LA Times Opt-Ed: If Trump Wins, a Coup isn’t Impossible Here in the U.S.


As is par for the course, the article was filled with comments made by Trump that were taken out of context. It even accused Trump of cheating to grab hold of the nomination, saying:

Throughout the campaign, Trump has repeatedly bragged about ordering soldiers to commit war crimes, and has dismissed the possibility that he would face any resistance. “They won’t refuse,” he told Fox News’ Bret Baierearlier this year. “They’re not gonna refuse me. Believe me.”  When Baier insisted that such orders are “illegal,” Trump replied, “I’m a leader. I’ve always been a leader. I’ve never had any problem leading people. If I say do it, they’re going to do it.”

Oh really? Blimpish swagger might fly within the patriarchal confines of a family business, a criminal operation (the distinction is sometimes blurred) or a dictatorship. It does not, however, work in a liberal democracy, legally grounded by a written constitution, each branch restrained by separation of powers.

Try to imagine, then, a situation in which Trump commanded our military to do something stupid, illegal or irrational. Something so dangerous that it put the lives of Americans and the security of the country at stake. (Trump’s former rival for the Republican presidential nomination, Marco Rubio, said the United States could not trust “the nuclear codes” to an “erratic individual.”) Faced with opposition from his military brass, Trump would perhaps reconsider and back down. But what if he didn’t?

In that case, our military men and women, who swear to uphold the Constitution and a civilian chain of command, would be forced to choose between obeying the law and serving the wishes of someone who has explicitly expressed his utter lack of respect for it.

They might well choose the former.

If you’ve been reading the news lately, you might have noticed the suffocating amount of articles poking fun at Republicans and Donald Trump more specifically. This has nothing to do with liberal confidence in Hillary, and everything to do with their own fears that Trump might actually win. And what about Hillary? This country would be doomed if she were elected. She would destroy everything and then lie about it, while hiding the evidence in a bathroom in Colorado.

See what I did there?

Source: latimes.com

 



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