From the August 2000 Idaho Observer:

Martial law is coming to the following communities

If it was coming to yours, how would you know unless you looked?

By Don Harkins

I am going to be frank. I was disappointed in the response we received in our call to readers of the SPOTLIGHT and The Idaho Observer to determine the status of “emergency powers” among public officials at the city and county level. It is outrageous that conspiracy “theorists” would gripe about the coming new world order and await some overt and inevitable sign that it has arrived and not spend an hour in county or municipal code to find out if their elected leaders had passed ordinances locally which provide the infrastructure for our national occupation -- one town and one county at a time.

If we, as informed Americans, do not draw our countrymen a map of our pending occupation by despotic forces, we are going to lose what was once the greatest nation the world has ever seen. What is worse, if we do not take responsibility for the freedom of our children and the freedom of our countrymen by spending an hour at city hall or the county courthouse, then we, as a people, deserve to have our freedom taken away.

The passage of emergency powers ordinances in most cases places an unelected bureaucrat in control of all municipal functions in the event of a declared state of emergency. They are being passed all over the country at city, county and state levels. They are being passed in conjunction and in cooperation with federal emergency provisions that will be administrated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

In a declared state of emergency, your unelected city manager (or the police chief, the sheriff, the fire chief) will assume the power to ration food and water, ration power and utilities, create roadblocks and enforce curfews. This emergency “czar” will be the point man for communications with FEMA which, under a variety of laws and executive orders, will have the authority to control everything from commerce and trade to the food and other provisions you have stored for your family in case of an emergency.

While we stupidly await a stock market crash or a world war or a disease pandemic to justify a federal declaration of martial law in response to a national emergency, we are paying “our” duplicitous local leaders to pass laws and ordinances that will make it easy for the kleptocrats to take control of the activities and resources of our nation.

Believe me, I know how dark it is out there. There is fading hope left that we will see in our lifetimes a peaceful return to our birthright of freedom and self responsibility. But what are we going to do -- give up? Are we going to complain until such utterances mean a rope or a firing squad? Are we going to sit back as passive activists and hope that an active activist is able to turn the tide all by himself? Are we going to hope that our detractors were right and that we are really just a bunch of silly conspiracy “theorists” and that this is all a bad dream and that everything is just fine?

Or are we going to do our small part to make a big noise?

I am trading the productive years of my life to work with principled men and women who believe that all men are equal in their rights to pursue life, liberty and happiness. I refuse to give up.

These emergency powers ordinances are easy to find in county or municipal code. They are usually found in a chapter for public health and safety. If you are nice, county and city clerks are usually very accommodating and will help you find the city or county emergency powers ordinance. The process will take less than an hour. If you have access to the Internet, you may find your city or county code to be on-line. Get a copy of the ordinance and send it to The Idaho Observer, PO Box 457, Spirit Lake, Idaho 83869.

There are over 3,000 counties in the U.S. We have about 3,000 counties to go. Help me to draw your countrymen a map.

1. San Marcos, California (San Marcos Municipal Code 2.28.030 -- 2.28.060 1990)

2. Selah, (Yakima County) Washington (Selah Ord. # 1441, 1999)

3. Jackson County, Oregon (Jackson County Code, 244-14, 1994)

4. Allen, Texas (Code of Ordinances, 2-2, 1984)

5. Long Beach, California (Municipal Code, Chapter 2.69, Civil Defense

6. Village of Fox Point, Wisconsin (Ord. #99-20, 1999)

7. Burlington, North Carolina (Burlington Code Section 10-26 -- 10-29, 1986)

8. Hernando County, Florida (Ord. # 97-07 Section 5-6-97, 1997)

9. Medford, Oregon (Ord. #1999-162, 1999)

10. Tucumcari, Quay County, New Mexico (Joint Resolution, November, 1993)

11. Anchorage, Alaska (Anchorage Municipal Code 3.80.010 -- 3.80.110)

12. Costa Mesa, California (Costa Mesa Municipal Code 6-4 -- 6-11, 1999)

13. Eddy County, New Mexico (Joint Powers Agreement with cities of Carlsbad and Artesia; villages of Hope, Loving, and the U.S. Department of Energy, 1993)

14. Whatcom County, Washington (Ord. #89-115, 1989)

15. Santa Rosa County, Florida (Ord. #93-13, 1993)

16. Jackson, California (Jackson Municipal Code 2.32.010 -- 2.32.120)

17. Escambia County, Florida (Escambia County Code 1-24-76 -- 1-24-95, 1995)

18. Bonner County, Idaho (Title 4, Ch. 1, County Code, 1995)

19. Benewah County, Idaho (Ord. #68, 1990)

20. Bakersfield, California (Chapter 2.40-2.4090)

With thanks to all of the people who did respond. We would have published the map that has been dedicated to this project, but, at this time, we have only begun to prove our point visually.

Please take the time to locate the emergency powers ordinances in your area.