# 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:** 121
**Author:** ![Crane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crane/32/3495_2.png) [@Crane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crane)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2021, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-coup-11-9-2020/925182/2404 "2021-01-09T14:24:48Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > All I’m saying here is, there are multiple _possible_ explanations, most of them well within the bounds of plausibility, and we should keep our minds open for the time being. Perhaps it is plausible that Honolulu air traffic control could have directed the Japanese attack on 7 Dec? ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2021, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-coup-11-9-2020/925182/2405 "2021-01-09T14:31:37Z")
I was sure I read somewhere the Cap Police requested more personnel and resources but were denied by a Trump influenced Dept of Defence, who had been told to downplay risks. And I think, pretty clearly, the plan was; chaos, lives lost, declare ‘state of emergency‘, delay change of government. Any time pressure comes to end SOE, stir up more violence. Easy peasy! I don’t think he’s done yet either. The bigger the chaos he can sew now, and the faster he can cause any kind of violent clash, the better. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2021, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-coup-11-9-2020/925182/2406 "2021-01-09T14:38:23Z")
> [@elbows](#): > > The bigger the chaos he can sew now, and the faster he can cause any kind of violent clash, the better. And once he sews it, it will be impossible to stitch it back together! ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2021, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-coup-11-9-2020/925182/2407 "2021-01-09T14:40:26Z")
I can’t stop thinking about what they would have done to Mike Pence or Nancy Pelosi if they’d actually gotten to them. Or Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. (shivers). This makes me sick to my stomach. I’m worried about the next several months. ---
**Author:** ![Crane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crane/32/3495_2.png) [@Crane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crane)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2021, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-coup-11-9-2020/925182/2408 "2021-01-09T14:42:47Z")
Trump doesn’t plan. His philosophy of Positivity requires only that he react to the world as he wishes it to be. In his mind he is still President and reality will eventually align with him. ---
**Author:** ![velomont](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/8491ac/32.png) [@velomont](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/velomont)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2021, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-coup-11-9-2020/925182/2409 "2021-01-09T14:49:23Z")
> [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](#): > > I can’t stop thinking about what they would have done to Mike Pence or Nancy Pelosi if they’d actually gotten to them. > Or Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. (shivers). This makes me sick to my stomach My wife and I were talking about this yesterday; it really boggles the mind how some people are trying to downplay this. ---
**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:** [January 9, 2021, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-coup-11-9-2020/925182/2410 "2021-01-09T15:05:47Z")
My thought on awakening this morning, and seeing the debate about Trump being banned from a couple of SM platforms, and Google/Apple taking Parler out of their app lineups: MAGAs will – literally – storm the Capitol building in a failed attempt to subvert Democracy, _because_ they think that – in not doing so – they will be complicit in moving this nation _toward ‘Socialism.’_ But they are apoplectic over the notion that Americans and Corporate America might yank somebody’s ticket because their actions **are** Fascist and continue to cost lives and other flavors of real harm. Once again: MAGAs are battling with tremendous fury against ghosts. People on the left are tapping keystrokes in reaction to that which is unfolding before our very eyes. You cannot reason somebody out of a position that they didn’t use reason to come to in the first place. My FB friends and family who are still Trump supporters are becoming increasingly irrational and illogical. I truly wasn’t sure that was possible. I’ve gotten lots of miles out of “Snooze MAGA for 30 days” in the last week. ---
**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 9, 2021, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-coup-11-9-2020/925182/2411 "2021-01-09T15:08:20Z")
I wonder what this traitor had in mind. [![](https://media.snopes.com/2021/01/zip-cuffs-capitol-1-featured-scaled-e1610132753871.jpg) ](https://media.snopes.com/2021/01/zip-cuffs-capitol-1-featured-scaled-e1610132753871.jpg) Yes, that’s the US Senate floor. Yes those are flex cuffs. No, that is NOT a cop. ---
**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 9, 2021, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-coup-11-9-2020/925182/2412 "2021-01-09T15:10:21Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > Viscous attack? I’ll admit the attackers were slimy but they looked pretty mobile. The plot thickens! ---
**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 9, 2021, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-coup-11-9-2020/925182/2413 "2021-01-09T15:11:07Z")
> [@Mike\_Mabes](#): > > I am seriously asking, what are the legislatures going to do? I’m not referring to the current election (2020 presidential election) – that’s over. I’m talking about in the coming election cycles and in their politics generally: you’re going to see more and more extremist action within legislatures, and you will see procedural warfare. In Oregon and Washington the republican parties have already radicalized there, and it seems likely that in time they will begin using armed militias as their unofficial police wing of the party. This is happening in Michigan now, too. And in PA, the state senate refused to seat a democratically-elected senator because…reasons. This is going to be ‘a thing’ going forward. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2021, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-coup-11-9-2020/925182/2414 "2021-01-09T15:14:49Z")
> [@Crane](#): > > Perhaps it is plausible that Honolulu air traffic control could have directed the Japanese attack on 7 Dec? Can you explain the point you are making here and its relevance as a reply to my comment? Please be thorough. ---
**Author:** ![Crane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crane/32/3495_2.png) [@Crane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crane)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2021, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-coup-11-9-2020/925182/2415 "2021-01-09T15:21:51Z")
I understand your post to have proposed that their may be plausible, justifiable reasons for the Capitol police to have assisted the insurrectionists even to the extent of removing barricades. I see that as equivalent to imagining plausible reasons for officials assisting the Japanese attack. ---
**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 9, 2021, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-coup-11-9-2020/925182/2416 "2021-01-09T15:30:52Z")
I’m sure “THE PLAN” had something to do with preventing the vote from happening until the 7th. Then the idiots could scream that it didn’t take place as constitutionally mandated, therefore it was void, therefore Trump is President For Life. At the very least it would give them a scrap of cover to yell from for the next 4 years. That the plan shows zero understanding of the law AND the constitution should be obvious to anybody with more than 3 brain cells firing. ---
**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 9, 2021, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-coup-11-9-2020/925182/2417 "2021-01-09T15:33:40Z")
You serious? > **[WHAT REALLY HAPPENED? Video: Police Removed Barriers and Allowed Protesters...](https://matzav.com/video-capitol-police-removed-barriers-and-allowed-protesters-to-walk-right-into-the-capitol/)** I am unfamiliar with matzav dot com, that was my first google hit. Really easy to find. ---
**Author:** ![Crane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crane/32/3495_2.png) [@Crane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crane)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2021, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-coup-11-9-2020/925182/2418 "2021-01-09T15:36:39Z")
Your link supports my comparison. The police aided the invaders. ---
**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 9, 2021, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-coup-11-9-2020/925182/2419 "2021-01-09T15:37:08Z")
It sounded to me like you were in denial of that. My bad. ---
**Author:** ![Crane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crane/32/3495_2.png) [@Crane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crane)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2021, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-coup-11-9-2020/925182/2420 "2021-01-09T15:38:38Z")
Sorry - perhaps my prose was muddled - not a first. ---
**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 9, 2021, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-coup-11-9-2020/925182/2421 "2021-01-09T15:42:07Z")
I fear speculation about police collusion before a proper (official or journalistic) investigation is going to divert people’s attention from the fact that the President of the United States raised an army to attack Congress\* in order to prevent his opponent from becoming president. \*I also wish we would stop referring to this as an attack on a building rather than an attack on the people who collectively represent every citizen of the country. ---
**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 9, 2021, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-coup-11-9-2020/925182/2422 "2021-01-09T15:46:31Z")
Yeah, I don’t see this going away – I see Trump going away (for a little while); I don’t see Trump being a presidential candidate again, but Christ, one of his kids could be a legit contender in 2024. A more presentable, personable version of Stephen Miller could be. There’s going to be another Trump-like candidate because there are unfortunately enough voters out there to reward that kind of character with a position of power in elected office. And there probably will be for a while because of perceived deprivation (whites’ perception of lost power and status in a society founded on racial hierarchy) and in the coming years, I fear that our completely incompetent response to real problems like pandemic, economic inequality, and climate change will create very real scarcity – and that’s the sort of thing that could easily fracture a country forever. ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2021, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-coup-11-9-2020/925182/2423 "2021-01-09T15:56:04Z")
The thing that makes me doubt that there was an intentional, from-the-top, scheme orchestrated by the Capitol Police to allow insurrectionists to breach the Capitol and disrupt the electoral count vote is that the Capitol Police don’t answer to Trump or the executive branch at all. They’re a part of the legislature, and ultimately their bosses are Pelosi and McConnell. And as already happened, it was completely predictable that allowing a mob into the Capitol would end up with both Sergeants-at-Arms and the Capitol Police Chief out on their asses. This was gross dereliction of duty, inexcusable incompetence and very likely reflects a law enforcement culture that didn’t take _these_ protestors seriously as a threat. But I have a hard time buying that it was a deliberate attempt to support a coup. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-coup-11-9-2020/925182.md?page=120) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-coup-11-9-2020/925182.md?page=122)