# 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:** 49
**Author:** ![Monocracy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monocracy/32/4493_2.png) [@Monocracy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monocracy)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2020, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-coup-11-9-2020/925182/962 "2020-12-10T18:47:21Z")
Back to the coup… Why doesn’t a Democratic AG sue Texas and Florida using original jurisdiction. Throw out their election results based on massive voter suppression tactics. Or maybe do it in three years, before the next election. Texas has already set the precedent. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2020, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-coup-11-9-2020/925182/963 "2020-12-10T18:50:09Z")
Unfortunately, many Americans have been sold the bullshit theme that life is a zero-sum game, and that “helping others” = “hurting me” “respecting other’s beliefs” = “disrespecting my beliefs” “listening to someone” = “you are ignoring me” There is a deep, deep core of selfishness and ignorance being tapped here - and it’s being done very consciously by the GOP. I’m very serious that they will do whatever they can to damage the country in the next two years. If that means screwing up the vaccinations or wrecking any response to the pandemic on Biden’s part… so be it, even if that leads to a million more deaths. ---
**Author:** ![Skypist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skypist/32/169_2.png) [@Skypist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skypist)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2020, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-coup-11-9-2020/925182/964 "2020-12-10T19:06:22Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > I don’t want Biden to label himself a democratic socialist but I want him and the democratic party to start getting some spine and really fight like hell for things we’ve been demanding for the last several decades. I don’t know how he’s supposed to do that since Dems didn’t win enough congressional seats and probably won’t pick up the two seats in GA either. > [@Leaper](#): > > Here’s my question, though: for all the talk about Democrats need to fight hard for the middle class, I’m not sure I’ve seen evidence that said middle class will know about, acknowledge, and/or appreciate such efforts in ways that positively affect the polls for them. Yeah, this is at least part of the problem. Where’s the concise messaging that makes it easy for even the cave dwellers to understand? All we get is Nancy Pelosi appearing at the podium to say “this is terrible” and nothing happens. Nobody but hard core politics followers wanna listen to some old boring person drone on for several minutes. Unfortunately. The other problem is too many people getting their news only from super right wing sources. ---
**Author:** ![Briny\_Deep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/briny_deep/32/17188_2.png) [@Briny\_Deep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Briny_Deep)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2020, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-coup-11-9-2020/925182/965 "2020-12-10T19:07:59Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > Democrats need to deliver the goods - period. They have to find a way to do more than just not being Donald Trump or George W Bush. They have to really put the pressure on the rich to pay their fair share of taxes, and they have to push for economic support for the most vulnerable. They also need to be organizing at the local level like crazy. Look at all the states with majority Democratic voters, and Democratic governors – and solid-red state legislatures. Much of our collective angst over the past several weeks has been the possibility that the courts would allow the state legislators to send new slates of Trump electors. That worry, at least, would be lessened if more Democrats held state office. I’ve been scratching my head for weeks over why that’s not the case. If the Democrats of Pennsylvania are powerful enough to elect Biden, why did they allow their state legislature to become dominated by Republicans? Is it just gerrymandering? Could it be that Democratic voters tend to not vote down-ballot, but Republicans are committed to doing so? Or is the problem that enough good Democrats don’t run for local office? (Note: I am not running for local office myself, so I have no standing to cast blame here.) ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2020, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-coup-11-9-2020/925182/966 "2020-12-10T19:31:37Z")
> [@Skypist](#): > > Where’s the concise messaging that makes it easy for even the cave dwellers to understand? All we get is Nancy Pelosi appearing at the podium to say “this is terrible” and nothing happens. “This is terrible” is something the cave dwellers can’t understand? > [@Skypist](#): > > Nobody but hard core politics followers wanna listen to some old boring person drone on for several minutes. Unfortunately, complex problems need complex answers. If no one is willing to listen, then that’s a problem with the electorate, not with those proposing those solutions. I don’t know how you fix that, I mean, in order to fix that, you have to fix _people_, and that’s the hardest thing to fix. > [@Skypist](#): > > The other problem is too many people getting their news only from super right wing sources. Right, so even if there is some clear and concise message that even a cave dweller would understand, they will never hear it, as it is not transmitted to them on the media that they have chosen to consume. > [@Briny\_Deep](#): > > Is it just gerrymandering? That’s a big part of it. There are many instances where a clear majority of voters voted for Democrats, but ended up with a majority Republicans in office. > [@Briny\_Deep](#): > > Could it be that Democratic voters tend to not vote down-ballot, but Republicans are committed to doing so? There certainly is that as well. That _may_ be changing, we saw a good turnout in 2018. We will have to see if that keeps up. > [@Briny\_Deep](#): > > Or is the problem that enough good Democrats don’t run for local office? Yes, but that is largely because of the first two problems. No good Democrat is going to run for an office that they have no chance of winning. They aren’t going to get support when there are close elections that _can_ be won that those resources could go to. My local area is pretty committed to electing Republicans. I usually vote for the Democrat, even though, in reality, the Republican candidate is much more qualified. ---
**Author:** ![Skypist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skypist/32/169_2.png) [@Skypist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skypist)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2020, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-coup-11-9-2020/925182/967 "2020-12-10T19:38:46Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > “This is terrible” is something the cave dwellers can’t understand? Sure, but they just laugh at it because it doesn’t shake their certainty that “their side” is correct. They’ve already swallowed the message that Pelosi is the one who held up the Covid assistance. Mitch had nothing to do with it! ---
**Author:** ![MeanJoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanjoe/32/5693_2.png) [@MeanJoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanJoe)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2020, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-coup-11-9-2020/925182/968 "2020-12-10T21:22:54Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > “This is terrible” is something the cave dwellers can’t understand? Not attacking you here but I find this to be really… well… in a world where they can see for themselves the spread of COVID, the full hospitals, freezer trucks where morgues were unable to take more dead people, etc. they still believe COVID is less infectious and dangerous than the flu, that COVID is a hoax, and even when dying gasping for air are stunned to realize COVID IS REAL… yeah, they won’t understand telling them a GOP policy is terrible for them. ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2020, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-coup-11-9-2020/925182/969 "2020-12-10T21:32:41Z")
> [@Skypist](#): > > We need Dem candidates that will appeal to some of the “lean Republican” voters then. I don’t know how to do that. And also need to appeal “lean Dem” voters who still didn’t vote, enough to motivate them to get out there. I’m not sure how Joe Manchin did it, but he managed to win re-election in West Virginia when people like Heidi Heitkamp and Claire McCaskill were losing in states that are less red than West Virginia. We need more Democrats like Joe Manchin. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2020, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-coup-11-9-2020/925182/970 "2020-12-10T21:36:52Z")
I get that, it’s just that my post was in response to the idea that the message just needs to be dumbed down enough for them to understand. I agree with you, that it’s not the complexity of the message that is the problem here, it is their refusal to accept it, no matter how it is presented. ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2020, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-coup-11-9-2020/925182/971 "2020-12-10T21:40:36Z")
> [@FlikTheBlue](#): > > I’m not sure how Joe Manchin did it, but he managed to win re-election in West Virginia when people like Heidi Heitkamp and Claire McCaskill were losing in states that are less red than West Virginia. We need more Democrats like Joe Manchin. The Joe Manchin formula is pretty clear – vote with the Republicans on almost everything. ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2020, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-coup-11-9-2020/925182/972 "2020-12-10T21:44:59Z")
> [@flurb](#): > > The Joe Manchin formula is pretty clear – vote with the Republicans on almost everything. It’s actually about half the time. > **[Tracking Congress In The Age Of Trump](https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/congress-trump-score/joe-manchin-iii/)** > > FiveThirtyEight is tracking which senators and representatives agree and disagree most with Donald Trump. What I was getting at is that the Democrats need to have a just right of center wing of the party that the left is willing to work with. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2020, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-coup-11-9-2020/925182/973 "2020-12-10T22:04:34Z")
> [@Skypist](#): > > We need Dem candidates that will appeal to some of the “lean Republican” voters then. I don’t know how to do that. And also need to appeal “lean Dem” voters who still didn’t vote, enough to motivate them to get out there. This is Biden to a T. ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2020, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-coup-11-9-2020/925182/974 "2020-12-10T22:13:07Z")
So 106 GOP Congresspeople have signed up supporting the Texas AG’s suit. A poll is showing that 77% of Republicans believe there was widespread voter fraud. This is not going to end well. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2020, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-coup-11-9-2020/925182/975 "2020-12-10T22:20:31Z")
> When Donald Trump was [granted](http://www.deadlinenews.co.uk/2012/01/17/donald-trump-at-last-awarded-the-scottish-coat-of-arms/) a coat of arms for his Scottish golf courses in 2012 (after a lengthy court battle, of course), he chose as its motto “ _Numquam concedere_ ”: Never concede. He has not, even as it has become clear that he lost the presidential election by a wide margin. [Cite](https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/12/republican-party-abandoning-democracy/617359/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheAtlantic+%28The+Atlantic+-+Master+Feed%29) ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2020, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-coup-11-9-2020/925182/976 "2020-12-10T22:47:39Z")
My lean Republican, and even Trump supporting, associates strangely liked (or disliked less) Buttigieg. ---
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2020, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-coup-11-9-2020/925182/977 "2020-12-10T23:09:10Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > The fact that denouncing a man trying to overthrow democracy would be bad for a GOP politician’s career is indicative of the size of the problem. Right. And they created this problem for themselves. By continuing to follow the path to fascism and getting in bed with people like Trump, they’ve created a big problem for themselves. I just hope our democracy survives long enough to see them put out of power for a long time. I’m not real confident we will. > [@k9bfriender](#): > > They would not be throwing away their careers, they would be acknowledging that their career is validated by, and is intended to uphold, democracy. Exactly. ---
**Author:** ![Ziberian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/919ad9/32.png) [@Ziberian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ziberian)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2020, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-coup-11-9-2020/925182/978 "2020-12-10T23:18:22Z")
> [@FlikTheBlue](#): > > > [@Skypist](#): > > > > We need Dem candidates that will appeal to some of the “lean Republican” voters then. I don’t know how to do that. And also need to appeal “lean Dem” voters who still didn’t vote, enough to motivate them to get out there. > > I’m not sure how Joe Manchin did it, but he managed to win re-election in West Virginia when people like Heidi Heitkamp and Claire McCaskill were losing in states that are less red than West Virginia. We need more Democrats like Joe Manchin. Joe Manchin won because he is entrenched (in WV that means long family political history, football, coal miner support) AND the red wave sweeping West Virginia hadn’t reached full scale yet when he was reelected in 2018. If he runs in 2022 he may well lose to that red wave. But, he’s a good example of how Democrats can win at the local level on the basis of individual/local issues such as mining, etc. – i.e. different rules than the national level. ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2020, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-coup-11-9-2020/925182/979 "2020-12-10T23:19:50Z")
> [@Ziberian](#): > > he was reelected in 2018. If he runs in 2022 he may well lose to that red wave. If he runs in 2022 I’ll be shocked, because his term runs through 2024. ---
**Author:** ![Ziberian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/919ad9/32.png) [@Ziberian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ziberian)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2020, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-coup-11-9-2020/925182/980 "2020-12-10T23:22:46Z")
> [@flurb](#): > > If he runs in 2022 I’ll be shocked, because his term runs through 2024. LOL! Wellllll, this is West Virginia! Yeah, forgot the 6-year term. That may actually save him. Republicans are dedicated to cutting everything & while West Virginians think that’s what they want, they don’t realize what it will mean in practice, so by 2024 they may be getting tired of Republicans and ready to turn back. ---
**Author:** ![lum\_s\_husband](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lum_s_husband/32/3698_2.png) [@lum\_s\_husband](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lum_s_husband)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2020, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-coup-11-9-2020/925182/981 "2020-12-10T23:26:10Z")
Does it matter that he didn’t win this year? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-coup-11-9-2020/925182.md?page=48) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-coup-11-9-2020/925182.md?page=50)