“The group begins arrangements over concerns for public safety in the ten week period between the conclusion of the national elections and the proclamation of the president,” Thomson writes, adding the group is sponsoring an essay contest on the best way for the group’s members to respond to the anticipated emergency.”

Similar groups in Alabama and other states have reported they are readying as well for something much worse: implementation of martial law.
 

National Presidential Security Directive 51 – an Executive Order, not a law passed by Congress – “gives” the President the authority to implement martial law in the event of a major national emergency … including suspending the Constitution, elections and all other trappings of democratic government. Some of the militia members say that violence following the November election could very well be the trigger for implementation of that order by President George W. Bush under the guise of “protecting” the people.

“The 2008 elections will give Bush the reason he’s been looking for,” notes one militia website.

One observer says the militias may have to act because even with the Heller decision, increasing federal power-grabbing will eventually serve to define them as a threat to national security.

“As dissenters of big government, militias will be natural targets for career politicians seeking to improve their own fortunes,” writes Jason Oldham in ‘The Coming Demise of American militias.’. “In the not-too-distant future, under the ‘guidance’ of a very potent unitary executive…we could see Federal investigations of any and all civic groups. Because they have a tradition of firearms ownership and militant opinions, it may not be unreasonable to suggest that the militias will be among the first “dangerous groups” to be so closely examined and outlawed. … There may come a time when U.S. militias are forced underground. Because American militias have such a strong tradition of reluctance to act, this will be the most logical step when the time comes.”