# It wasn’t a coup **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 13, 2021, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-wasn-t-a-coup/930407 "2021-01-13T05:29:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 14
**Author:** ![rboyce](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rboyce/32/4066_2.png) [@rboyce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rboyce)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2021, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-wasn-t-a-coup/930407/261 "2021-01-15T01:13:23Z")
# [It wasn’t a coup](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-wasn-t-a-coup/930407) yes it was and the attempt continues ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2021, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-wasn-t-a-coup/930407/262 "2021-01-15T01:14:54Z")
> [@Ike\_Witt](#): > > Was Trump willing to sacrifice Pence in order to declare martial law? Hanged, on Fifth Avenue, in broad daylight, with a Trump brand tie. ---
**Author:** ![rboyce](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rboyce/32/4066_2.png) [@rboyce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rboyce)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2021, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-wasn-t-a-coup/930407/263 "2021-01-15T01:16:09Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > I agree, this was a motley bunch of disorganized rabble storming the Capitol But, but, but they were organized. Check out CNN and MSNBC dump FOX ---
**Author:** ![rboyce](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rboyce/32/4066_2.png) [@rboyce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rboyce)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2021, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-wasn-t-a-coup/930407/264 "2021-01-15T01:21:11Z")
> [@Sitnam](#): > > Hang the current GOP for their role in what happened Are you advocating murder-? Just asking ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2021, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-wasn-t-a-coup/930407/265 "2021-01-15T01:41:29Z")
The problem is as I think someone said above (unless it was another thread) that there weren’t just one set of invaders. There certainly was a group that had specific targets in mind, planned their attack and came prepared. But there was also a larger number who were caught up in the moment saw an opportunity to make a scene and stick it to the Libs. Its this second group that provided cover for the first group. So to a large extent you are both right. There a motley bunch of disorganized rabble stormed the capitol within which was a organized group who planned to take hostages and possibly execute sitting members of congress. ---
**Author:** ![rboyce](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rboyce/32/4066_2.png) [@rboyce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rboyce)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2021, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-wasn-t-a-coup/930407/266 "2021-01-15T02:02:25Z")
**What concerns me the most** is the persons who stormed the White House and their followers. **Most of them honestly believed what Trump was saying** **Being good American citizens** , they honestly believed they were doing the right thing **based on what the president of the USA was saying.** **I hope the FBI and local police understand this.** I would not object to pardons for most of them. Those who used this for devious purposes need to be charge for their crime. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2021, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-wasn-t-a-coup/930407/267 "2021-01-15T02:04:16Z")
Sounds like the Steve Martin Defense. Just say those magic words: “I forgot”. “Your Honor, I forgot armed robbery was a crime.” ---
**Author:** ![Lance\_Turbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lance_turbo/32/6156_2.png) [@Lance\_Turbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lance_Turbo)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2021, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-wasn-t-a-coup/930407/268 "2021-01-15T02:05:06Z")
> [@Sitnam](#): > > I still think, if not for legal reasons, at least to convince the majority of the American people of something this serious you’d have to show plans of some sort. > NEW: Audio of militia members narrating the Capitol invasion: > > “We have a good group: 30 to 40 of us. We’re sticking together and sticking to the plan." > > “We are in the main dome right now." > > “Keep going.” > > "…Everything we fucking trained for.” > ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2021, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-wasn-t-a-coup/930407/269 "2021-01-15T02:05:42Z")
Your honor, my client really needed the money, and as you can see by this affidavit, he honestly thought that it would be OK to rob the bank, because some folks told him that it was the right thing to do. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2021, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-wasn-t-a-coup/930407/270 "2021-01-15T02:08:29Z")
> [@rboyce](#): > > > [@Sitnam](#): > > > > Hang the current GOP for their role in what happened > > Are you advocating murder-? > Just asking Of course not, it’s a colloquialism. Like being ‘hoisted by a petard’. Let them get their just deserts. Bizarre to live in a time where killing congressmen is even a topic and that you DIDN’T advocate for that. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2021, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-wasn-t-a-coup/930407/271 "2021-01-15T02:10:42Z")
> [@Buck\_Godot](#): > > The problem is as I think someone said above (unless it was another thread) that there weren’t just one set of invaders. There certainly was a group that had specific targets in mind, planned their attack and came prepared. But there was also a larger number who were caught up in the moment saw an opportunity to make a scene and stick it to the Libs. I just did [a bit of musing in a concurrent thread](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/change-in-conservative-fears-about-higher-education/929578/105) about the ongoing radicalization of US conservatism, if you’ll forgive my quoting myself: > [@Kimstu](#): > > In my young day, the mindset of conservatism was heavily enmeshed with what we still occasionally called “squareness”. Conservatives self-identified as supporting “family values”, religious traditionalism, quasi-authoritarian patriotism, conventional careers, etc. What conservative parents feared (at least, according to the comparatively few people with conservative family backgrounds I knew in college) was that their kids would be lured away by the appeal of the “lifestyle” of “hedonistic”, sex-having, substance-consuming, art-class-taking, swear-word-using, hair-growing liberals. > > Then came Rambo, and the rise of the “antisocial conservative” hero figure in general. The conservative self-image shifted (not entirely, but substantially) toward the “badass lone wolf” model, the beleaguered and disillusioned (but extremely cool, unlike his “square” predecessor) anti-hero type, who has to fight to survive in a hostile environment. (Mad Max is another avatar of this transition.) > > So we segue from Moral Majority to militias and then MAGA. A significant chunk of conservatism is radicalized and aggressive, perceiving itself now as the “outsider” rather than the dominant “establishment” (despite the fact that people who identify as conservative, especially conservative white men, still have hugely disproportionate power in our society). ---
**Author:** ![rboyce](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rboyce/32/4066_2.png) [@rboyce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rboyce)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2021, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-wasn-t-a-coup/930407/272 "2021-01-15T02:11:09Z")
I did not say “all” of them were innocent. There were some who were duped by da dump because Trump was/is the President of the USA ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2021, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-wasn-t-a-coup/930407/273 "2021-01-15T02:11:15Z")
Wow. The FBI is going to be busy. ---
**Author:** ![rboyce](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rboyce/32/4066_2.png) [@rboyce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rboyce)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2021, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-wasn-t-a-coup/930407/274 "2021-01-15T02:12:35Z")
> [@Sitnam](#): > > Of course not, it’s a colloquialism. My bet is the criminals among them will use the same excuse. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2021, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-wasn-t-a-coup/930407/275 "2021-01-15T02:19:16Z")
I suspect it will play differently in court with all the broken glass, mayhem, and a man’s skull caved in with a fire extinguisher. Nuance. ---
**Author:** ![rboyce](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rboyce/32/4066_2.png) [@rboyce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rboyce)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2021, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-wasn-t-a-coup/930407/276 "2021-01-15T02:27:30Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > I agree, this was a motley bunch of disorganized rabble storming the Capitol but most not knowing what to do once inside. Many of them even obeyed the velvet ropes, like tourists - they probably hadn’t even expected they’d be able to breach the Capitol in the first place. Like what the Joker says about a dog chasing a car; what’s he going to do if he caught one? That is a great analogy, thanks ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2021, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-wasn-t-a-coup/930407/277 "2021-01-15T02:30:53Z")
“Pence? Never really liked the guy. No guts. Just a pussy, really.” ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2021, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-wasn-t-a-coup/930407/278 "2021-01-15T02:34:34Z")
> [@Ann\_Hedonia](#): > > I’d like to point out that if the Democrats hadn’t taken the house in 2018, they might have been able to pull it off, getting both the House and Senate to reject the votes from swing states and having the House vote by state because they failed to reach 269. Exactly. And what happens the next time we have a Presidential election in which the House and Senate are both controlled by Republicans? There’s no reason to think this won’t happen as soon as 2024. We are already in a situation where no Democratic president is likely to get a Supreme Court nominee confirmed by a Republican-controlled Senate. We may soon find ourselves in a situation where no Democrat gets elected president if the House and Senate are controlled by Republicans. After all, all they have to do is to claim fraud, regardless of the veracity of the allegations. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2021, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-wasn-t-a-coup/930407/279 "2021-01-15T02:54:23Z")
> [@crowmanyclouds](#): > > Hanged, on Fifth Avenue, in broad daylight, with a Trump brand tie. You are insane and delusional if you think that is at all possible. 🤭 That shitty tie would rip before he hung. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2021, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-wasn-t-a-coup/930407/280 "2021-01-15T03:19:20Z")
> That being said, I tend to follow the RCP aggregate. And looking today, Trump approval has fallen off a cliff and headed downward as more recent polls are added, and older polls removed. I would be cautious about making assumptions concerning _why_ his approval is falling off a cliff. RWA’s like “strong men” and don’t like “losers” and their categorization changes faster than today’s newspaper becomes tomorrow’s fishwrap. Trump is now pretty clearly a loser. His effort last Wednesday failed. His avenues for maintaining power have pretty much gone. He’s lost his Twitter voice. His henchmen are leaving the sinking ship. My guess would be that a lot of his RWA supporters (and that will amount to a huge percentage of his supporters) won’t be dumping him because he tried to organize a coup, but because his coup failed. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-wasn-t-a-coup/930407.md?page=13) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-wasn-t-a-coup/930407.md?page=15)