Potential Martial Law?

Noise and panic caused by the response to the pandemic makes it hard to sort out the truth from the hype.  Regardless, the appearance of this article supports a concern I have had now for several days.  As we continue to see more and more austere restrictions being placed on the American public (and as Mark Osterholm has stated, "Quarantine without criteria"), you have to wonder how much longer before we inevitably land at martial law.

Newsweek just published an article entitled "The Military's Top Secret Plan If Coronavirus Cripples the Government". It should not surprise anyone familiar with the government and the military that such contingency plans exist.  What is concerning is that someone felt it necessary to share the existence of these plans with a journalist.  Or perhaps it is just a psyop move to test the public's reaction to martial law?

In either case, now is not the time to dismiss such articles as the work of "liberals" or "conspiracy nuts" as the plans for continuity of operations are very real (I know, we were working on these during the preparations for the avian flu 15 years ago).  Unlike other scenarios, the threat from coronavirus means that essential all of the government leaders are vulnerable and come succumb to infection at the same time and/or die.  This would create an almost unimaginable situation where the military assumes command of the US government from civilian leaders.  The US has always had civilian control of the military, reversing could have long-term consequences for our country.

The real question that needs to be asked before it becomes too late is if we were to go under martial law, what conditions need to exist before we see marital law being lifted?  If civilian leadership is replaced by the military, how long will that exist? How would the US civilian government be reconstructed?  Here in Ohio we just had to postpone the primary elections due to concerns about the pandemic.  What if those conditions continue to exist and the aren't allowed out to vote a new government in for an extended period of time?