In a coup the regular workings of a country are broken down, ignored or abused by the coup makers. There’s no way to institute anti-coup barriers that cannot be likewise broken down, ignored or abused.
A problem with the US today is that people have come to think that the stability of governance somehow exists outside of the people making up the government, and that a large fraction of the elected governance either considers stability optional, or are crossing their fingers that the house of cards wont collapse, because speaking up risks them being replaced.
On the plus side, I hope it means that these people don’t have the stomach for what they would face.
These are delusional people who think they are liberators. You could see how shocked many of them got when Ashli Babbitt was shot for trying to murder politicians. They didn’t expect that. They expect everyone to throw roses at them while they try to violently overthrow democracy and establish a white supremacist dictatorship.
I think a lot of them just like to complain and play pretend soldier, but most don’t have the stomach for a long term civil war. At least I hope not.
Sadly though people who have been arrested are being charged with misdemeanors and given a few months in prison at worst. Its giving the wrong message and these people will not learn their actions have consequences.
Regarding Posse Comitatus If the National Guard can be made part of the US Army, can units of the US Army be sent to serve with a state’s National Guard?
No. The National Guard are reserve components of their respective services (US Army or US Air Force) but they are organized militias under the nominal authority of state, district, or territorial governor as codified under 10 U.S. Code § 246. National Guard units can be called up by Presidential order (“Federalized”) under 10 U.S. Code § 12406 (or be called up by the Secretary of Defense under executive authority, which is more common of late). There is no mechanism for transferring US Army or other units from other branches to state/territorial authority.
The thing is all of these attempts to overturn democracy depend on the willingness of other people to obey the law.
These right wingers aren’t a real majority, no matter how they picture themselves. If they were really a majority, they could win elections legitimately.
At some point they’ll go too far and abandon the pretense of acting within the law. They’ll simply go for a naked power grab.
And then they will discover what happens when the rule of law is no longer in effect. Political issues will be decided by who has more power. And those right wingers will learn the same lesson the Confederates learned in 1865.
It’s a different situation in 2021 than in 1865; the Civil War pitted one region against another. A civil conflict here would be messier - probably not nearly as bloody but a lot more complex.
A federal misdemeanor would be a misdemeanor, not a felony.
A felony would be a felony. The federal part is just the jurisdiction, not the severity.
And a capital crime is one where the death penalty is on the table, usually things like premediated murder. Admittedly, i wouldn’t mind seeing that for some of the insurrectionists, but it is not anything that anyone is being charged with.
So no, they are not being charged with felonies. They will not have a felony on their record.
Ok. I did not know that there where federal misdemeanors. I guess I thought all federal crimes would be a felony.
Makes sense now. I guess if a person litters in a national park, that would be a federal misdemeanor, since it would not be a ‘state’ crime.
Is there a bright line between a felony and misdemeanor? A defining characteristic?
The line is more in the punishment than in the infraction.
A misdemeanor carries less than a year imprisonment, and a felony carries more than a year. The fine for a misdemeanor is $1000 or less, and for a felony is more than $1000.
Obviously, the idea is that a felony is a worse crime, but that’s up to the legislature to decide, and doesn’t always follow a “common sense” rule. Murder will probably always be a felony, but various forms of assault or theft can run the spectrum. Drug crimes are all over the place.
And some misdemeanors become felonies for repeat offenders.
Or, apparently, attempts an insurrection against the govt.
They will be in a novel, where when a Mexican complains, “The United States took a third of my country!” and the Southern expatriate replies, “Hell, they took all of mine.”