I was watching just now a show on National Geographic called "Doomsday," about what would happen if terrorists detonated a nuclear weapon on Washington D.C.

So the current head of FEMA and other government agencies made statements about how that situation would be handled--and getting a handle on it would chaotic at best. The aftermath would probably be managed better than the mess in Haiti, but organization of resources would be scatter shot at best, because no country can be really prepared for that scenario.

Martial law would be imperative, and constitutional law suspended, the show pointed out. And secret, secure, underground bunkers would hide the president and other officials. Starting with Eisenhower, and fears of atomic attacks, plans were laid about how the government would proceed should the president and vice president and others in line to take over be killed. It was the "COG" plan.

I didn't know this: That under Nixon, the unelected civilians in line to take over in the COG plan included Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney. I think ever since that time these two salivated on how to do just that. It must be a bitter pill for them not to have succeeded. Close, but no cigar.

susil