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Posted on 12/23/2016 5:41:05 PM PST by hiho hiho
There has been a great deal of hand-wringing lately, particularly in progressive circles, about how a Trump presidency could destroy American democracy: the end of free speech and a free press, the influence of money in politics rising to the level of a true oligarchy, Supreme Court appointments that end cherished civil rights, like abortion rights, voting rights, and equal protection. These changes could be coming, and they could be every bit as destructive to the core values of our democracy as many people fear.
But a Trump presidency poses a far more direct, permanent, and existential threat to our democracy that has had almost no notice in the media: the threat that a Trump presidency would trigger a coup. Not an armed rebellion, but a bloodless coup brought about by a reckless and indefensible presidential order, and a refusal of Trump's subordinates to carry it out.
Imagine for a moment that Trump ordered a nuclear first strike of China because the Chinese Premier insulted him on Twitter. Or imagine that Trump ordered the armed take over of Saturday Night Live to stop Alec Baldwin's unflattering caricatures of him. Now imagine that the Joint Chiefs or the FBI SWAT team or the missile-silo commanders simply refused to carry out the order. For most of us, that refusal would be a good, responsible, reassuring response. It would also be a coup. Under our constitutional structure, the President is the chief officer of the executive branch of government and the commander in chief of the military.
This is the scenario that I have been playing in my head since the election, and it is not nearly as far-fetched as it sounds. All it takes is a reckless, dangerous, abuse of power by Donald Trump (and that sentence pretty much writes itself). That would leave the fate of our democracy in the hands of the people to whom he gives orders. If they comply: World War III, autocracy, the end of life as we know it. If they refuse, we are Turkey, Burma, Pakistan - a titular democracy whose continued existence ultimately depends on the whims of its generals.
Whatever one may think is broken with our democracy - campaign finance, government surveillance, executive power - we are still fundamentally a democracy. A country in which military leaders and bureaucrats have to decide whether to follow a president's orders (and can and must decide not to, if human survival depends on doing so) is not.
Carrie Leonetti is a professor of criminal and constitutional law at the University of Oregon School of Law.
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That's as far as I could get.
Even if we imagined that, we already know how Trump would respond. With twitter, not with nuclear weapons.as a first strike. He has proven that. He gets attacked and he attacks back in kind via twitter. He already can afford muscle to deliver a message, like the Clintons did, but he merely attacks back via twitter.
She is probably tenured.
Bovine excrement! The real problem here is that people like the author are reproducing.
What if there’s already been a soft coup? Such as, in regards to military assistance to ISIS?
One can see where it would be in the interests of all parties to keep it quiet. Obama would be loathe to admit he’s not in full control, and the US military would not care to advertise its (limited) defiance of the CIC.
If that’s the case, then the inauguration of Trump would presumably be the end of the coup.
Not the one in trouble for wearing blackface on Halloween, though.
We can only hope this dimwitted buffalo cries itself to sleep every night until finally Darwin’s laws take over and the ridiculously weak are thinned out.
Which is why their brainwashed students spout the same garbage
The sky is falling, the sky is falling ...
Hysteria from Marxists and useful idiots seeking to subvert this nation. This is naked sedition calling for a coup, an overthrow of the government.
#ItCouldHappen
And she doesn’t know we are a Republic, not a Democracy!
If you bought all the garbage the Hillary/Progressive Camp was spewing about Trump. That he is a madman, a thin-skinned Tweeter, with no emotional control—That he is—in his heart—evil and a 21st Century Hitler. It all makes sense in a twisted way. Its not true—Trump would never start a nuke war because everyone would lose. He is no more a new Hitler than he’s groucho Marx. BUT such views may well cause some misguided soul from attempting to shoot Trump—seeing it as a way to save the Nation, and save the lives of 6 million Islamic women and children from Trumps Gas Chambers. Trump just needs to counter this propaganda with doing a good job as President. What could he do?
1. Move the US Embassy to Jerusalem.
2. Start a fund to rebuild the Temple of Solomon.
3. Start a cultural exchange with Russia.
4. Put Churchill’s Bust back.
5. Round up more prisoners for Gitmo.
6. Invite the Pres. of Republic of China to the White House.
7. Invite Volunteerism in America to re-build America.
8. Visit Russia, England, France, Egypt & Israel.
9. Drop the change to the $20 Bill.
10. Repeal all executive Orders from Obama.
11. Have his first “Cabinet Meeting” Right after the Parade
12. Set a special prosecutor to investigate Clintons.
Bwahahahaha...
The best quote on the Trump phenomenon came from Salena Zito of The Atlantic:
“The press takes him literally, but not seriously; his supporters take him seriously, but not literally.”Perfect example.
People who intend you harm will tell you what they are going to do if you’ll just listen to them.
Nice list. It’s a start.
"This is the scenario that I have been playing in my head since the election, and it is not nearly as far-fetched as it sounds.
These statements are unbelievable. Can a "professor of criminal law and constitutional law" really be this stupid?
I wonder if she was merely contemplating her navel or actually masturbating when she came up with this fantasy.
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