# The American Coup: 11.9.2020 - **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [November 9, 2020, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-coup-11-9-2020/925182 "2020-11-09T23:29:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 107
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2021, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-coup-11-9-2020/925182/2124 "2021-01-07T22:01:59Z")
> [@MaxTheVool](#): > > It’s obviously reasonable to be worried about people with thumb drives, people in the employ of foreign embassies, etc. One ray of hope in all that is how incredibly stupid the whole thing was. Who would actually have expected that group of cretins to actually be wandering up and down the halls of congress, sitting in Pelosi’s chair, etc. In retrospect it was obviously a MASSIVE opportunity of espionage. Ahead of time… hopefully maybe not? The idiots in the mob provided cover for espionage agents. I’m sure they were there, too. > [@JohnT](#): > > Many embassies are within a three mile radius… > If you were head of foreign intel, what would you prepare for? Well, the only way Trump can stymie this is to have the placed stormed, so why not be prepared? It’s your job. Yup. They were there. Everything in the building has been compromised. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2021, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-coup-11-9-2020/925182/2125 "2021-01-07T22:02:43Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > They’d be harder to identify if they had worn masks, don’tcha know. - That should be the CDC’s new slogan. “Wear a mask, don’t go to jail.” ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2021, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-coup-11-9-2020/925182/2126 "2021-01-07T22:10:47Z")
Holy _SHIT!!!_ [https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/07/politics/trump-pence-riot/index.html](https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/07/politics/trump-pence-riot/index.html) > Pence was joined by his wife Karen Pence, daughter Charlotte and brother, Rep. Greg Pence, R-Indiana, for the ceremonial counting of the electoral votes in Congress Wednesday. Several of the violent Trump supporters who were rampaging the US Capitol were heard screaming “where’s Mike Pence,” the source said, frightening the vice president and his family. > > Yet, the President and his top aides barely lifted a finger to check in on Pence to make sure he and his family were unharmed, the source added. > > On Tuesday, Pence came under intense pressure from Trump to toss out the election results during a meeting that lasted hours in the Oval Office. The vice president’s chief of staff, Marc Short, was banned by Trump from entering the West Wing, the source said, as the President repeatedly warned with “thinly veiled threats” to Pence that he would suffer major political consequences if he refused to cooperate. > > “The message was pretty clear,” the source said. ---
**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:** [January 7, 2021, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-coup-11-9-2020/925182/2127 "2021-01-07T22:15:45Z")
Other than the rioters there’s nothing there we didn’t already know. Trump was trying to put the screws to anyone he thought could win him the election. ---
**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:** [January 7, 2021, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-coup-11-9-2020/925182/2128 "2021-01-07T22:17:12Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > Everybody is saying heart attack, but I wouldn’t rule out falls and tramplings. No chance they died of embarrassment, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2021, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-coup-11-9-2020/925182/2129 "2021-01-07T22:18:41Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > They were there. Everything in the building has been compromised. Everything in the building was _already_ compromised. The Russians are very good at that sort of thing. Heck, they’ve even had Representatives elected for them! (Rohrbacher, Nunes) Putin gets Congressional Security briefings before Pelosi does! ---
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2021, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-coup-11-9-2020/925182/2130 "2021-01-07T22:20:24Z")
> [@Deeg](#): > > I could believe it; there was a large backlash against the overly aggressive response last summer and I’d like to think that the police can learn. You seriously “could believe” that if 40,000 Black people stormed the Capitol yesterday that they would have been treated the same way? ---
**Author:** ![Dinoguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de0a6/32.png) [@Dinoguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinoguy)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2021, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-coup-11-9-2020/925182/2131 "2021-01-07T22:24:52Z")
It’s a liberal plot! Trump is secretly in league with the libs to ruin the Republicans and put the Dems in power! Gosh, it’s so obvious! Uh, wait a minute… Okay, that probably wasn’t funny, but some of the crap some of these people believe is plain loony tunes. Seriously, this country is in trouble and I sure hope Biden can make some progress. Having lived during the McCarthy era, it really boggles my mind how Trump got away with smoozing with communists and his followers think nothing of it. McCarthy would have had a conniption. ---
**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:** [January 7, 2021, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-coup-11-9-2020/925182/2132 "2021-01-07T22:26:22Z")
Well, we also have to factor in the response of the individual LEOs. More than a few would likely act differently. What I could believe is that the lack of overwhelming presence of LEO would be the same; that the leadership was trying to use a softer touch. As I’ve said it would have to be well documented for me to consider it. ---
**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 7, 2021, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-coup-11-9-2020/925182/2133 "2021-01-07T22:39:12Z")
I will indeed continue reading. From what I’ve read so far, I thought this quote (from the first article you linked) was especially compelling: > This is precisely _why_ we have elections, and why both sides accept the results. To keep the chaos at bay. The whole point is that you have a regular, ritual fight rather than fighting all the time. Once one side breaks ritual then you’re on the way to civil war. Once you break the rules then chaos ensues. What exactly happens? I don’t know. It’s chaos. No truer words have been spoken. Very succinctly and well-stated. There is nothing that says we have to govern ourselves; there are alternatives to that. But we probably wouldn’t like them much. Life is different in such places. Instead of small business owners trying to figure out which taxes and regulations to comply with, or which forms to fill out, they figure out which thugs, party officials, and police officers to pay “protection” money to, and more importantly, how much, and how often. Justice isn’t something you get; it’s something you buy, and if you can’t afford it, you don’t expect to get it. ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2021, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-coup-11-9-2020/925182/2134 "2021-01-07T22:49:10Z")
The important thing is to side line this president before he can issue any more pardons. The fastest way is the 25th. He will try to pardon himself, all of those who were in the insurgency, his family, his attorneys, his accountants, Kyle rittenhouse, etc. This has to happen fast. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Colossus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.colossus/32/9423_2.png) [@Dr.Colossus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Colossus)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2021, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-coup-11-9-2020/925182/2135 "2021-01-07T22:58:26Z")
# Capitol Police rejected offers of federal help to quell mob [LINK](https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-riots-police-coronavirus-pandemic-9c39a4ddef0ab60a48828a07e4d03380) > WASHINGTON (AP) — Three days before [the pro-President Donald Trump riot](https://apnews.com/article/34417ac51a765e297faf53eb0ad15517) at the Capitol, the Pentagon asked the [U.S Capitol Police](https://apnews.com/article/2f7d5b7e9089379cc27befa419fbfeac) if it needed National Guard manpower. And as [the mob descended on the building](https://apnews.com/article/73dacf9bc0d906f4efe358279520eeac) Wednesday, Justice Department leaders reached out to offer up FBI agents. The police turned them down both times, according to a defense official and two people familiar with the matter. > > Despite plenty of warnings of a possible insurrection and ample resources and time to prepare, the Capitol Police planned only for a free speech demonstration. > > Still stinging from the uproar over the violent response by law enforcement to protests last June near the White House, officials also were intent on avoiding any appearance that the federal government was deploying active duty or National Guard troops against Americans. ---
**Author:** ![Boycott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boycott/32/6741_2.png) [@Boycott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boycott)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2021, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-coup-11-9-2020/925182/2136 "2021-01-07T23:02:05Z")
The bloke who broke in and took a selfie with the statue of Gerald Ford has been identified because his dad saw the picture and bragged about it on twitter. You can’t make this shit up. Ford would have hated the Trump takeover of the GOP. For starters Ford was a pro-choice republican president and wanted his party to welcome and respect gay people and their rights. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2021, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-coup-11-9-2020/925182/2137 "2021-01-07T23:05:47Z")
> [@Boycott](#): > > Ford would have hated the Trump takeover of the GOP. He also spent 26 years working in the building those idiots were defiling. ---
**Author:** ![peccavi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peccavi/32/388_2.png) [@peccavi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peccavi)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2021, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-coup-11-9-2020/925182/2138 "2021-01-07T23:10:38Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > The idiots in the mob provided cover for espionage agents. I’m sure they were there, too. The one thing that makes this less likely is that I can’t imagine that any foreign agents in the crowd were prepared for what to do if they got inside the Capitol building. In fact, I’d guess that if they had designs on information from there, yesterday would be the low on their list of times to try. “Security will be heightened”, “there will be cops everywhere”, “They’ll have extra guards” (is what someone planning something like this would say). If there were some agents in the crowd intent on gathering intel, I’d worry less about those who made it to the Speakers office and check on the cameras for those wandering off the beaten path to the offices of obscure committees like the HPSCI (the United States House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence or “hipsee”) and the SSCI (the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence or “sissy”). ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2021, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-coup-11-9-2020/925182/2139 "2021-01-07T23:42:26Z")
This fucker? [![Imgur](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50812222702_d9594ab384_b.jpg "2021-01-07\_05-40-34") ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/68782016@N08/50812222702/) Got a PPP loan! [![Imgur](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50812112651_a76c00dd62_b.jpg "2021-01-07\_05-41-33") ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/68782016@N08/50812112651/) Fucking MAGAt taking government money and then wants to overthrow the government. Hey, @d_anconia, I forgot- in _Atlas Shrugged_ did Ayn Rand call rightist MAGAt fuckers like this _moochers_ or _looters_? ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2021, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-coup-11-9-2020/925182/2140 "2021-01-07T23:59:23Z")
5 dead now. Lloyd Doggett is a Rep from Texas. > ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2021, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-coup-11-9-2020/925182/2141 "2021-01-08T00:05:14Z")
How hard would it be for a prosecutor to make the case that every person involved in the invasion of the Capitol is an accessory to the murder of a police officer? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2021, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-coup-11-9-2020/925182/2142 "2021-01-08T00:08:10Z")
Very. It’s a nice idea, but it’s a hard reach. Everybody in the immediate proximity of the officer, you bet. Some schmo wandering around the statues taking selfies, nah. ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2021, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-coup-11-9-2020/925182/2143 "2021-01-08T00:11:46Z")
Any news on how he died? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-coup-11-9-2020/925182.md?page=106) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-coup-11-9-2020/925182.md?page=108)