Customer Reviews

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

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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.

This book is a great into to the shadow government. It will wet the appetite as to the extent of what goes on behind the scenes. However, there are more complete works in this genre written by people like Jim Marrs, David Icke, and DVD's by Alex Jones that are much better and worth the money.

The books presents a scenario of September 11th had a plane stuck the Capitol and killed most of Congress, a history of executive orders, and overviews of how the "shadow government" works and where it operates.

It all sounds very interesting but reads like typical conspiracy theory literature. The author contends we don't need a shadow government, but rather a sunshine government. He doesn't make much of a case in either direction. The book is rather lackluster and the absence of any footnotes, endnotes or bibliography make it frustrating. It is impossible to even use this book as a starting point to continue research about the topic.

It was a fun read, but the last third of the book is the actual texts of three executive orders which led to the creation of the agencies that comprise the shadow government and its predecessors. If you like to read legal code then you will like this, otherwise it is rather dry. The space could better have been used more carfully debate the need for a shadow government on a point by point basis, or omitted to reduce the price of the book.