Washington (Gallant Gold Media Hill Report) – The safety and well-being of Americans from coast to coast, and living around the world, is of paramount importance. The annual federal dollars budgeted for protecting Americans and our borders is staggering:
- DHS | $47.5 billion
- FBI | $8.77 billion
- US Intelligence | $57.7 billion
- DOD | $639.1 billion
- SD| $90.3 billion
- FEMA | $18 billion
- TOTAL | $861.37 billion
States also have significant budgets allocations for protecting citizens. Safety and security is clearly a priority.
The standard continuity of government protocols for national emergencies involves our nation’s top ten leaders shifting into “emergency” response. There are strict guidelines to follow. For example, the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack:
- President Bush was stuck on a plane in the air with all airports closed
- Vice President Cheney made a decision to stay in communication with key decision makers and thus did not fall back to his secure site
- House Speaker Denny Hastert was immediately take to underground bunker in the mountains
- Attorney General John Ashcroft was on a government plane, he requested that it be turned around and return to Washington, but the FAA would not authorize
- Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfield refused to obey the response protocols and instead rushed to the Pentagon’s crash sight and tried to rescue the injured
- Several of the 10 in line to the president were out of the country and could not follow the proper procedure
- Several others were never contacted
On Friday February 15, 2019 President Trump held an erratic press conference in the Rose Garden to announce his “national emergency.” Most described it as a wild fifty minutes of Trump switching from one topic to the next, without rhyme or reason, ending with a final comment, “I didn’t need to do this .” Then, instead of following the standard continuity of government protocols, Trump hopped on Air Force One and beelined it to Mar-a- Lago for a luxurious weekend of golf.
Texts from the twin towers on September 11, 2001, a real national emergency, were heart wrenching. The last thoughts from thousands who were about to die. The following is an example of what a real national emergency sounds and feels like from those caught in the crosshairs:
Several National Emergency hashtags have been lighting up Twitter all day, #FAKENationalEmergency and #NotesFromNationalEmergency:
In memory of the thousands killed in past, real national emergencies, and the agonizing internal wounds of family members that will never heal, it’s disgraceful that an American president would pull a stunt like this and label it a national emergency when doing so traumatizes those who’ve suffered through the tormenting real deal. This is shameful.
Hill Report 