# Plot to kidnap (MI Gov) Gretchen Whitmer **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [October 8, 2020, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plot-to-kidnap-mi-gov-gretchen-whitmer/922506 "2020-10-08T16:53:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**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:** [October 9, 2020, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plot-to-kidnap-mi-gov-gretchen-whitmer/922506/61 "2020-10-09T12:22:47Z")
> [@DavidNRockies](#): > > And they’re fervent supporters of Kyle Rittenhouse, the daddy-son duo that murdered Ahmaud Arbery, and any number of other Deeply Deplorables. Travis McMichael and his father Gregory killed Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia. Kyle Rittenhouse is the teenage idiot who killed two protesters in Wisconsin. ---
**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2020, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plot-to-kidnap-mi-gov-gretchen-whitmer/922506/62 "2020-10-09T13:41:53Z")
> [@Morgyn](#): > > Travis McMichael and his father Gregory killed Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia. Kyle Rittenhouse is the teenage idiot who killed two protesters in Wisconsin. One of those times an Oxford comma adds ambiguity… ---
**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:** [October 9, 2020, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plot-to-kidnap-mi-gov-gretchen-whitmer/922506/63 "2020-10-09T13:48:00Z")
Right. The main unamended text of the Constitution says the militia is to be used to repel invasions and insurrections and enforce the laws. And the 2nd Amendment says the militia is necessary _for the security of a free state_. Yes, there’s a militia of the citizens, but it is subordinate to and serves the constituted law. If being an organized armed group pursuing their interests makes someone “a militia” as prescribed by the constitution, then why do we have laws and police action against gang violence? ---
**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:** [October 9, 2020, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plot-to-kidnap-mi-gov-gretchen-whitmer/922506/64 "2020-10-09T14:04:56Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > Oh wait, my mistake. yeah it is a bunch of bearded white guys. Y’know, all other things aside, that brings up a Seinfeldian _“what’s up with THAT?”_ What is the beardism (neck or otherwise) about? ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2020, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plot-to-kidnap-mi-gov-gretchen-whitmer/922506/65 "2020-10-09T14:05:36Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > Oh? Do tell: what am I “really” saying? You’re either new at English, or you’re a disingenuous [so-and-so]. I’m going with disingenuous because your spelling is usually pretty good. > [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](#): > > Why these people weren’t gathered up and thrown in jail is still a mystery to me. Evidently some of them were…yesterday. At least a few of the same people as I understand it. ---
**Author:** ![deltogre](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/deltogre/32/5041_2.png) [@deltogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deltogre)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2020, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plot-to-kidnap-mi-gov-gretchen-whitmer/922506/66 "2020-10-09T14:11:40Z")
Fitting a mold, belonging, wearing a uniform… The fact of the matter is that these kinds of people are susceptible to being programmed, be it through language, appearance, popular culture appealing to the lowest common denominator. You have a president who repeats monosyllabic catchphrases which are ingrained in the public consciousness, and voilá, you have stupid people, willfully under-educated, bending to the will of the Master of Puppets. It’s a lot like the scene toward the end of “Life of Brian,” where everyone is so desperate to belong that they are looking for any- and everything that “the messiah” says as a sign. When he implores them to be individuals, they respond in unison… ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2020, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plot-to-kidnap-mi-gov-gretchen-whitmer/922506/67 "2020-10-09T14:25:56Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > What is the beardism (neck or otherwise) about? They’re MEN! ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2020, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plot-to-kidnap-mi-gov-gretchen-whitmer/922506/68 "2020-10-09T14:26:22Z")
These militia types always remind me of an online meme, too – one I’ll have to try to paraphrase: “If you wish a difficult life on others because ‘_you_ had a difficult life and _you_ turned out okay …’ then you really _didn’t_ turn out okay.” We’re bombarded with the term ‘toxic masculinity’ these days, but … this is a case where it resonates with me. I don’t find it that hard to imagine what kind of fathers/upbringing a lot of these wounded wannabe warriors had. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2020, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plot-to-kidnap-mi-gov-gretchen-whitmer/922506/69 "2020-10-09T14:28:07Z")
> [@DavidNRockies](#): > > I don’t find it that hard to imagine what kind of fathers/upbringing a lot of these wounded wannabe warriors had. Two of them are brothers. I’ll bet their dad is/was a prize. ---
**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:** [October 9, 2020, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plot-to-kidnap-mi-gov-gretchen-whitmer/922506/70 "2020-10-09T14:38:44Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > > [@JRDelirious](#): > > > > What is the beardism (neck or otherwise) about? > > They’re MEN! I wonder if anyone has introduced them to Conchita Wurst. ---
**Author:** ![deltogre](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/deltogre/32/5041_2.png) [@deltogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deltogre)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2020, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plot-to-kidnap-mi-gov-gretchen-whitmer/922506/71 "2020-10-09T14:39:13Z")
I agree, wholeheartedly. I have seen many comments on the Board discussing the potential for a violent outcome to this election. There was an article in The Atlantic titled something like “This is the Election That Will Break America,” or something to that effect, saying essentially that Trump has openly projected that he won’t accept the outcome of an election he loses. The author was interviewed on NPR, and laid out his case, convincingly, that all Trump’s balderdash amounts to clever maneuvering to delay and offset the Red versus Blue votes so he may declare the whole thing rigged, should he lose. If this were ten years ago, I would chalk this all up as pearl-clutching hysterical fantasy. The existence of people like this truly has me worried that it is true, and it is on the way. It scares me shitless. There was another thread about the use of “coup” in discussing this, and how important it is to be prepared, and for the life of me, I can’t recall who posted it. (I’m new at this, and I am presently on Percocet due to an outpatient procedure… I’ll do better, I promise.) When you have interstate groups of über-militant knuckleheads like these plotting to kidnap and, let’s face it, murder a governor, we can’t be too far away from open hostility and widespread violence being the norm. Aside from being surrounded by MAGA signs, I’m glad I live in the country… ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2020, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plot-to-kidnap-mi-gov-gretchen-whitmer/922506/72 "2020-10-09T14:47:42Z")
> [@deltogre](#): > > When you have interstate groups of über-militant knuckleheads like these plotting to kidnap and, let’s face it, murder a governor, we can’t be too far away from open hostility and widespread violence being the norm. In many ways, this seems like a reverse image of '60s left-wing militant groups, which the country survived, and I believe we will survive this. Admittedly, the '60s-era group didn’t have a sitting President egging them on. ---
**Author:** ![deltogre](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/deltogre/32/5041_2.png) [@deltogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deltogre)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2020, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plot-to-kidnap-mi-gov-gretchen-whitmer/922506/73 "2020-10-09T14:51:19Z")
And that, to me, is the caveat that counts. This sort of behavior wasn’t normalized, at all, in the 1960s. Today, people have made careers out of excusing abhorrent behavior. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2020, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plot-to-kidnap-mi-gov-gretchen-whitmer/922506/74 "2020-10-09T16:23:28Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > I’m just surprised the Michigan Senate Leader, a Republican, condemned the plot. Maybe he has the wit to realize that if we normalize abducting and killing members of government his head might wind up on the chopping block at some point. > [@FlikTheBlue](#): > > Fine people my ass 🤬. I bet Trump will either say nothing about this or say something using a dog whistle that actually supports them. Turns out he used it as an opportunity to scold the target/victim > [@deltogre](#): > > Someone please explain how this mentality is acceptable at this point in history. They were going to “Try her for treason?” On what grounds, and under what authority? > > These wet-headed morons have been conditioned by social media and their leaders in politics that whatever they want to be the truth, they can simply will into existance. Uh… yeah, I think you hit the nail on the head, there. > [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > Isn’t this literally treason? What kind of prison time are these asshats looking at? I’m not sure if by “treason” the founders meant only those working against the Federal government or included the state level in that, too. But in any case, they’re looking at life in prison. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2020, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plot-to-kidnap-mi-gov-gretchen-whitmer/922506/75 "2020-10-09T16:32:42Z")
I’ve always thought it was to hide any chin-related abnormalities - either too many, or not enough… [![](https://external-preview.redd.it/2Zu3DLLO0XPQD-ofHz8gxEtDOTPUz8pqRzjqBzsuqhk.jpg?auto=webp&s=35704cb549fd8b4f82ef2d74fcf94be6765edde4) ](https://external-preview.redd.it/2Zu3DLLO0XPQD-ofHz8gxEtDOTPUz8pqRzjqBzsuqhk.jpg?auto=webp&s=35704cb549fd8b4f82ef2d74fcf94be6765edde4) ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2020, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plot-to-kidnap-mi-gov-gretchen-whitmer/922506/76 "2020-10-09T16:40:53Z")
#3 actually has the unmitigated gall to ask Gov. Whitmer to thank him for the FBI foiling the plot. First, that’s their job. Second, it was Trump himself who lit the fire. “LIBERATE MICHIGAN!” “Talk to them, listen to their demands!” ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2020, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plot-to-kidnap-mi-gov-gretchen-whitmer/922506/77 "2020-10-09T16:55:19Z")
> [@ekedolphin](#): > > #3 actually has the unmitigated gall to ask Gov. Whitmer to thank him for the FBI foiling the plot. And she spent quite awhile thanking the FBI, law enforcement, pretty much everybody but Trump. As it should be. ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2020, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plot-to-kidnap-mi-gov-gretchen-whitmer/922506/78 "2020-10-09T16:56:57Z")
It goes to show how fragile these snowflakes are. Dick Snyder poisoned thousands of people in Flint because it was cheaper to deliver water with harmful levels of lead and nobody showed up with guns to put a stop to it. These weaklings have to wear a mask to go to the Cracker Barrel and they go nuts. ---
**Author:** ![Deeg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/deeg/32/2955_2.png) [@Deeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deeg)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2020, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plot-to-kidnap-mi-gov-gretchen-whitmer/922506/79 "2020-10-09T17:33:46Z")
Timothy mcveigh used the same kind of words. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2020, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plot-to-kidnap-mi-gov-gretchen-whitmer/922506/80 "2020-10-09T17:36:02Z")
> [@Deeg](#): > > Timothy mcveigh used the same kind of words Timothy McVeigh also ate at McDonalds. Does that make all McDonalds customers evil? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plot-to-kidnap-mi-gov-gretchen-whitmer/922506.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plot-to-kidnap-mi-gov-gretchen-whitmer/922506.md?page=5)