# Will the country unravel if Obama is assassinated?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-country-unravel-if-obama-is-assassinated/516342>\
**Category:** Great Debates\
**Created:** [November 4, 2009, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-country-unravel-if-obama-is-assassinated/516342 "2009-11-04T22:56:53Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 5

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**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\
**Post date:** [November 7, 2009, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-country-unravel-if-obama-is-assassinated/516342/81 "2009-11-07T01:01:36Z")

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> [@foolsguinea](#):
>
> Contrarian view.
> 
> I think Obama’s assassination could possibly be for the greater good in the end, but mainly in working against the intention of his assassin.
> 
> That is, if Barry O. is assassinated by a racist with “right-wing” identifiers, it will bring the hammer down on racists & right-wingers. Joe Biden will see to that.
> 
> I’m less sure what happens if a lefty shoots him. Depending on the variety, it might lead to a purge of that variety of lefty.
> 
> And if a moderate kills him? Hoo boy. I don’t know.

It’s not that Joe Biden does anything. It’s that Joe _Public_ scorns them. Moderate republicans would become moderates, and moderates would become moderate liberals, and moderate liberals would become strong liberals - at least for the next few years until the gut reaction wore off. And with a liberal-by-the-numbers congress already in place, a lot could happen in those few years.

9-11 was an example of this sort of situation.

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**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\
**Post date:** [November 7, 2009, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-country-unravel-if-obama-is-assassinated/516342/82 "2009-11-07T04:57:42Z")

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> [@foolsguinea](#):
>
> And if a moderate kills him? Hoo boy. I don’t know.

Moderation will become a crime against the state.

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**Author:** ![SiXSwordS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/49beb7/32.png) [@SiXSwordS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SiXSwordS)\
**Post date:** [November 7, 2009, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-country-unravel-if-obama-is-assassinated/516342/83 "2009-11-07T13:11:01Z")

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> [@foolsguinea](#):
>
> And if a moderate kills him? Hoo boy. I don’t know.

There’ll be Caucasian rioting in the streets, which will mostly be made up of recipe exchanges. But the recipes won’t be very good and they will all be a kind of hotdish!

I don’t think the political upheaval resulting from an assassination would undo the country, but the economic impact might.

Global reactions would come into play and if the President were assassinated by Al-Qaeda, for example, I think our resources are stretched far too thin to make any kind of meaningful response.

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