Reply #18: me too

[miscsoc]

hopefully the security services are keeping close watch. I have a bit of a fascination with the fringes of the american right and there's clearly a substantial element there that believes in violent subversion. I don't think any sort of coup without military backing could succeed, but a few hundred committed terrorists could cause a lot of havoc. Think about what Al-Qaeda have achieved in terms of altering the course of world history by hijacking a few planes.

An attempted putsch, however doomed, could frighten the electorate away from the mild social reforms obama is working on - they might turn to a conservative strongman in the name of order.