNCIL OF GOVERNORS.
The President shall establish a bipartisan Council of Governors to advise the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of Homeland Security, and the White House Homeland Security Council on matters related to the National Guard and civil support missions.

President Bush never created the Council and neither had President Obama… until yesterday, that is. The question is, did Obama create this council for its original purpose? From what I’ve put together so far, it’s not looking that way. Keep reading.

US AND CANADA SIGN MILITARY AGREEMENT

Flashback, April 4, 2008: News hits that a month and a half earlier, February 14, 2008, the US and Canada enter into a military agreement between NORTHCOM, NORAD and Canada COM, defined as a Civil Assistance Plan:

In a political move that received little if any attention by the American news media, the United States and Canada entered into a military agreement on February 14, 2008, allowing the armed forces from one nation to support the armed forces of the other nation during a domestic civil emergency, even one that does not involve a cross-border crisis, according to a police commander involved in homeland security planning and implementation.

It is an initiative of the Bi-National Planning Group whose final report, issued in June 2006, called for the creation of a “Comprehensive Defense and Security Agreement,” or a “continental approach” to Canada-US defense and security.

The law enforcement executive told Newswithviews.com… that the agreement — defined as a Civil Assistance Plan — was not submitted to Congress for debate and approval, nor did Congress pass any law or treaty specifically authorizing this military agreement to combine the operations of the armed forces of the United States and Canada in the event of domestic civil disturbances ranging from violent storms, to health epidemics, to civil riots or terrorist attacks.

“This is a military plan that’s designed to bypass the Posse Comitatus Act that traditionally prohibited the US military from operating within the borders of the United States. Not only will American soldiers be deployed at the discretion of whomever is sitting in the Oval Office, but foreign soldiers will also be deployed in American cities,” warns Lt. Steven Rodgers, commander of the Nutley, NJ Police Department’s detective bureau.

Canada Free Press’s Sean Osborne reported on it within weeks of the agreement. At that time, Osborne thought it sniffed of a EU-type political union. And while he thought it was prudent to plan for a united defense if necessary, he also saw the need for a careful eye on this new military union, and its purpose.

Note the timing of this new CAP… February 14, 2008, just a few weeks after the passage of Public Law No: 110-181… and Section 1822 that mandated the creation of a Council of Governors.

Coincidently, the preceding Section 1821 of that same enacted Public Law dealt happened to deal with another mandate concerning NORTHCOM. Section 1821 ordered the Chairman and Chief Joint of Staff to review the adequacy of NORTHCOM’s manpower, and any need for increased components, reporting to the DOD no later than one year’s time.

SEC. 1821. UNITED STATES NORTHERN COMMAND.
(a) MANPOWER REVIEW.—
(1) REVIEW BY CHAIRMAN OF THE JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF.— Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff shall submit to the Secretary of Defense a review of the civilian and military positions, job descriptions, and assignments within the United States Northern Command with the goal of determining the feasibility of significantly increasing the number of members of a reserve component assigned to, and civilians employed by, the United States Northern Command who have experience in the planning, training, and employment of forces for homeland defense missions, domestic emergency response, and providing military support to civil authorities.

Within 90 days of receipt of that review, the Defense Secretary was to present a copy of that review to Congress, along with recommendations on achieving the reports recommended goals.

This put the timeline deadline at the end of May 2009…. Obama’s 4th month in the Oval Office. Still no creation of the Council of Governors.

Still awake? Hope so, because now it gets really interesting….

NORTHCOM REQUESTS DOD POSSESS CiC POWERS

One month later, June 2009, NORTHCOM sends a Legislative Proposal to Congress, requested amending Title 10 of USC, expanding the Secretary of Defense’s powers to mobilization of the Army Reserve, Air Force Reserve, Navy Reserve, and Marine Corps Reserve to assist civil authorities in disasters and emergencies… “thus enabling a truly Total Force approach to disaster response.” Currently, only the Commander in Chief can call up the Reserves — and only in an emergency involving “a use or threatened use of a weapon of mass destruction” or “a terrorist attack or threatened terrorist attack in the United States that results, or could result, in significant loss of life or property.”

The Federal Reserve forces represent a significant capability, embedded in thousands of communities throughout our nation, which, with the exception of national emergencies, cannot be ordered to active duty to assist the primary Federal agency’s response to major disasters or emergencies, even in circumstances when Reserve units may be closest to the disaster area and thus the most timely and cost-effective response.

This proposed new Title 10 section would also implement the recommendation of the Commission on the National Guard and Reserves that the “mobilization authorities for Federal Reserve forces to respond to emergencies should be expanded” to “provide the authority to involuntarily mobilize Federal Reserve components for up to 60 days in a four-month period and up to 120 days in a two-year period.”

ASSISTANT DEFENSE SECRETARY LAYS GROUNDWORK

Somewhere around the end of July 2009, Paul Stockton, Obama’s appointed Assistant Secretary of Defense (formerly with Stanton’s CISAC) is pitching the Council of Governors creation to Congress as a means to “reclaim” balance between federal and state authorities. From his testimony:

As the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Homeland Defense and Americas’ Security Affairs, I hope to contribute to a more inclusive effort, one that involves State and local partners as partners aforethought and not as an afterthought. Congress, in section 1822 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008 (Public Law 110-181), has provided a valuable vehicle through which to accomplish this goal: the “Council of Governors,” which would provide a forum for Governors, the Secretary of Defense, and the Secretary of Homeland Security to exchange advice, views, and recommendations on the National Guard, DSCA, and other matters of mutual interest. I will make it a top priority to implement this congressional objective.

This certainly has morphed in scope from the original recommended intent to provide Governors with “…direct input on National Guard issues to the executive branch.”

By August 12th, Matthew Rothschild at The Progressive is reporting that the Pentagon is now asking Congress to allow the Defense Secretary to park almost 400,000 military personnel from throughout the United States.

So the new proposed legislation would greatly expand the President’s power to call up the Reserves in a disaster or an emergency and would extend that power to the Secretary of Defense. (There are other circumstances, such as repelling invasions or rebellions or enforcing federal authority, where the President already has the authority to call up the Reserves.)

The ACLU is alarmed by the proposed legislation. Mike German, the ACLU’s national security policy counsel, expressed amazement “that the military would propose such a broad set of authorities and potentially undermine a 100-year-old prohibition against the military in domestic law enforcement with no public debate and seemingly little understanding of the threat to democracy.”

Add to above the vague definition of “emergency”… generally left up to the President to determine… and we have a serious power grab in the making.

Dave Mundy at the Texas National Press isn’t so subtle with his last summer’s headline… “Military asks Congress to set aside Posse Comitatus.”

An August 12 article in The Progressive, a liberal news journal, by reporter Matthew Rothschild reports that the U.S. Northern Command (NORTHCOM) has asked Congress to grant the Secretary of Defense the authority to post up to 400,000 troops in North America “in times of emergency or natural disaster.” If granted, the move would further erode the authority of the states and would minimize the role played by the states’ militia, the National Guard, in handling domestic issues.

More ominously, nothing in the Pentagon’s request specifies that the troops to be posted in U.S. cities would necessarily be Americans.

September 2009: NORTHCOM releases the 32 page initial framework for the “Tri Command”. It lays the foundation for how NORAD, NORTHCOM and Canada COM operate and interact to accomplish their missions and goals, including organizational charts, and sharing of both information and intelligence. NORTHCOM and Canada COM are both national forces, reporting to Defense Secretary (US) and CDS (Canada), while NORAD is set up as a bi-national force. Commanders have the flexibility to set up Joint Task Force in areas for the duration of the military operation.

The Commanders of these three organizations are directed to establish three plans for the combined defense of the US and Canada. The CAP, mentioned above, is unclassified. The other two, the Canada-US Combined Defense Plan and NORAD Concept Plan are classified.

~~~

Governors, however, cannot be left out of the mix. A couple of months early, when Stocken was testifying before Congress and NORTHCOM was requesting distribution of units across the US, Asst. Defense Secretary Stockton, had sent a letter to the National Governor’s Association INRE their plans. The governors were having nothing of the sort without some serious guidelines in authoritative boundaries. Indeed they reminded Mr. Stockton that a similar proposal in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2009 was nixed due to gubernatorial concerns.

In their reply on August 7th, they recommended setting up the Council of Governors to facilitate discussing the division of tactical command for the NORTHCOM/Defense Department’s expanded powers and military authority.

Governors and their Adjutants General would welcome the opportunity to work with you and others at DoD and the National Guard Bureau to discuss tactical control during disasters and to identify legislative and operational opportunities to improve our response to such events. The best way to facilitate such consultation and communication is for DoD to quickly establish the Council of Governors as required by the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008. Doing so will provide an appropriate forum to address these issues and other aspects of defense support to civilian authorities.

January 11, 2010… Obama creates the Council.

~~~

We now know the two-fold intent…

1. To achieve the NORTHCOM Legislative Proposal goals by giving the Defense Secretary powers to call up the reserve units, and stash them across the US in preparation….


2. To get the Governor’s blessing on that power, and suss out who gets to command what, and under what circumstance.

It’s Stockton’s task to liaison between the governors, DHS and the National Guard.

What remains to be seen is what powers can be conferred upon the 10 gubernatorial council members, and what State authorities they cede… either willingly or hoodwinked out of.

What questions come to mind is why now? What does Obama know to take these extraordinary steps or… from the conspiratorial angle, just what does he have planned?

But there’s one guarantee… Gibbs sure isn’t going to tell us, and this is another round table of negotiations that won’t be making it to C-SPAN.

President Obama Signs Executive Order Establishing Council of Governors

The White House, Office of the Press Secretary, For Immediate Release
January 11, 2010

Executive Order will Strengthen Further Partnership Between the Federal and State and Local Governments to Better Protect Our Nation

The President today signed an Executive Order (attached) establishing a Council of Governors to strengthen further the partnership between the Federal Government and State Governments to protect our Nation against all types of hazards. When appointed, the Council will be reviewing such matters as involving the National Guard of the various States; homeland defense; civil support; synchronization and integration of State and Federal military activities in the United States; and other matters of mutual interest pertaining to National Guard, homeland defense, and civil support activities.

The bipartisan Council will be composed of ten State Governors who will be selected by the President to serve two year terms. In selecting the Governors to the Council, the White House will solicit input from Governors and Governors’ associations. Once chosen, the Council will have no more than five members from the same party and represent the Nation as a whole.

Federal members of the Council include the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism, the Assistant to the President for Intergovernmental Affairs and Public Engagement, the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Homeland Defense and Americas’ Security Affairs, the U.S. Northern Command Commander, the Commandant of the Coast Guard, and the Chief of the National Guard Bureau. The Secretary of Defense will designate an Executive Director for the Council.

The Council of Governors will provide an invaluable Senior Administration forum for exchanging views with State and local officials on strengthening our National resilience and the homeland defense and civil support challenges facing our Nation today and in the future.

The formation of the Council of Governors was required by the Fiscal Year 2008 National Defense Authorization Act which stated, “The President shall establish a bipartisan Council of Governors to advise the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of Homeland Security, and the White House Homeland Security Council on matters related to the National Guard and civil support missions.” (NDAA FY2008, Sec 1822)

Council of Governors Takes Shape

By Chuck Baldwin
February 9, 2010

Regular readers of this column will doubtless recall my recent column in which I reported on the new Council of Governors (CG) that President Barack Obama has created. See my column at:

http://www.chuckbaldwinlive.com/c2010/cbarchive_20100119.html

Well, Obama's CG is quickly beginning to take shape. According to the Associated Press (AP),

"President Barack Obama has selected Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon to serve on an advisory council for defense and national security issues.

"Nixon was one of 10 governors named Thursday [February 4, 2009] by Obama to the newly created Council of Governors."

The 10 governors (and one of them is not even a State governor) selected by Obama are:

• Governor James Douglas (R-Vermont) *Co-chair
• Governor Chris Gregoire (D-Washington) *Co-chair
• Governor Brad Henry (D-Oklahoma)
• Governor Jay Nixon (D-Missouri)
• Governor Martin O'Malley (D-Maryland)
• Governor Janice Brewer (R-Arizona)
• Governor Bob McDonnell (R-Virginia)
• Governor Michael Rounds (R-South Dakota)
• Governor Beverly Perdue (D-North Carolina)
• Governor Luis G. Fortuno (R-Puerto Rico)

As I have already written, the creation of a CG should be of serious concern to all liberty loving Americans. That more of us are not as concerned as we should be can be traced to the mistaken belief that the American people have nothing to fear from an overreaching federal government. This is pure folly! As I have said many times, we have far more to fear from Washington, D.C., than from Iran, Iraq, North Korea, or any other potential terrorist state. It is Washington, D.C., — and Washington, D.C., alone — that has the power, opportunity, and propensity to squash our freedom and sell us into tyranny.

As Kurt Nimmo reports,

"In other words, with the stroke of a pen, Obama significantly increased the ongoing effort to federalize the states and take control of the National Guard in violation of the now more or less moribund Posse Comitatus Act. Posse Comitatus was effectively annulled by the 2006 John Warner National Defense Authorization Act. The act provides the president with power to declare martial law under revisions to the Insurrection Act and take charge of United States National Guard troops without state governor authorization. Parts of the act were repealed in 2008."

See the report at Infowars.com:

http://tinyurl.com/council-gov-nixon

What most Americans fail to realize (thanks to a national propaganda press corps that refuses to reveal the conspiratorial machinations of America's ruling class, which, by and large, is totally disconnected from — or unaccountable to — elected officeholders: especially those in Congress) is that the subdivision of the United States into a 10-region country (thereby minimizing or even negating the sovereignty and authority of the 50 independent and autonomous states) goes all the way back to the Richard Nixon administration.

In response to pressure from the United Nations, President Richard Nixon issued Executive Order #11647 on February 10, 1972, which carved up the United States into 10 "standard Federal regions."

For the doubters out there, Wikipedia has a rather detailed web page mentioning the federal 10-region breakdown of the United States.

See the Wikipedia entry at:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_regions_of_the_United_States

See the map at:

http://tinyurl.com/US-std-fed-regions-map

Still not convinced? Try a casual web search of the 10 US regions and you will quickly discover that each major federal agency, such as the EPA, OSHA, DOT, FEMA, etc., has their agency already divided into these 10 regions. As an example, here is the official district map for FEMA:

http://www.fema.gov/about/contact/regions.shtm

Commenting on the creation of the 10 "super" regions initiated by President Nixon, CuttingEdge.org director David Bay very astutely said, "This regional system is also apparently a military structure." This is a very insightful observation, because I'm sure this was said long before President Obama took office, yet, that is exactly what his CG accomplishes. It grants federal executive power to these 10 governors — with the specific responsibility of providing leadership and direction to the National Guard and related homeland military activities. And is it any coincidence that the number of governors appointed to this new CG is exactly 10? Even more telling is the fact that the 10 governors come from each US region (the governor of Puerto Rico represents Region 2), except for Region 5, and guess what? Region 5 is President Obama's region!

Now, get this: the only region that has two governors represented on the CG (making up for Region 5's lack of a representative — who will be Obama himself, no doubt) is Region 3. And put this in your pipe and smoke it: the two governors from Region 3 are from Maryland and Virginia, which are the two states that border Washington, D.C. But all of this is mere coincidence, right?

See the map on the EPA web site at:

http://www.epa.gov/region4/landrevitalization/images/us-regions.gif

So, here is the list of the Council of Governors, as it coincides with the respective 10 regions. If you know anything about what is going on, you should easily be able to see the logic of how and why these governors were selected. Obviously, the two basic criteria would be 1) The location of necessary government infrastructure, facilities, personnel, etc., combined with 2) The compliant attitude and overall disposition of the governor selected. Here is how it looks:

Region 1: Governor Douglas of Vermont

Region 2: Governor Fortuno of Puerto Rico

Region 3: Governor O'Malley of Maryland and Governor McDonnell of Virginia.

These are necessary, as these are the two border states of Washington, D.C.

Region 4: Governor Perdue of North Carolina

Region 5: President Barack Obama of Illinois

Region 6: Governor Henry of Oklahoma

Region 7: Governor Nixon of Missouri

Region 8: Governor Rounds of South Dakota

Region 9: Governor Brewer of Arizona

Region 10: Governor Gregoire of Washington State

And while it is true that President Jimmy Carter revoked President Nixon's "Federal Regional Council" (what Nixon's Executive Order created in 1972) in 1979, the concept never died. It was merely incorporated into other Executive Orders. And there can be no question that President Obama's CG certainly builds on Nixon's initial "Regional Council" model.

Neither is it a coincidence that Missouri Governor Jay Nixon is included in the list of 10 governors appointed to the CG. Why? Does anyone remember the MIAC flap in the State of Missouri last year? I sure do, because I (along with Ron Paul and Bob Barr) was listed in the MIAC report as being a potential dangerous militia member or terrorist. And anyone who supported or voted for the three of us was similarly maligned in the MIAC report. Plus, the report also targeted people who opposed any of the following as being potential dangerous militia members:

• The New World Order
• The United Nations
• Gun Control
• The violation of Posse Comitatus
• The Federal Reserve
• The Income Tax
• The Ammunition Accountability Act
• A possible Constitutional Convention (Con Con)
• The North American Union
• Universal Service Program
• Radio Frequency Identification (RFID)
• Abortion on demand
• Illegal immigration

Remember, this was an official Missouri State Police report that was distributed to all Missouri State law enforcement officers. And Governor Jay Nixon authorized and strongly defended the MIAC report!

Later, of course, Governor Nixon and other State leaders were forced to withdraw the report, due to immense public pressure from both the citizens of Missouri and angry Americans all across the country.

I have a web page set aside with all the pertinent information regarding the MIAC fiasco, including the most recent updates, at:

http://www.chuckbaldwinlive.com/MIACreport.html

Plus, here are my previous 3 columns regarding the MIAC report:

http://www.chuckbaldwinlive.com/c2009/cbarchive_20090317.html

http://www.chuckbaldwinlive.com/c2009/cbarchive_20090324.html

http://www.chuckbaldwinlive.com/c2009/cbarchive_20090327.html

Now we learn that President Obama has appointed this very same Governor Jay Nixon to the newly formed Council of Governors. Doubtless, Nixon's support for the MIAC report brought him into the good graces of this Marxist President, who, in his inaugural address, pledged to "remake America." Without a doubt, the newly established Council of Governors is helping Obama do just that.

Of course, the big question is not, Is America being "remade"? It most certainly is — and it started long before Obama moved into the White House. The question is, Will this "remade" America be something we can live with?