# 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:** 19
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2021, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-wasn-t-a-coup/930407/361 "2021-01-17T14:56:57Z")
The disheartening thing (assuming this gets passed and has significant support) is that this group of people think that censuring a non-elected person (which, as I understand, ultimately is just an official “we don’t like you”) for the stated reasons that she is not philosophically aligned with Republicans, and that she defended her deceased husband against criticism, is something worthwhile. I mean, I know that it is the party of Christian schoolyard bullies at this point, but this once again reinforces it. And, illustrates in one other way along with the myriad we’ve been witness to over the past X years, that the Republican party does not stand for America, and does not give two shits about the Democratic process and governance, which is the whole point of the constitution. They stand for Christian theocratic dominance, white power, hard-lined and uncompromising ‘identity politics’ and a hedonistic dedication to aggravating and abusing anyone they can get away with. Anyone who still thinks that the core driving philosophies of Republicanism are “small government” and state’s rights is either lying or a moron. At this point all “good republicans” are simply those who don’t have the intellectual capacity to understand that this isn’t fucking sports. You don’t stick with your team just because it’s “your team”. Good Americans should always be doing their best to vote for the politicians who are doing the most good. “Well, I’m a Republican so I’m just sticking with these guys, and hope they’ll do better later” is some feeble-minded shit. Stand with the people who are doing better now. Not those who put out vomit like this on a regular basis. ---
**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 17, 2021, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-wasn-t-a-coup/930407/362 "2021-01-17T15:16:16Z")
Well said, @Stranger_On_A_Train. I also admired Heinlein’s philosophy when I was younger. I think I first read _Starship Troopers_ in 8th grade and remember reading _Expanded Universe_ in high school. Like a lot of philosophies, it sounds better in theory and in a fictionalized universe than in practice. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2021, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-wasn-t-a-coup/930407/363 "2021-01-17T15:22:32Z")
It’s only a “coup” if it takes place in the Coup D’etat region of France. Otherwise it’s just sparkling domestic terrorism. ---
**Author:** ![Ponderoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponderoid/32/19221_2.png) [@Ponderoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponderoid)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2021, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-wasn-t-a-coup/930407/364 "2021-01-17T16:19:38Z")
The last bit read better as “sparking sedition”. ---
**Author:** ![MikeF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MikeF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeF)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2021, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-wasn-t-a-coup/930407/365 "2021-01-17T16:59:57Z")
Back to the pre-riot tours allegedly given by some members of congress. If any such tours had taken place, there must certainly be video and other evidence (sign-in books etc), no? . There is a growing list of dem congress people going on the record saying the didn’t give tours. I may have missed it but I don’t recall Beobert denying giving/arranging tours. Maybe because she knows the evidence exists? ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2021, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-wasn-t-a-coup/930407/366 "2021-01-17T17:04:25Z")
> [@Eonwe](#): > > And, illustrates in one other way along with the myriad we’ve been witness to over the past X years, that the Republican party does not stand for America, and does not give two shits about the Democratic process and governance, which is the whole point of the constitution. They stand for Christian theocratic dominance, white power, hard-lined and uncompromising ‘identity politics’ and a hedonistic dedication to aggravating and abusing anyone they can get away with. Alas, what we are seeing is that in their twisted “originalist” fantasy _they just **know** _ the Constitution was divinely ordained to be about setting up governance of _a republic of white christian landowners_. They are all about sticking by the Constitution as long as it’s clear **that** is non negotiable. ---
**Author:** ![ASL\_v2.0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asl_v2.0/32/3525_2.png) [@ASL\_v2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASL_v2.0)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2021, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-wasn-t-a-coup/930407/367 "2021-01-17T17:14:44Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > Alas, what we are seeing is that in their twisted “originalist” fantasy _they just **know** _ the Constitution was divinely ordained to be about setting up governance of _a republic of white christian landowners_ . Uh, excuse me. But that should _a republic of white christian landowners **and basement dwellers.** _ ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2021, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-wasn-t-a-coup/930407/368 "2021-01-17T17:47:36Z")
> [@ASL\_v2.0](#): > > Uh, excuse me. But that should _a republic of white christian landowners **and basement dwellers.** _ I think you meant _a republic of white christian **male** landowners and basement dwellers._ ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_McQwark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4da419/32.png) [@Steve\_McQwark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_McQwark)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2021, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-wasn-t-a-coup/930407/369 "2021-01-17T17:51:48Z")
> [@ASL\_v2.0](#): > > > [@JRDelirious](#): > > > > Alas, what we are seeing is that in their twisted “originalist” fantasy _they just **know** _ the Constitution was divinely ordained to be about setting up governance of _a republic of white christian landowners_ . > > Uh, excuse me. But that should _a republic of white christian landowners **and basement dwellers.** _ I hate to nit pit, but that should be “dwellers in the basements of white Christian landlords” because, obviously, the heirs to white Christian domiciles are included in the originalist intent of the Founders. It certainly doesn’t apply to any random person of color who happens to live in a basement. Sorry, that should say random person, don’t know how that slipped in. ---
**Author:** ![eschrodinger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschrodinger/32/122_2.png) [@eschrodinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschrodinger)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2021, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-wasn-t-a-coup/930407/370 "2021-01-20T04:13:59Z")
The Washington Post is reporting that federal authorities are charging members of a militia group that pre-planned storming the capitol, and planned to “arrest” people there. They planned ahead of time, and were in communication after they got in. All of the people named in the WaPo article were ex-military. > [@](#): > > “We have about 30-40 of us. We are sticking together and sticking to the plan,” co-defendant Jessica Watkins, 38, an Army veteran, said while the breach was underway, according to court documents. > > “You are executing citizen’s arrest. Arrest this assembly, we have probable cause for acts of treason, election fraud,” a man replied, according to audio recordings of communications between Watkins and others during the incursion. Self-styled militia members planned on storming the U.S. Capitol days in advance of Jan. 6 attack, court documents say By Spencer S. Hsu, Tom Jackman and Devlin Barrett > **[Self-styled militia members planned on storming the U.S. Capitol days in...](https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/legal-issues/conspiracy-oath-keeper-arrest-capitol-riot/2021/01/19/fb84877a-5a4f-11eb-8bcf-3877871c819d_story.html)** > > Individuals communicated in real time as they breached the building, talking about hunting for lawmakers to make “citizens’ arrests,” according to new unsealed charges. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2021, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-wasn-t-a-coup/930407/371 "2021-01-20T04:24:26Z")
The fact that I have to keep seeing this blatant lie of a thread title as I scroll down the forum really pisses me off every time. ---
**Author:** ![Kron](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kron/32/12444_2.png) [@Kron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kron)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2021, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-wasn-t-a-coup/930407/372 "2021-01-20T04:27:58Z")
I was just thinking the same thing! ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2021, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-wasn-t-a-coup/930407/373 "2021-01-20T04:48:27Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > The fact that I have to keep seeing this blatant lie of a thread title as I scroll down the forum really pisses me off every time. > [@Kron](#): > > I was just thinking the same thing! I forget, or maybe I missed it. Has @Sitnam conceded yet? ---
**Author:** ![Kron](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kron/32/12444_2.png) [@Kron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kron)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2021, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-wasn-t-a-coup/930407/374 "2021-01-20T04:52:32Z")
> [@Sitnam](#): > > Maybe you guys are right. He appears to have come around… ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2021, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-wasn-t-a-coup/930407/375 "2021-01-20T05:10:54Z")
> [@robby](#): > > I also admired Heinlein’s philosophy when I was younger. I think I first read _Starship Troopers_ in 8th grade and remember reading _Expanded Universe_ in high school. > > Like a lot of philosophies, it sounds better in theory and in a fictionalized universe than in practice. I read both _Starship Troopers_ and _Space Cadet_ many years ago and just this past year. I never found the espoused philosophy to be all that attractive. I found the writing in _Starship Troopers_ to be so over the top that it was obvious to me that Heinlein was mocking those who demand military service be a requirement for public office or even before obtaining citizenship. I found some of the comments of the senior officers in _Space Cadet_ to be over the top also, but in a different direction. The training officer in _Space Cadet_ espoused some rather unenlightened views of the military, especially the enlisted, although Heinlein was sure to write “They’re good men”; he basically considered the military to be little kids mentally and emotionally. Honestly, those two books make me wonder how good of an officer he was while in the Navy before getting medically discharged. ---
**Author:** ![eschrodinger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschrodinger/32/122_2.png) [@eschrodinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschrodinger)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2021, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-wasn-t-a-coup/930407/376 "2021-01-20T05:11:40Z")
> [@Kron](#): > > He appears to have come around… Ah, I missed that. I can stop posting stuff to this thread if no one is actually saying it wasn’t a coup attempt anymore. There are a lot of threads about the attack to choose from . . . ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2021, 9:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-wasn-t-a-coup/930407/378 "2021-01-20T09:57:37Z")
Man, I was JUST going to say that! Sneaky ninja! ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2021, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-wasn-t-a-coup/930407/379 "2021-01-20T14:21:40Z")
“It’s not going to be a coup, it’s a toga party” ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2021, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-wasn-t-a-coup/930407/380 "2021-01-20T14:35:19Z")
> [@ASL\_v2.0](#): > > On another board I participate in, made up primarily of current or former naval officers and skewing quite a bit more conservative, that’s the turn the thread on this subject has taken. A good chunk of them (about half, maybe a little more) are seriously arguing that the primary take away for us as a nation following this event should be to make it harder to vote. Perhaps by requiring some sort of citizenship exam for all would-be voters, perhaps by requiring in-person voting with paper ballots and mandatory ID requirements. It’s disturbing that naval officers would think that restricting voting rights/eligibility is moving in the right direction. In fact the real problem is that our democracy is already too restrictive. It gerrymanders. It provides disproportionate representation that favors a political minority. One party has worked overtime to make voting harder for poor people of color. The Capitol riots are actually an extension of anti-democratic behavior, which means that we should be doing more to encourage voter eligibility, even going so far as allowing more convicted felons and non-citizen permanent residents the ability to vote. We need more democracy, not less. It’s the attacks on democracy that have destabilized our political system. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2021, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-wasn-t-a-coup/930407/381 "2021-01-20T17:29:34Z")
NOTE TO ALL CAPITOL RIOTERS: Your Daddy has abandoned you! He geared you up and then hung you out to dry. He has shown you for the fools that you are. You will face all the charges and I hope they add felony murder charges to all of you. (is that a possibility for a federal crime?) Your families will go bankrupt as you fight in vain to stay our of prison. And you brought it on yourself. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-wasn-t-a-coup/930407.md?page=18) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-wasn-t-a-coup/930407.md?page=20)