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[Ya-ta Boy]

Well, it�s finally happened. �Extremists who oppose the president have begun fantasizing about a military coup to overthrow Obama.�

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/09/30/obama-coup-fantasized-abo_n_304231.html

It had to happen sooner or later. All Glenn Beck�s hinting around was bound to be too coy for some. �Take Back Our Country� indeed. John Perry of Newsmax wrote the column, subsequently taken down but not before someone got a copy:

http://cloudfront.mediamatters.org/static/pdf/newsmax-20090929-perry_coup.pdf

The by-line says Perry is an award-winning writer, but nothing turned up in the way of a bio when I looked. (Maybe he�s counting the time he won the award for Best Smile when he was in the 3rd Grade.) Anyway�Reading the article made me fantasize about seeing Erik Prince drooling into his oatmeal. [Aside: Is there a congenital defect in the Perry family tree? One has to wonder�first Gov. Rick Perry and now John L. Perry. Coincidence, or a case of time to �connect the dots�?]

The core of the piece: �Will the day come when patriotic general and flag officers sit down with the president, or with those who control him, and work out the national equivalent of a �family intervention,� with some form of limited, shared responsibility?

Imagine a bloodless coup to restore and defend the Constitution through an interim administration that would do the serious business of governing and defending the nation. Skilled, military-trained, nation-builders would replace accountability-challenged, radical-left commissars. Having bonded with his twin teleprompters, the president would be detailed for ceremonial speech-making.�

Why doesn�t this guy understand that we already have regularly scheduled coups every four/eight years? They are called elections. Since Jefferson took over from Adams in 1800 the transfer of power has been peaceful (although the argument could be made that 1860 was an exception.) How overthrowing an undisputed election with military force is in any way a defense of the Constitution is beyond me.

Another question is why he thinks it would or could be bloodless. Does he think the whole top level of the military are clones of Brigadier General Jack D. Ripper? I don�t know the personal politics of the current generals, but among the recent retirees are men like Wesley Clark and Colin Powell. I have no reason to believe there aren�t many more like them still on active duty. Aside from the military, does he really think the country would just placidly sit back and let the government be overthrown? The Roman Republic descended into chaos when the generals decided to seize political power: Sulla, Pompey, Julius Caesar, Octavian and Marcus Antony. The end result was destruction of the republic followed by dictatorship. This is the kind of civil war the Radical Right is flirting with, not the kind we had in 1861.

Thomas Friedman put his finger on some of the fundamental causes of this craziness in a related article: �The American political system was, as the saying goes, �designed by geniuses so it could be run by idiots.� But a cocktail of political and technological trends have converged in the last decade that are making it possible for the idiots of all political stripes to overwhelm and paralyze the genius of our system.

Those factors are: the wild excess of money in politics; the gerrymandering of political districts, making them permanently Republican or Democratic and erasing the political middle; a 24/7 cable news cycle that makes all politics a daily battle of tactics that overwhelm strategic thinking; and a blogosphere that at its best enriches our debates, adding new checks on the establishment, and at its worst coarsens our debates to a whole new level, giving a new power to anonymous slanderers to send lies around the world. Finally, on top of it all, we now have a permanent presidential campaign that encourages all partisanship, all the time among our leading politicians.

I would argue that together these changes add up to a difference of degree that is a difference in kind � a different kind of American political scene that makes me wonder whether we can seriously discuss serious issues any longer and make decisions on the basis of the national interest.�

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/30/opinion/30friedman.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1254323475-tXcchVE1rqp3xCIYEUZIXg

As if Obama didn�t have enough to deal with already with the economy, two wars, health care reform, the environment, education reform. It�s long past time we started addressing some of these problems Friedman points to.

In the meantime, maybe it�s time for true patriots to start arming themselves.

[ubermenzch]

I can understand why there's a lot of anger out there. Actually, I'm saddened that there isn't more. It is past time for a second American revolution. But I do wish the anger that is out there would be directed more rationally. It isn't like we were living in plentiful splendor and all of a sudden, Satan himself (Obama) appeared and it all went to hell. Obama is not the big problem.
This talk of Socialism and Communism and Fascism and "the sky is falling!" really is helping no one. And no, it did not help anyone during the Bush presidency either. Wouldn't the interests of these protesters be better served by going out on the streets and screaming for Obama to take their sides against the banks? I guess that is what the majority are doing. It's a pity the most psychotic of the voices drown them out. It's all very depressing.

[Reggie]

The United States Postal Service does the best job of any part of our government. If there's going to be a coup, I'd rather they pull the coup than any other part of the government. Maybe the mailmen and letter sorters can gang up and go postal.

[Ya-ta Boy]

Another little tendril has poked up its ugly little head:

"Last month, the Republican National Committee used Newsmax's email list -- probably for a fee -- to solicit donations and support.

Newsmax -- which published (and later unpublished) a column saying it's not "unrealistic" that there may be a "military intervention" against President Obama -- names the RNC as "our sponsor" in the email, which is signed by RNC chair Michael Steele."

http://tpmlivewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/09/republican-national-committee-sponsors-newsmax.php?ref=fpb

[Reggie]

Sure. Why not? The Republicans have misused our military for every other illegitimate purpose under the sun. They might as well use it for a coup too.

[Rusty Shackleford]

[Moldy Rutabaga]

Only in America is the president getting oral sex a national controversy and elected officials encouraging acts of treason acceptable.

I think the quip about postal workers was not meant seriously. Besides, if postal workers tried to overthrow the government, they would only work on it between 9-12 AM and 1-4 PM weekdays and not on holidays. By the time they organize a coup, Obama will have retired.

[Ya-ta Boy]

Connect the dots indeed. I stumbled on yet another Perry. Guess who?

Stolen from another post: "What is clear is that Ms. Cheney, at a minimum, has become a rallying point for conservative views on national security. In a broader sense, she is being promoted as a rising star of the Republican Party, one who is hardly shying from the Cheney brand. (She is married to the lawyer Phillip Perry, but uses her maiden name.)

Which Ms. Cheney? None other than Liz.

Screw the Rockefellars and the International Jewish Conspiracy, the Venusian Lizards and the Illuminati. Be gone, Masons!! The real threat to American liberty is the PERRY FAMILY. Why has bacaspar been hiding this from us? Is he in on it, too?

[Reggie]

[Reggie]

[ontheway]

The chances of the US military undertaking a coup against Obama are slightly greater than the odds of the sun going supernova during his term, but less than the odds that Earth will be hit by a major comet or asteroid during his term.

[Rusty Shackleford]

[Enrico Palazzo]