{"id":204442,"date":"2020-03-25T07:45:07","date_gmt":"2020-03-25T07:45:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/?p=204442"},"modified":"2020-03-27T06:34:44","modified_gmt":"2020-03-27T06:34:44","slug":"cop-out-will-coronavirus-hysteria-open-door-to-full-blown-martial-law-in-america","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/?p=204442","title":{"rendered":"Cop Out: Will Coronavirus Hysteria Open Door to Full-Blown Martial Law in America?"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1 style=\"text-align: center;\">Robert Bridge \u2013 Strategic Review March 23, 2020<\/h1>\n<div id=\"attachment_44805\" style=\"width: 550px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/Contagion-poster.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-44805\" class=\"wp-image-44805\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/Contagion-poster.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"540\" height=\"304\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/Contagion-poster.jpg 568w, https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/Contagion-poster-300x169.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 540px) 100vw, 540px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-44805\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Movies like Contagion have also played a part in helping to condition the public for the imposition of martial law.<\/p><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">Amid rumors of a national lock-down, and the National Guard already activated in states across the country, rumors are rife that the land of the free will soon be cordoned off behind an iron curtain of martial law.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">Although there have been just 258 reported deaths from coronavirus in the United States, Pentagon officials announced Friday it is drafting plans to take over hotels, college campuses, sports facilities and other buildings \u201cif necessary\u201d to help hospitals accommodate patients.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">\u201cWe would\u2026take the building over in a period of an exceptionally short amount of days, and we would go in and turn this into an ICU-like facility,\u201d Lt. Gen. Todd Semonite said in<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong> <a style=\"color: #ccffff; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/military-role-widens-in-pandemic-response-11584746488\">comments<\/a><\/strong><\/span> to the Wall Street Journal. The remarks come as the National Institutes of Health (NIH) <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong><a style=\"color: #ccffff; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/abcnews.go.com\/Politics\/nih-director-70k-coronavirus-cases-confirmed-us-end\/story?id=69717284\">warns<\/a><\/strong><\/span> that as many as 70,000 Americans could be confirmed as infected with coronavirus by the end of next week.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">Boots are already on the ground in neighborhoods across the nation as 3,300 Air and Army National Guardsmen have been called up in some 30 states and US territories, including California and New York. In Baltimore, meanwhile, the scene was reminiscent of Hurricane Katrina, when thousands of people were forced to <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong><a style=\"color: #ccffff; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Effect_of_Hurricane_Katrina_on_the_Louisiana_Superdome\">seek shelter<\/a><\/strong><\/span> inside of the Louisiana Superdome, as rows of National Guard Humvees were spotted outside of empty stadiums.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Baltimore <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/Am0hEO6ZxB\">pic.twitter.com\/Am0hEO6ZxB<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Peter R. Qui\u00f1ones (@PeterRQuinones) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/PeterRQuinones\/status\/1241100523253780480?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 20, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">In California, meanwhile, where officials say 56 percent of the state \u2013 more than 20 million people, a figure that has been hotly <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong><a style=\"color: #ccffff; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.latimes.com\/california\/story\/2020-03-20\/newsom-california-25-million-coronavirus-cases-two-months\">disputed<\/a><\/strong><\/span> since just 1,195 positive cases and 23 deaths have been reported in the state thus far \u2013 could eventually be infected, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a \u201cstay home\u201d order for the state\u2019s nearly 40 million residents. The clampdown includes the closure of various types of businesses, including dine-in restaurants, entertainment venues and public events and gatherings, according to the California state government <a style=\"color: #ccffff;\" href=\"https:\/\/covid19.ca.gov\/stay-home-except-for-essential-needs\/\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>website<\/strong><\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">Needless to say, it is almost impossible to imagine the lock-down of America\u2019s most liberal and populous state \u2013 where crime and tent cities have overtaken many urban areas \u2013 without some heavy military assistance. Newsom anticipated such fears when he told a presser that martial law would not be necessary to impose order \u201cat this moment.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">\u201cIf you want to establish a framework of martial law, which is ultimate authority and enforcement, we have the capacity to do that, but we are not feeling at this moment that is a necessity,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Please stop spreading stupid rumors about marshall law. <\/p>\n<p>COMPLETELY FALSE<\/p>\n<p>We will continue to see closings &amp; restrictions on hours of non-essential businesses in certain cities &amp; states. But that is NOT marshall law.<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/marcorubio\/status\/1239553159154057216?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 16, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">Martial law has been instituted on the national level just once in the United States, and that was during the Civil War.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">Amid ruminations of martial law on the streets of America, there is also talk that Trump, who has not been shy about taking harsh measures to stamp out the spread of the virus, which included a travel ban on 26 European nations, may impose a weeks-long ban on domestic air travel, as well as a halt to all non-essential business activity, according to a <a style=\"color: #ccffff;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/washington-secrets\/breaking-trump-eyes-2-week-quarantine-only-drug-grocery-stores-open\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>report<\/strong><\/span><\/a> in The Washington Examiner.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">Such a move, should it actually come to light, would almost certainly necessitate large-scale military assistance. In other words, the imposition of martial law from sea to shining sea. This would give Trump, as Commander-in-Chief, authority over the states and their governors with regards to how to handle not only the coronavirus, but any crime and violence that follows in its wake.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Who will pay the rent?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">Last week, Wall Street hemorrhaged about 4% in turbulent trading as fresh measures \u2013 including massive interventions by central banks to ease market strains \u2013 did nothing to calm investors.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">Meanwhile, large swaths of the international service sector \u2013 hotels and airlines particularly \u2013 are threatened with deep layoffs and even bankruptcies amid the CONVID19 pandemic. The Economic Policy Institute estimated that the outbreak could eliminate three million jobs by summer. Inevitably, millions of American will soon be feeling pain, potentially on a scale not seen since the Great Depression.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">Considering the average American\u2019s personal debt bubble, where an estimated 49% are living paycheck to paycheck, and that wages for the bottom 50% of college graduates (many of who are saddled with record-high tuition debt) are lower today than they were in 2000, and it is easy to understand how any sudden upsurge of unemployment will reverberate through the markets like an earthquake.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">To underscore how serious the government is taking these risks, Trump announced that federal student loan payments will be suspended without penalty for the next two months, while also waiving interest on those outstanding loans as well, Forbes <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong><a style=\"color: #ccffff; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/zackfriedman\/2020\/03\/20\/trump-no-student-loan-payments\/#1484639a7720\">reported<\/a><\/strong><\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">At the same, as the specter of recession looms large on the horizon, the Trump administration is considering an idea that sounds like something the democratic socialist Bernie Sanders would get excited over: the <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong><a style=\"color: #ccffff; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/article\/us-health-coronavirus-usa-checks-explain\/the-white-house-wants-to-give-you-1000-heres-how-it-could-work-idUSKBN2143HT\">distribution<\/a><\/strong><\/span> of free money to every American taxpayer \u2013 $1,000 to be exact. Although that amount of money could be easily blown on a weekend at Disneyland (if it were open), some economics believe it could be the incentive \u2013 similar to the one used in the wake of the 2008 financial crash \u2013 to prevent the US economy from going off the tracks.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Cop out?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">More to the point of this article, however, is what is happening on the order and security front. While it is very encouraging to see that the White House is taking major steps to protect average Americans from economic hardship as a result of CONVID19, there remains the prospect for things getting out of control. With that possibility in mind, it is difficult to understand how some cities and states are actually telling their police to essentially not respond to certain crimes.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">In Philadelphia, for example, the Police Department has been instructed its offices to temporarily stop making arrests for certain nonviolent crimes \u2013 including drug offenses, burglary, economic theft and vandalism \u2013 until next month amid the coronavirus outbreak.\u00a0 According to the memo, <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong><a style=\"color: #ccffff; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.inquirer.com\/health\/coronavirus\/philadelphia-police-coronavirus-covid-pandemic-arrests-jail-overcrowding-larry-krasner-20200317.html\">obtained<\/a><\/strong><\/span> by The Philadelphia Inquirer, arresting officers would detain the offender, process the paperwork, and then release the offender back into the general population. The announcement came 24 hours after Philadelphia courts closed until April 1 to limit the spread of the coronavirus.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">Meanwhile, across the country in Fort Worth, Texas, the police will cease arresting people for \u201clow-level crimes\u201d \u2013 Class C misdemeanors such as thefts involving less than $100 and vandalism \u2013 if a citation can be issued in its place, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram <a style=\"color: #ccffff;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.star-telegram.com\/news\/coronavirus\/article241254951.html\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>reported<\/strong><\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Fort Worth police to stop arresting people for low-level crimes amid COVID-19 concerns <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/tzT5drZj4z\">https:\/\/t.co\/tzT5drZj4z<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Fort Worth Star-Telegram (@startelegram) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/startelegram\/status\/1239858585120780289?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 17, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">Now let\u2019s be clear. One hundred dollars may seem like chump\u2019s change to the powers-that-be, but for people struggling on the front lines against not only a deadly virus, but unemployment as well, that type of money can mean the difference between eating and going hungry. And if criminals know they will only be slapped with an order to appear in court there is little to deter crimes from happening.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">None of this bodes well for the future of Main Street, USA, which on the one hand faces the loss of basic police protection, and on the other full-blown, boots on the road martial law. America is now at a crossroads with regards to how it addresses the coronavirus pandemic, and although the majority of Americans will probably never get sick from the disease, they may very well lose a large chuck of their civil liberties in the coming fallout.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.strategic-culture.org\/news\/2020\/03\/23\/cop-out-will-coronavirus-hysteria-open-door-to-full-blown-martial-law-in-america\/\">Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Is the Coronavirus crisis a dry-run to condition us for the imposition of martial law?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39262,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[105,58],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-204442","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-coronavirus","category-Current_Affairs"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204442","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/39262"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=204442"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204442\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":204446,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204442\/revisions\/204446"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=204442"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=204442"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=204442"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}