Inside the Shadow Government: National Emergencies and the Cult of Secrecy

by Harry Helms

Book Overview

On 1 March 2002, The Washington Post reported that a parallel shadow government' had been activated in the wake of September 11. The first in-depth exploration of this frightening topic, this book... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 092291589X
• ISBN13: 9780922915897
• Release Date: April 2003
• Publisher: Feral House
• Length: 225 Pages
• Weight: 1.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.5" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

Exec. Orders + Gov't Crisis Apparatus = Threat to Freedom

Before reading Helms's book I knew little about Executive Orders and nothing about the feds' Continuity of Government plans in the event of a severe national crisis (e.g., a WMD attack on Washington, D.C.). Now I know why. If these topics aren't discussed in high-school civics classes, it might be because this stuff is too scary to teach kids if your goal is to indoctrinate them with the notion that the American government is still strongly pro-freedom. In addition, a lot of the information is highly classified, although the outlines are laid out clearly (and many of the blanks filled in) by Helms.Martial law isn't a pretty prospect, but contingency plans for it have been in development for decades. How bad can things get? Think of FDR's Executive Order 9066, which authorized (without evidence of any wrongdoing) the internment of innocent Japanese-Americans during World War II -- then multiply by 10 or so, as "Rex 84" (a contingency plan based on a FEMA exercise authorized by Reagan), would have done. Meanwhile, selected federal officials would be sent to manage the crisis from the confines of a classified FEMA facility at Mount Weather, Virginia (where many are currently sent on rotation).Helms discusses the history of executive orders, the growth of FEMA (the Federal Emergency Management Agency), how and why information gets classified, how the Shadow Government does business off the books, the military's plans for continuity of leadership and its relocation shelters, militarized law enforcement, and subcontractors of the Shadow Government.Although conspiracy buffs will eat this stuff up, Helms's objective reporting sets him apart from those who don't require much evidence or who lack strong journalism skills. "Inside the Shadow Government" is responsible, well-researched, documented (you can read some of the most far-reaching executive orders yourself in the book's lengthy appendix) -- and riveting. What a sobering eye-opener!

A compelling book!

What I like about this book is how the author doesn't just speculate but cites his sources, like the New York Times, Washington Post, and federal laws. Especially interesting were pages 133 and 134, where the author quotes the exact section of federal law that allows declaration of martial law by local military commanders without presidential authorization. The author does the same with laws allowing the seizure of radio and TV stations, confiscation of private property, and detention of citizens without a warrant in cases of national emergency. (What is a national emergency? Whatever the president says is a national emergency.) Helms reproduces the entire text of executive order 9066, issued by President Roosevelt in 1942 to keep Japanese-Americans in detention camps until after World War II. That order was twice upheld by the Supreme Court, and a future president could use the same order to hold another group of Americans in detention camps whenever that president declares a "national emergency".The quotes from Oliver North's testimony to Congress in 1987 about the "Rex84" plans for handling national emergencies was frightening. Some people in Washington act like the Constitition and Bill of Rights is a problem they have to overcome.The subject of this book is like dying, the thought of it is so scary that many people won't be able to think about it rationally. But Helms raises many good points and cites the relevant parts of the laws that make the "shadow government" possible.