# 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:** 157
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2021, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-coup-11-9-2020/925182/3128 "2021-01-16T00:00:11Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > It’s turning into a Monty Python American Coup Sketch: > > Right! If that’s the way you want it – Lindell! Poke them with the soft cushions! > > \*(Trump): Confess! Confess! Confess! > > Lindell: It doesn’t seem to be hurting them, lord. > > Trump: Have you got all the stuffing up one end? Wrong sketch: ‘E’s not pinin’! 'E’s passed on! This Presidency is no more! It has ceased to be! 'E’s expired and gone to meet 'is maker! 'E’s a stiff! Bereft of life, 'e rests in peace! If you hadn’t nailed 'im to the perch 'e’d be pushing up the daisies! 'Is metabolic processes are now 'istory! 'E’s off the twig! 'E’s kicked the bucket, 'e’s shuffled off ‘is mortal coil, run down the curtain and joined the bleedin’ choir invisible!! THIS IS AN EX-PRESIDENCY!! ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2021, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-coup-11-9-2020/925182/3129 "2021-01-16T00:00:42Z")
trump could murder pence and bugger Pences dead body on the Capitol steps, and his followers would either think that is a great idea or claim it was Antifa in a trump suit. ---
**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 16, 2021, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-coup-11-9-2020/925182/3130 "2021-01-16T00:05:22Z")
Trump supporter: “Trump, who won another term in a landslide is obviously picking up 4 more years worth of pillows!” ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2021, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-coup-11-9-2020/925182/3131 "2021-01-16T00:08:23Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > The fact that he is resorting to meeting with the MyPillow guy with a mere five days on the clock is, oddly, reassuring to me. I can see what you mean. But Pillow Guy talking to him about martial law somewhat contradicts the narrative that Pence and others have him on a short leash until the 20th. If Pence really had him under control, it doesn’t sound like the smartest thing would be to let crazy QAnon people talk to him. It sounds like frustration is making him more desparate to find a way to lash out, and _some_ people are still interacting with him as though he has real Presidential powers. Although I guess we don’t know if that marine outside the door is tasked with looking out or in. As the WP said, I’ll laugh about it in two weeks maybe. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Bredin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@John\_Bredin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Bredin)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2021, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-coup-11-9-2020/925182/3132 "2021-01-16T00:17:27Z")
🎶 For the worst treason in the whole wide world, it’s the MyPillow [dot] Guy! 🎶 ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2021, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-coup-11-9-2020/925182/3133 "2021-01-16T00:22:30Z")
> [@Will Trump kill himself on January 20?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-kill-himself-on-january-20/929593/202): > > We don’t even know if he’s in the White House. He could be under your bed. > [@Will Trump kill himself on January 20?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-kill-himself-on-january-20/929593/203): > > “The Tweets are coming from inside the house!” And now we can’t safely hide under our seditious pillows. Fuck. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2021, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-coup-11-9-2020/925182/3134 "2021-01-16T00:53:35Z")
Pence spent four years eating Trump’s shit and he still wound up first on the list to put against the wall for the crime of not doing something he had literally no power to do. Love to see it. ---
**Author:** ![OttoDaFe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ottodafe/32/356_2.png) [@OttoDaFe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OttoDaFe)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2021, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-coup-11-9-2020/925182/3135 "2021-01-16T01:05:58Z")
I can’t help but wonder whether some of the wind has been taken out of the movement’s sails after the attempted coup / insurrection failed on the 6th, particularly since the police and National Guard didn’t turn and join them (which seems to be an article of faith, at least among the more deluded). Specifically, here in the Soviet of Washington a planned armed rally on the first day of the Legislative session — to include forcing entry into the Capitol — was abruptly called off a couple of days before the session began on the 11th. Don’t get me wrong: these yahoos are dangerous, and even I am not naïve enough to believe they don’t have a significant number of sympathizers among law enforcement and the military. Nor does anything rule out the possibility of lone wolf or small group actions. But what they see as an alliance isn’t likely to take place, which may make (some of) them think twice or three times about a “million militia march” or setting up a “perimeter” around the White House / Capitol area to keep “undesirables” out (two ideas I’ve seen floated). ---
**Author:** ![Mike\_Mabes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mike_mabes/32/1782_2.png) [@Mike\_Mabes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mike_Mabes)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2021, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-coup-11-9-2020/925182/3136 "2021-01-16T02:32:54Z")
Really. I had hoped Trump would go down hard but this is beyond what I had hoped for. I predicted that after about six months the Repubs would have mostly forgottem him as he continued to rant about the stolen election and that maybe he would be prosected for tax fraud. He would have had a few rallies and they would have drawn crowds at first but even MAGAts would have eventually gotten tired and stopped coming. But there was the possibility that he would have kept his tiny hands around the throat of the Repub party. No more. He’ll always have support of, let’s be optimistic and say 25 million of those who voted for him. I do not believe that 74 million Americans believe it is a good idea to have an idiot and incompetent Fascist as President. The exact number who do believe that is impossible to measure precisely, but I say that most are uninformed and/or misinformed. They are resposible for that but a lot of them will change their mind when they see an actual competent person in the White House. I am not talking about the MAGAts who attend rallies, or who wish they could have attended, or who are on Parler, or even the guy who left his Trump For Law and Order sign up for two months after the election but took it down after 1/6. Maybe I am talking about that guy, maybe the truth about Trump finally got to him, but I am certianly talking about the ordinary people who live down the street from you or who go to your church or Ruritan Club or coach the Little League team. Can we call them the Silent Trump Majortiy? The ones who knew Trump was a con man and liar, but who, from their uninformed perspective, thought he was better than the socialist Biden, which seems so ridiculous to type, but it has now been a hundred years since almost every Democratic candidate was called a socialist, or at least a socialist sympathizer. I saw a flyer from a local church before the election, it showed the comparisons between the Republican and Democratic platforms. Some of it was bullshit, for example on whether or not Democrats who allow “killing babies” nine months into a pregnancy, for which they said the Demcratic position was unknown. But there was a very key line that said "You don’t vote for the man, you vote for his positions. " I just heard a story on the radio, Biden calling the current rollout of the vaccine a disaster, and it surely has been. If I heard it right, he is proposing using the Defense Production Act to get 100 million vaccines in 100 days. It may fall short of that but at least it is a comprehensive nationwide plan. Trump hasn’t said a goddamn word about COVID since the day before the election when he said that after the election the media would stop talking about it. Trump is the one who stopped talking about it, while we have record number of cases. This is going to change even more people’s minds. Like the people who don’t want to die before their time. Disclaimer - don’t take what I have said above as indication that I was or am now a great supporter of Biden, on other issues, he was my last choice among Democratic nominees. But after Trump, I’ll use a line from JJ Hunsecker in Sweet Smell of Success about a potential Presidential candidate - “My big toe would make a better President.” As far as progressive change, we now have a Big Toe President. But at least that toe is on his left foot. ---
**Author:** ![Mike\_Mabes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mike_mabes/32/1782_2.png) [@Mike\_Mabes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mike_Mabes)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2021, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-coup-11-9-2020/925182/3137 "2021-01-16T03:12:02Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Remember back on the night of the 6th, in was announced that Pence had approved the deployment of the National Guard to the Capitol, despite having no legal right to do so? I think a coup actually took place that night, and that Mike Pence is currently the de-facto acting President of the United States All part of the plan. Pence realized a few months ago that Trump had a mental breakdown, brought on by the relentless and UNFAIR! criticism of him by the liberal media. Pence has allowed him to remain as President while he works with the military to coordinate the implementation of martial law. Trump was a usefull distraction to keep everyone from noticing. And Pence is now pretending to be working with Pelosi and Schumer until this is accomplished, at which point they and the rest of the Democrats will be tried and hanged for treason. Trump is confined to a mental institution, but not before he makes a nationally televised address explaining that he has resigned so that the great Christian Mike Pence will take over, that he is resigning so he can spend more time with his family. Isn’t it obvious? Kidding aside, if one had an account on Parler, if it ever comes back, and posted this theory, it would be believed. Those people _are_ going to turn on Trump eventually ---
**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 16, 2021, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-coup-11-9-2020/925182/3138 "2021-01-16T03:27:43Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > I think it’s also true that if Pence resigns or is assassinated, a replacement VP must be approved by Congress, and the speaker is next in line in automatic succession - does that mean Pelosi would become VP? No, this isn’t accurate. As **JRDelerious** says, there is no line of succession to the Vice-President. Article II, Section 1, Clause 6, sets out Congress’s powers: > [@](#): > > … the Congress may by Law provide for the Case of Removal, Death, Resignation or Inability, both of the President and Vice President, **declaring what Officer shall then act as President,** … Congress has provided that after the Vice-President, the Speaker is next in succession to the presidency. However, there is no similar provision giving Congress the power to set out a succession to the Vice-Presidency, if that position is open. There is no equivalent statute which sets out a succession to the Vice-Presidency. The Speaker doesn’t have any power to act as Vice-President when that position is vacant. Instead, the 25th Amendment provides: > [@](#): > > **Section 2**. Whenever there is a vacancy in the office of the Vice President, the President shall nominate a Vice President who shall take office upon confirmation by a majority vote of both Houses of Congress. The President gets to choose whoever he wishes to nominate as Vice-President. In 1973, Nixon nominated Ford, who was the Minority Leader in the House of Representatives. In 1974, President Ford nominated Nelson Rockefeller, who at that time did not hold any elective office. ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2021, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-coup-11-9-2020/925182/3139 "2021-01-16T04:12:34Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Once they start shooting the battle is over; the mob would have panicked and fled, and there would have been a stampede. > [@Colibri](#): > > I really can’t understand why they didn’t respond by shooting. The rioters were using deadly force. One article I read about the Capitol Police defense of one of the entrances is that they assumed the rioters were heavily armed (it said guns had already been confiscated), and if they opened fire then the return fire would have killed all of the police (and presumably a large number of rioters). ---
**Author:** ![Mike\_Mabes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mike_mabes/32/1782_2.png) [@Mike\_Mabes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mike_Mabes)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2021, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-coup-11-9-2020/925182/3140 "2021-01-16T04:21:26Z")
> [@OttoDaFe](#): > > I can’t help but wonder whether some of the wind has been taken out of the movement’s sails after the attempted coup / insurrection failed on the 6th > [@OttoDaFe](#): > > here in the Soviet of Washington a planned armed rally on the first day of the Legislative session — to include forcing entry into the Capitol — was abruptly called off a couple of days before the session began on the 11th. Yep. Did any significant protests occur in state capitols in the past week? All of these bozos fully expected to be backed by Trump’s troops on 1/6. The ones who wanted to murder Pence or Pelosi, they would have only done so if they thought they were going to hailed as heroes in the New United States. They would not have done so and gone to jail in a failed coup. Individual acts of violence may occur, I am getting increasingly less worried about that. Here is a clip from Scorcese’s new film The Proud Boys Need a New Diaper. When I first saw this on Facebook, I thought it was really Ray Liotta narrating. > > ---
**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 16, 2021, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-coup-11-9-2020/925182/3141 "2021-01-16T04:58:43Z")
Well if the constitutional scholar Rudy Giuliani can’t help you engineer a successful coup, the MyPillow guy is the obvious next choice. 😆 Could you imagine if Trump didn’t have the falling out with Rudy, and that Rudy, Trump and MyPillow Guy decided to work together to plan out the coup, reality show style, with a camera recording it? Watching those 3 geniuses in action would have been funnier than any 3 Stooges episode. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2021, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-coup-11-9-2020/925182/3142 "2021-01-16T05:16:00Z")
> [@Mike\_Mabes](#): > > Those people _are_ going to turn on Trump eventually Well, why not? He never did build much of that wall nor even close to locking her up. They voted for for him because he was the guy who tells it like it is and gets things done, and did not deliver on either. Had they managed to run unchecked in the Capitol, it wouldn’t have been only Pelosi, Schumer, and Pence who were dragged out out and murdered but anybody wearing one of those Representative or Senator buttons. “But I’m one of _you_!” “Sure you are – string 'im up!” ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2021, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-coup-11-9-2020/925182/3143 "2021-01-16T05:39:22Z")
> [@OttoDaFe](#): > > I can’t help but wonder whether some of the wind has been taken out of the movement’s sails after the attempted coup / insurrection failed on the 6th, particularly since the police and National Guard didn’t turn and join them (which seems to be an article of faith, at least among the more deluded)… > > But what they see as an alliance isn’t likely to take place, which may make (some of) them think twice or three times about a “million militia march” or setting up a “perimeter” around the White House / Capitol area to keep “undesirables” out (two ideas I’ve seen floated). I’ve imagined that something caused by a group that Trumpists don’t like (BLM, Antifa, Muslims, LGBTQ, whatever) has resulted in the call-up of National Guard troops. Shortly after they arrive and deploy, they are greeted by a group of Trump supporters wearing camo, carrying guns, waving Trump flags, and so on. The leader of the self-styled “patriots” approaches a National Guard officer, and says, “We’re here to help you guys. Hey, we’re on the same side, after all. What do you want us to do?” And the National Guard officer replies, “Get lost.” ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2021, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-coup-11-9-2020/925182/3144 "2021-01-16T06:09:42Z")
> [@Folacin](#): > > One article I read about the Capitol Police defense of one of the entrances is that they assumed the rioters were heavily armed (it said guns had already been confiscated), and if they opened fire then the return fire would have killed all of the police (and presumably a large number of rioters). Wouldn’t the fact that no idiot was waving their AK47 around- as you know full well they would- kinda put the kibosh on that rumor? Certainly a few had guns in their packs etc- but if you see someone digging their glock out- shoot him. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2021, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-coup-11-9-2020/925182/3145 "2021-01-16T06:11:25Z")
That was hilarious. ---
**Author:** ![Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kolak_of_twilo/32/73_2.png) [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolak_of_Twilo)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2021, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-coup-11-9-2020/925182/3146 "2021-01-16T06:33:30Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > > [@rocking\_chair](#): > > > > 1 minute and the vp’s secret service would have been in a very heated battle. > > …I remain flummoxed as to why there wasn’t more shooting. > [@Colibri](#): > > > [@RickJay](#): > > > > I remain flummoxed as to why there wasn’t more shooting. > > After watching the video of the mob beating cops with sticks and poles as they tried to force one of the doors, I really can’t understand why they didn’t respond by shooting. The rioters were using deadly force. I’m flummoxed either of you need an explanation but it seems they didn’t respond with gunfire because **that would mean shooting white people.** ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2021, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-coup-11-9-2020/925182/3147 "2021-01-16T06:35:10Z")
> [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](#): > > I’m flummoxed either of you need an explanation but it seems they didn’t respond with gunfire because **that would mean shooting white people.** They did shoot a white person. I know black people are more in danger from cops than white people, but cops DO shoot white people. There are some damned horrifying cases, too. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-coup-11-9-2020/925182.md?page=156) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-coup-11-9-2020/925182.md?page=158)