Imagine if the military staged a coup in the US...

[BurtWorm]

...and declared the government and constitution null and void effective immediately.

How would you react? Would you be glad that the Bushists were out on their asses? Or would you be angry that democracy was not given a chance to correct itself?

Note: I know it's not likely that the military in the US would steal the reins away from right-wingers. But imagine if they did.

[sinkingfeeling]

1. I'd go with the coup, but hope they would keep the Constitution they

have sworn to protect.

[BurtWorm]

6. I'm imagining a situation like the one in Thailand

and most countries where coups are staged. They basically throw it all out, presumably because it wasn't enough to prevent the crisis the coup supposedly addresses.

I actually think we're in the midst of a slow-motion coup, and have been since December 12, 2000. The Constitution is being thrown out, bit by bit, until what's left is Dick Cheney's idea of an ideal governmnet.

[Chipper Chat]

2. I dont know the answer, but the first image that came to mind

was blivet and family and staff being evicted from the White House at the point of a gun. Maybe "Laura Pack Your Bags" knows something we dont.

[woodsprite]

3. Wouldn't it be more likely they'd reinstate the Constitution? n/t

[dkofos]

4. If rummy was in charge

I would run for the hills

[kimmerspixelated]

7. which in a real nightmare world

would be the time they finally close the borders. Murphy's Marshall law!

[BurtWorm]

9. Being a civilian, I'm imagining he would be one of the first to lose power

I'm talking about a coup in which the generals take control and the civilians are thrown to the street.

[William769]

5. Call me a right winger if you want ot but...

I would have to side with Bush.

[kimmerspixelated]

10. Okay...WHY!

[William769]

12. We have had a peaceful transfer of power for over 200 years.

Thats why!

[kimmerspixelated]

15. But, But, But!!

We've also had fairly normal presidents up until the last 6 years as well. We are not dealing with a normal situation by any means!

[William769]

17. And our Constitution will take care of it.

I know I must be the odd man out here, but I have faith in our form of Government and if it were to be attacked in any way shape or form I would be there to defend it.

Bush is there we have to deal with that, but this too shall pass.

[otherlander]

20. Reagan was pretty bad, too.

We didn't need a coup to get rid of him.

[BlooInBloo]

39. Dunno if I'd call that "siding with bush"... but yah....

... the scariest thing in the world is breaking our streak of peaceful civilian-to-civilian power transfer.

[lumberjack_jeff]

8. 99% of us would hide in our homes, gathered around our TV's

... while it tells us to obey.

A military coup wouldn't really take power from us, it'd take power from the corporations which currently run our government.

Either way, we're helpless spectators.

[kimmerspixelated]

13. You may be right...

I think in our minds we are romanticizing a coup in a different light. We are thinking like Tom Paine, Thom Edison, The Founding Fathers kind of thing- ya know- A REVOLUTION!

[BurtWorm]

14. You're right. A coup is not a revolution.

It's a military treating the people like children. I would not be in favor of a coup.

[kimmerspixelated]

18. Oh...I thought a coup

in this instance would be like the military treating the WH and co. like children, not the people. Removing the idiots while there's still some time, before we all get blown to bits, due to their ill advised and diabolical plans.

[BurtWorm]

24. That would probably be the impulse for a coup in the present context.

So it would no doubt provoke more complicated feelings in me than I could even imagine. I certainly wouldn't trust the military to hand power over to the people. I would imagine we'd have to put up with a period of dictatorship.

[Ignacio Upton]

11. Not sure if I could go along with it

While Bush is a pseudo-fascist, I'd rather not have a real coup. Although if the people carrying out the coup shut down Fox News and other organs of the VRWC, like the Heritage Foundation, I would watch and let them get wrecked and do nothing to help them.

[davekriss]

16. I would side with the Constitution in opposition...

...of both usurpers of the power inherent in We the People. I would stand in active opposition of both Bush and the coup and work with others to restore our democracy.

[kimmerspixelated]

19. But what if the coup people

were TRYING to restore democracy, by just trying to purge!??

[davekriss]

22. I side with the Constitution in this scenario

The military of Eisenhower's military-industrial complex would not be restoring democracy, they'd be seizing power to further, deepen, and consolidate the benefits they receive under the current regime. However, let me accept for the moment your unlikely scenario, i.e. a coup intending to purge our political institutions of the neo-fascists now occupying it in order to restore democracy. My answer: I would side in opposition to both usurpers of our Constitution, the Bush regime and the military coup. The only revolution I could side with is one clearly led and run by We the People.

On edit: I'd march to our modern Selma in non-violent opposition to these usurpers, take the bullet, and hope I'm followed by millions. A bottom-up change, irresistible and unstoppable.

[datasuspect]

21. we had a coup in this country already

in 2000.

[Cha]

27. That we did..there are all kinds

of coups.

The question is..Will it get down to having one of our own? I'm leaning that way because of the fascist media in our country.

[mnhtnbb]

28. Bingo! A judiciary coup--not military.

[lumberjack_jeff]

32. We stood by and watched helplessly last time.

Seems likely the people would stand by and watch helplessly again next time.

I think we practice democracy up to about the state legislator level, but no higher.

[datasuspect]

33. that is the sad part

if there was ever a time to get out in the streets (and free speech cattle pen protests don't cut it) it was then.

[The Wielding Truth]

34. It seems so.How could this country ever publicly condone torture?

How could this country have let BushCo take advantage?

[bamacrat]

23. It would be bad to our economy, but......

Ive said it once Ill say it again coup, coup.

[Jed Dilligan]

25. I imagine that different elements of the military

would end up on different sides. Maybe it would be Army and Navy versus Air Force and Marines, or maybe it would happen on the level of individual units. There would be some units who would defend the regime and others trying to oust it. It would be civil war. I see myself on the side of...

...New Zealand.

[Cha]

26. They might if there were enough

sane military leaders like there appears to be in Thailand.

This thaksin reminds me of the bushits..

snip~

"Thaksin's critics want to jettison his policies promoting privatization, free trade agreements and CEO-style administration.

Opposition to Thaksin gained momentum in January when his family announced it had sold its controlling stake in telecommunications company Shin Corp. to Singapore's state-owned Temasek Holdings for a tax-free $1.9 billion. Critics allege the sale involved insider trading and complain a key national asset is now in foreign hands.

Thaksin also has been accused of stifling the media and mishandling a Muslim insurgency in southern Thailand that flared under his rule."

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/091906A.shtml

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

29. It would be about the only thing that could be worse than Bush.

There's a long history of military dictatorships - all of them horrible. But, hell, considering the military/industrial complex that runs this country now, it wouldn't be such a long step to have a bunch of tinware bedecked generals and colonels shooting down the citizenry to "save" us.

[Mutley]

30. I'd have to side with the Constitution, and not with the military.

[tocqueville]

31. "the good coups" are rare and one like this would lead

probably to a civil war...

this could work only if the leaders of the coup have a deep insight of what's wrong in America, which is not likely

they'd probably reiterate the foundation myths in the best case, which wouldn't solve any problems.

Defending the old Constitution isn't a good solution in the long run. The actual Constitution has inherent major flaws but is still mythified (this thread is a living proof of it). It's because of the actual flaws that the current situation has happened. Those major flaws are the electoral system (which is on third world level), the Senate and the Supreme Court. Besides the Bill of Rights is very limited compared to the UN Declaration of Human Rights (which isn't incorporated in the Constitution).

In the best case a new charismatic leader would instore military law for a period, but delegate to a panel of experts (politicians, historians, jurists etc...) the task to draw a new modern Constitution where the flaws of the old ones are rectified. The text should be short, clear and concise and be only a framework for the rules under which Congress should pass laws and what prerogatives of the President (in case this system is preserved) would have.

A new electoral system defined, the senate's role should be limited to a second opinion of laws by simple majority and the Supereme court sent back to civil legislation. A new constitutional court composed of laymen and jurists elected for a certain period of time should only deal with constitutionality of passed or proposed laws.
Of course separation of Church and State is written CLEARLY in the Constitution and all references to religion banned from public services.

A referendum then should validate the yes or no with paper ballots

then after redistricting, general elections to all bodies would be held, using the same methods of paper ballots.

Then the military government would resign and their leadership probably used to calm down the armed insurgency from religious extremist militias, neonazis and others in some remote parts of the country...

[BurtWorm]

35. Thanks for posting so thoughtfully.

:toast:

Merci beaucoup.

[Arkham House]

42. An excellent, thoughtful post...

...it seems to me that any coup in this country would essentially be a "conservative"--with a small-c--coup. Something like what happened in England in 1688, when the Whigs and Tories put aside their differences when they realized that James II had overstepped the lines of the informal Constitution...and in fact, something similar did happen in Watergate, when it was the traditional Conservatives--like Goldwater--who realized finally that Nixon had overstepped the bounds, and had to go... Today, I don't see that "traditional" conservative tradition left...just Conservatives-with-a-big-C, the ideologues...which is why I'm doubtful any coup could succeed in avoiding civil war...

[FILAM23]

36. Due to the fact peaceful transitions have worked for over 200 years

I would have to side with the Bushists and the Constitution.
The only scenario I could envision supporting a coup would be if
Bush/Cheney declare martial law.

[RagAss]

37. martial law with what????...we don't have enough troops to occupy Delaware

[windbreeze]

38. The military takes an oath to uphold the constitution....

They can have their coup....but I don't think they would declare the constitution null and void...their oath is to the constitution, not to the president...
I will have more faith in this democracy correcting itself AFTER seeing how the midterms turn out...
IF we do attack Iran..all bets are off as to what will happen...
wb

[bobthedrummer]

40. Col. Charles J. Dunlap, Jr. wrote an Occasional Paper for USAF's

Institute for National Security Studies/INSS that is still worth reading. It was published in October 1996 and is titled "Melancholy Reunion: A Report From The Future On The Collapse Of Civil-Military Relations In The United States"
http://www.guerrillacampaign.com/coup.htm

[ComerPerro]

41. Most likely: The Military would do it FOR BushCo, and turn on citizens

[BuyingThyme]

43. Didn't this already happen?

[uppityperson]

44. They are trying to.

imagine.

[Jcrowley]

45. I think they have

at $600-700 billion/ year I'd say they are running things a bit. Check a nation's pocketbook and you'll see it's priorities.