I had the strangest thought yesterday….
The US Army Corps of Engineers has been hestitant and given warnings about the poorly planned pipeline route. They gave the Bush mis-administration warnings about the levees in New Orleans before Katrina, so clearly they know what they are doing.
US military veterans are now on site at the protest, while the cowardly never-weres and gun happy thugs stand on the other side. The far right mouthpieces who spewed the line, “Support the troops!” will no doubt be silent now or engaging in hypocritical weasel words (e.g. “They’re not soldiers!”).
I’m beginning to wonder if it’s beyond possibility (hope?) that some modern day Smedley Butlers in the US military say, “Hell no” to Trump and take action. Think back to multiple military coups in Thailand, the 1992 coup in Algeria, or recently failed coup in Turkey – these were not as much power grabs as attempts to prevent anti-democratic forces from taking power. (Since there are some who will falsely claim othewise if I don’t issue a caveat, No, I don’t necessarily see those coups as good things.) There’s rumours that a similar coup may happen soon in the Philippines.
The US is not “too big to fail” or overthrow. Nobody thought the military would turn on the hard line Soviet communists in 1991, or that generals and soldiers would refuse orders during the Tiananmen Square uprising. And nobody thought Prescott Bush and the far right would attempt a coup in the US in 1934. It’s not impossible until it’s physically impossible.
All it would take is US military leaders demanding the electoral college go with the popular vote, refusing to obey Trump if they don’t.
Um, I’m pretty certain most of the military is right-wing. They won’t oppose Trump. If anything it’ll be the opposite. If he loses in 2020 I could easily see him declaring himself the winner and calling in the military to crack down on ‘economic terrorists’ who rigged the election against him.
See my other reply, re: Mark Felt.
Unfortunately, given the penetration of the armed forces by the religious right, I think it’s far more likely that the military would back Trump should he one day refuse to leave office.
You never know. Mark Felt was as “establishment” as they came, #2 at the FBI and not a “bleeding heart liberal”. As Deep Throat, he deep sixed Nixon.