# Trump tweets his term should be extended by two years to compensate him for the Mueller coup attempt **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 6, 2019, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-tweets-his-term-should-be-extended-by-two-years-to-compensate-him-for-the-mueller-coup-attempt/833534 "2019-05-06T01:05:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2019, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-tweets-his-term-should-be-extended-by-two-years-to-compensate-him-for-the-mueller-coup-attempt/833534/21 "2019-05-06T07:54:28Z")
God bless America. Fuck knows, you need every bit of assistance you can get, even from imaginary deities. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2019, 10:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-tweets-his-term-should-be-extended-by-two-years-to-compensate-him-for-the-mueller-coup-attempt/833534/22 "2019-05-06T10:14:25Z")
the only thing id give him is 2 extra points on a caliber rating … ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2019, 10:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-tweets-his-term-should-be-extended-by-two-years-to-compensate-him-for-the-mueller-coup-attempt/833534/23 "2019-05-06T10:18:04Z")
Well he can become the first American Shogun. ---
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2019, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-tweets-his-term-should-be-extended-by-two-years-to-compensate-him-for-the-mueller-coup-attempt/833534/24 "2019-05-06T10:47:54Z")
Related: [Pelosi is concerned that Trump will contest the election results](https://edition.cnn.com/2019/05/04/politics/nancy-pelosi-trump-2020-election-impeachment/index.html). What we have is a president publicly musing about extending his term, and high-ranking opposition leaders concerned that he will contest his election results. Republican leadership has no comment on this. HOLY SHIT, YOU GUYS! ---
**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:** [May 6, 2019, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-tweets-his-term-should-be-extended-by-two-years-to-compensate-him-for-the-mueller-coup-attempt/833534/25 "2019-05-06T11:54:32Z")
What’s worse is that a lot of Americans probably wouldn’t care one way or another if Trump makes an extra-constitutional attempt to preserve himself as long as they feel like they’re financially stable. Polls in recent years have indicated that Americans have a very low opinion of the media and their elected officials, and they have a comparatively high opinion of the military and the police. There’s certainly nothing that is inherently problematic about respecting a soldier or an officer’s work and commitment to service. But when a democratic society values its authority figures and police power more than it values the institutions that function to preserve self-governance, we have a very serious problem. ---
**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:** [May 6, 2019, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-tweets-his-term-should-be-extended-by-two-years-to-compensate-him-for-the-mueller-coup-attempt/833534/26 "2019-05-06T12:14:57Z")
Something else to add: modern authoritarianism occurs first by **consent**. Modern authoritarians don’t necessarily just roll through a capital city with tanks like Augusto Pinochet; they win elections. They use rhetoric and language that explain very clearly what they intend to do, and they let naive voters, who assume that “Ah, it’s just talk”, sanction their criminal and anti-democratic behavior. We already had a referendum on twisting the Constitution, and that referendum occurred on November 8, 2016. Trump is now using language to prime us for whatever comes next. It’s sometimes off the cuff, but it’s also part of a calculated effort to get us used to the fact that the old rules and norms of politics are, in his view, dead. And he is trying to get us to consent to him bending the Constitution and democracy itself out of shape. This has been happening since day one; it’s just that now it’s becoming a little more obvious. There’s a little history behind it now that didn’t exist in January of 2017. He is first, always, getting his political bedrock base of supporters to agree to his designs on the constitution. He’s communicating with them so that he can get them to support whatever the hell he decides to do with his enemies. But of course his base of support only constitutes maybe 25-35% of the voting population. So what about the rest? Well, he hopes that another 25-30% just don’t give a shit or don’t know what to do to stop him and his gang. That’s how democracies die and become authoritarian nightmares, and we’re beginning to see it all unfold right here and now. We’ve got ringside seats to history. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2019, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-tweets-his-term-should-be-extended-by-two-years-to-compensate-him-for-the-mueller-coup-attempt/833534/27 "2019-05-06T12:26:37Z")
This is dangerous shit. I can totally see Turtleman McConnell going all in on this proposal and the drunken sexual predator he put on the Supreme Court being totally cool with it. He needs to be in office long enough to escape statutes of limitations and if he can’t do it fairly he’s going to cheat like he’s done his whole life. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2019, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-tweets-his-term-should-be-extended-by-two-years-to-compensate-him-for-the-mueller-coup-attempt/833534/28 "2019-05-06T12:54:11Z")
Once more it appears that the role of the US military may be critical in the next years. Anything seen as an attempt by a POTUS to thwart the results of an election would be grounds for members of the armed forces to uphold their oath to defend the Constitution. Currently, [officer ranks tend to generally oppose Trump](https://www.militarytimes.com/news/pentagon-congress/2018/10/15/support-for-trump-is-fading-among-active-duty-troops-new-poll-shows/) which I find reassuring. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2019, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-tweets-his-term-should-be-extended-by-two-years-to-compensate-him-for-the-mueller-coup-attempt/833534/29 "2019-05-06T13:58:48Z")
> [@PhillyGuy](#): > > I’m pretty sure that persons of below-average intelligence, by any reasonable definition of intelligence, don’t win a U.S. presidential election despite being outspent 2-1. I’m pretty sure you’re wrong because: 1. I have read some of Trump’s tweets. 2. I am literate. ---
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2019, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-tweets-his-term-should-be-extended-by-two-years-to-compensate-him-for-the-mueller-coup-attempt/833534/30 "2019-05-06T14:12:41Z")
nm ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2019, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-tweets-his-term-should-be-extended-by-two-years-to-compensate-him-for-the-mueller-coup-attempt/833534/31 "2019-05-06T14:57:32Z")
For pretty much my whole life, there’s been some idiot ranting about how the President is going to “cancel the elections” and declare himself “President for life”. And for all that time, it was safe to just ignore that idiot, because almost everyone knew that he was just a paranoid idiot, and that the President would never stoop to such a level. Now what do we do, when that paranoid idiot is actually the President? ---
**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:** [May 6, 2019, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-tweets-his-term-should-be-extended-by-two-years-to-compensate-him-for-the-mueller-coup-attempt/833534/32 "2019-05-06T15:09:47Z")
> [@PhillyGuy](#): > > No I don’t. > > I’m pretty sure that persons of below-average intelligence, by any reasonable definition of intelligence, don’t win a U.S. presidential election despite being outspent 2-1. > … FTR, he didn’t “win the election” by vote count. He lost by 3 million votes. The Electoral College won the election for him. ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2019, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-tweets-his-term-should-be-extended-by-two-years-to-compensate-him-for-the-mueller-coup-attempt/833534/33 "2019-05-06T15:21:14Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > For pretty much my whole life, there’s been some idiot ranting about how the President is going to “cancel the elections” and declare himself “President for life”. And for all that time, it was safe to just ignore that idiot, because almost everyone knew that he was just a paranoid idiot, and that the President would never stoop to such a level. > > Now what do we do, when that paranoid idiot is actually the President? And the difference being, if a Democratic president had done it, the Dems would be the first to rise up and say, “Da fuck you say!” Whereas when Trump does it, his supporters will be all, “Wut? Problem?” ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2019, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-tweets-his-term-should-be-extended-by-two-years-to-compensate-him-for-the-mueller-coup-attempt/833534/34 "2019-05-06T15:39:54Z")
“FOUR MORE YEARS! FOUR MORE YEARS!” _— The majority of American voters, at Trump’s sentencing hearing_ ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2019, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-tweets-his-term-should-be-extended-by-two-years-to-compensate-him-for-the-mueller-coup-attempt/833534/35 "2019-05-06T16:02:36Z")
If asked, I would have guessed that Falwell had died of syphilis or chronic drug abuse. How is this guy still at all relevant to anyone, regardless of political persuasion? ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2019, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-tweets-his-term-should-be-extended-by-two-years-to-compensate-him-for-the-mueller-coup-attempt/833534/36 "2019-05-06T16:07:38Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > If asked, I would have guessed that Falwell had died of syphilis or chronic drug abuse. How is this guy still at all relevant to anyone, regardless of political persuasion? Bear in mind this is [Jerry Falwell, Jr](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Falwell_Jr.), who is only 56. [His father](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Falwell) died back in 2007. Astonishingly enough, [Pat Robertson](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pat_Robertson) is still alive, though. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2019, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-tweets-his-term-should-be-extended-by-two-years-to-compensate-him-for-the-mueller-coup-attempt/833534/37 "2019-05-06T16:22:39Z")
I’m all for extending any term the court finds appropriate, but doesn’t there have to be a conviction first? ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2019, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-tweets-his-term-should-be-extended-by-two-years-to-compensate-him-for-the-mueller-coup-attempt/833534/38 "2019-05-06T16:24:53Z")
> [@MEBuckner](#): > > Bear in mind this is [Jerry Falwell, Jr](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Falwell_Jr.), who is only 56. [His father](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Falwell) died back in 2007. Astonishingly enough, [Pat Robertson](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pat_Robertson) is still alive, though. Ah, devil’s spawn, then. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2019, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-tweets-his-term-should-be-extended-by-two-years-to-compensate-him-for-the-mueller-coup-attempt/833534/39 "2019-05-06T16:27:15Z")
> [@MEBuckner](#): > > Bear in mind this is [Jerry Falwell, Jr](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Falwell_Jr.), who is only 56. [His father](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Falwell) died back in 2007. Astonishingly enough, [Pat Robertson](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pat_Robertson) is still alive, though. They do say the best die young. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2019, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-tweets-his-term-should-be-extended-by-two-years-to-compensate-him-for-the-mueller-coup-attempt/833534/40 "2019-05-06T17:14:17Z")
> [@Aspenglow](#): > > And the difference being, if a Democratic president had done it, the Dems would be the first to rise up and say, “Da fuck you say!” > > Whereas when Trump does it, his supporters will be all, “Wut? Problem?” But could you even imagine any Democratic President (or even a Republican one, up until now) saying something like this? Or even _hinting_ at something like this? And Obama even had the same excuse Trump is using now of “wasting” years of his Presidency, when the Republicans stated quite openly that they were never going to consider his nomination for the Supreme Court because he only had one year left in his mandate. Can you imagine Obama saying, “Well, then, we’ll just extend my term by an extra year!”? No, it’s just ridiculous. But with Trump, it’s not even a surprise. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-tweets-his-term-should-be-extended-by-two-years-to-compensate-him-for-the-mueller-coup-attempt/833534.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-tweets-his-term-should-be-extended-by-two-years-to-compensate-him-for-the-mueller-coup-attempt/833534.md?page=3)