Coup still in progress

[mdlbear]

So the head of the GSA has "ascertained" that Biden won the election, meaning that the transition can officially start. Trump, however, has not conceded -- he and his (admittedly decreasing number of) followers continue to look for ways to cheat. Hopefully, they will not succeed, but I think it's an open question whether Trump will walk out of the White House on his own or have to be dragged out by Secret Service agents. I'm not sure it matters.

At this point the Trumpists have the Supreme Court and a lot of the Federal judiciary, and they will probably continue to control the Senate as well. Eventually they'll get back the presidency. The coup hasn't been prevented; most likely it's just been put on hold. The Republicans have been working for the last 50 years to lie and gerrymander their way to a one-party country. They're damned close.

Go read I Lived Through A Stupid Coup. America Is Having One Now and I Lived Through Collapse. America Is Already There. | by Indi Samarajiva. Tell me what you think. I'd like to think he's wrong, but I'm not feeling very hopefull right now.

Comments

[patoadam]

Wise words. May I share this on Facebook?

[mdlbear]

Yes, absolutely!

[dreamshark]

I don't agree. I'm feeling very hopeful. The coup attempt has failed. It was way closer than it should have been, but the institutions of democracy withheld the assault. Not a shot was fired; the tide was turned by heroic bureaucrats like Georgia Secretary of State Raffensperger. The fact that he had to sacrifice his career and withstand death threats just to do his job is chilling, but he did it.

I continued to feel very nervous until yesterday when the State of Michigan managed to pull itself together and do the right thing in the face of unthinkably brazen direct pressure by the POTUS, but in the end it was the Republicans who stood their ground in service of democracy and the embattled Democratic governor did not have to make a move. Read the statement from the Michigan legislature's Republican leadership after their visit to the White House and see if you don't feel a bit better. "We have not yet been made aware of any information that would change the outcome of the election in Michigan and as legislative leaders, we will follow the law and follow the normal process regarding Michigan's electors, just as we have said throughout this election."

I am not happy that the Federal court system has been loaded with conservatives, but I think that the fate of Trump's legal strategy to steal the presidency makes it clear that conservative is not the same as Trumpist. The judge that threw out the Trump campaign's last big case in Pennsylvania (with a savage 37-page rebuttal of their conduct) was not a Trump appointee but he unquestionably identified as a conservative Republican.

Trump is now a has-been. His brand as a Big Winner has collapsed and he is already looking frail and pathetic. In two years he will be where Newt Gingrich was in 1998.

Anyway, that's what I think.

[mdlbear]

I hope you're right; I won't count it as "over" until Biden is sworn in. But the ideas are still out there -- the majority of the Republican party are still behind him, and there's no lack of demagogues capable of picking up where Trump left off.

[kengr]

Check out "It Can't Happen Here" by Sinclair Lewis. I believe I found my copy on the Australian Project Gutenberg site.

[mdlbear]

Thanks! I knew about the book, but haven't read it. Here's a review:

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/essay-creeping-fascism-si_b_10917772

And here's a review of a recent audio drama version (unfortunately no longer available online):

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/26/theater/it-cant-happen-here-review.html

(ETA: here's the Gutenberg link: http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks03/0301001h.html )

[cellio]

I am deeply concerned too. He's not going to stop leading his malicious movement just because he got evicted from the White House. He still has far too many followers. That's scary.

I saw an article today about the secret service asking its people to volunteer to move to Florida to protect him in his resort, which apparently is now going to be his primary residence. I couldn't help thinking that there's an easy and obvious place to protect him for far less trouble: in prison, where he belongs. Won't happen, alas.

[figmo]

Even if Trump pardons himself, it only applies to Federal crimes. He's still got the State of New York going after him. I don't know how it'll play out with them trying to press charges when he's in Florida. Usually states allow extradition of criminals, but given the nature of this (and Florida's Republican governor), I wouldn't be surprised if Florida wouldn't allow him to be sent to NY for trial.

If he were in prison, he'd have to be in solitary confinement for his own safety.

Also note that thanks to Dubya, Trump only gets four years of SS protection. After that, he's on his own.

[figmo]

It's not clear whether the coup will succeed. I don't think we've "been coup'd," but there's clearly been an attempt. If the two Democrats win the runoff Senatorial election in Georgia, the coup will have been crushed. If not, the majority of the Republican Senators will go out of their way to make life difficult. There are a few Senators amongst the Republicans who are capable of thinking for themselves; Mitt Romney comes to mind.

As afraid of Trump as they are, even the most kiss-ass Senators (Mitch McConnell, Lindsay Graham) are saying that "there will be a peaceful transfer of power." John Roberts is showing signs of not letting Trump destroy Democracy. Lower court judges who were appointed by Trump have sided with democracy and not Trump. Republican election officials who voted for Trump are siding with democracy. Trump will continue to fire anyone who doesn't do things His way, but he's out of the White House in January, even if he has to be dragged kicking and screaming.