# Wouldn't the government itself rebel against a second Trump presidency? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Tags:** trump\ **Created:** [April 6, 2024, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wouldnt-the-government-itself-rebel-against-a-second-trump-presidency/999947 "2024-04-06T17:59:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**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:** [April 8, 2024, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wouldnt-the-government-itself-rebel-against-a-second-trump-presidency/999947/142 "2024-04-08T17:08:10Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > So when it comes to combatant commanders he only needs one who is loyal. History shows us that incompetent officers are occasionally taken out by their own troops rather than being followed into a questionable situation. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2024, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wouldnt-the-government-itself-rebel-against-a-second-trump-presidency/999947/143 "2024-04-08T17:10:00Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > Why the persistent, repeated assertions from multiple posters that the conservative justices on the Court must be Trumpians, who will violate all reason and law to _ad hoc_ uphold whatever Trump wants? I’m not seeing it. SCOTUS decisions over the past few years have displayed that the conservative majority will invent whatever legal theory is required to get the outcome Republicans want. > [@](#): > > Conservative textualist/originalist does not equal Trumpian. It equals whatever the jurist wants it to mean. That’s why they choose to posture as textualist/originalist. “The Constitution only means what the founders intended. They are all dead, so I’ll have to speak for them.” ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2024, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wouldnt-the-government-itself-rebel-against-a-second-trump-presidency/999947/144 "2024-04-08T17:10:56Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > Hillary Clinton received 2.9 million more votes than Donald Trump, out of ~128 million votes cast. That doesn’t strike me as enormously lopsided. And in 2020 Biden won both the popular and electoral majorities. I don’t care if Clinton won the popular vote by only 1,000 votes. The point is that more people voted for her than Trump, and yet she lost the election. No other democracy in the world has an electoral college, and even if it worked 99% of the time and picked the candidate with the most votes, I would still want to get rid of it since to me it’s undemocratic. It may have made sense in the 18th Century, but it’s time to get rid of this antiquated concept. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2024, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wouldnt-the-government-itself-rebel-against-a-second-trump-presidency/999947/145 "2024-04-08T17:11:43Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > > [@Loach](#): > > > > So when it comes to combatant commanders he only needs one who is loyal. > > History shows us that incompetent officers are occasionally taken out by their own troops rather than being followed into a questionable situation. Like Bear I’m not confident that’s the direction the military would go if put in that situation. ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2024, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wouldnt-the-government-itself-rebel-against-a-second-trump-presidency/999947/146 "2024-04-08T17:16:37Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > Actually, armed rallies are tactically a _terrible_ idea. If you’re going to protest within the system, protest; and if you’re going to engage in armed rebellion, deploy like soldiers. But protesters bunched up in a mass surrounded on all sides by armed adversaries is a horrible position for trying to use armed force. Nobody said MAGA folks were particularly smart… but remember Jan 6th. In that case a large, unarmed mob was able to stop Congress cold from doing it’s job, and threatened numerous duly-elected government officials, including the vice president, for a number of hours. I don’t expect that will ever happen again, but thanks in great part to the inaction of the sitting president, it was allowed to happen now once. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2024, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wouldnt-the-government-itself-rebel-against-a-second-trump-presidency/999947/147 "2024-04-08T17:19:19Z")
> [@Aeschines](#): > > Either way, it’s not a great situation. First telling us that there is no way he will be the Republican nominee, then telling us he will resign immediately, then putting forth that the military and/or the government will take care of it-all three of these propositions seem like efforts to cause complacency among Democratic voters. I think acting as if Trump has a very real chance of getting the nomination and, if he becomes President, will stay in office and treat said office as his personal candy store is the safe and sane way to treat this very real threat to our country. ---
**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:** [April 8, 2024, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wouldnt-the-government-itself-rebel-against-a-second-trump-presidency/999947/148 "2024-04-08T17:20:20Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > Like Bear I’m not confident that’s the direction the military would go if put in that situation. Neither am I, as it was far from a normal thing (although come to think of it, there was even a cadre of Nazi officers who tried to take out the upper echelon). I just offered it up as a remote possibility. ---
**Author:** ![Aeschines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aeschines/32/16251_2.png) [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2024, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wouldnt-the-government-itself-rebel-against-a-second-trump-presidency/999947/149 "2024-04-08T17:38:35Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > First telling us that there is no way he will be the Republican nominee, then telling us he will resign immediately, then putting forth that the military and/or the government will take care of it-all three of these propositions seem like efforts to cause complacency among Democratic voters. 1. Moderate misrepresentation of the post. I didn’t say “no way.” 2. That wasn’t my post. I disagreed with the OP. 3. Flagrant misrepresentation of the post. I am speculating that the government might rebel; I nowhere state or imply that they would have an easy time of it. I haven’t even said that I think they would succeed. > [@](#): > > I think acting as if Trump has a very real chance of getting the nomination and, if he becomes President, will stay in office and treat said office as his personal candy store is the safe and sane way to treat this very real threat to our country. I agree with this. And I have also said, in multiple threads including this one, that I think the MAGA problem (with or without Trump) will take a generation to work through. ---
**Author:** ![Aeschines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aeschines/32/16251_2.png) [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2024, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wouldnt-the-government-itself-rebel-against-a-second-trump-presidency/999947/150 "2024-04-08T17:42:14Z")
Yes, the Electoral College is a national embarrassment. It only “made sense” in the 18th century in that the president was not even intended to be elected by the populace, and there wasn’t even universal white male suffrage at the start (cite: [Universal manhood suffrage - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_manhood_suffrage)). ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2024, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wouldnt-the-government-itself-rebel-against-a-second-trump-presidency/999947/151 "2024-04-08T17:53:23Z")
> [@Aeschines](#): > > Yes, the Electoral College is a national embarrassment. So why can’t we get rid of it? Who’s lobbying to keep it around? According to a 2020 Gallup survey, 61% of responders favored replacing the _Electoral College_, which would be a majority in my book. ---
**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:** [April 8, 2024, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wouldnt-the-government-itself-rebel-against-a-second-trump-presidency/999947/152 "2024-04-08T17:58:16Z")
> [@EddyTeddyFreddy](#): > > Check out [these quotes from Goldwater](https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Barry_Goldwater), who’d be a RINO in the eyes of today’s right wing. I like this one: > Mark my word, if and when these preachers get control of the Republican party, and they’re sure trying to do so, it’s going to be a terrible damn problem. Frankly, these people frighten me. Politics and governing demand compromise. But these Christians believe they are acting in the name of God, so they can’t and won’t compromise. I know, I’ve tried to deal with them. ---
**Author:** ![Aeschines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aeschines/32/16251_2.png) [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2024, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wouldnt-the-government-itself-rebel-against-a-second-trump-presidency/999947/153 "2024-04-08T18:02:04Z")
We’d have to amend the constitution. The red states currently get an advantage from the EC, so they would never vote to amend. (Wash, rinse, repeat for any _positive_ change we want to make in the country, pretty much.) ---
**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:** [April 8, 2024, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wouldnt-the-government-itself-rebel-against-a-second-trump-presidency/999947/154 "2024-04-08T18:03:24Z")
> [@dolphinboy](#): > > So why can’t we get rid of it? Who’s lobbying to keep it around? According to a 2020 Gallup survey, 61% of responders favored replacing the _Electoral College_, which would be a majority in my book. It would be extremely difficult and unlikely to happen. It’s part of the Constitution, which means it would take 2/3 of both houses to amend/abolish. Then 3/4 of the states would have to ratify it. It would only take 13 states to block it, which is almost certainly to happen as there are at least 13 states that are thinly populated and benefit from the existing system. ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2024, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wouldnt-the-government-itself-rebel-against-a-second-trump-presidency/999947/155 "2024-04-08T18:19:23Z")
I’ll take the Electoral College issue over to a P&E thread instead of derailing this one. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2024, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wouldnt-the-government-itself-rebel-against-a-second-trump-presidency/999947/156 "2024-04-08T20:48:04Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > Why the persistent, repeated assertions from multiple posters that the conservative justices on the Court must be Trumpians, who will violate all reason and law to _ad hoc_ uphold whatever Trump wants? I’m not seeing it. Conservative textualist/originalist does not equal Trumpian. Yep. Several times they have ruled against trump. for example his election fraud claims. > [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > SCOTUS decisions over the past few years have displayed that the conservative majority will invent whatever legal theory is required to get the outcome Republicans want. Not true. Did SCOTUS overturn the 2020 election, and hand it to trump? ---
**Author:** ![mrbillbenson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/db5fbb/32.png) [@mrbillbenson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mrbillbenson)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2024, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wouldnt-the-government-itself-rebel-against-a-second-trump-presidency/999947/157 "2024-04-09T01:34:44Z")
I think you are completely delusional. If you thought Jan 6 attack on the Capitol was bad just wait until your “united Congress” (as IF !!) tries that stunt of overturning the will of the American people. I sure hope it does not come to that, I hope T goes to jail before he gets a chance to assume office again. ---
**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:** [April 9, 2024, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wouldnt-the-government-itself-rebel-against-a-second-trump-presidency/999947/158 "2024-04-09T01:47:39Z")
Not sure if this is the best thread to post this, but it occurs to me that Trump’s takeover of the RNC is probably a good test case for what would happen if he took over the government again. > **[Trump’s RNC takeover triggers strife and staff exits as purge partly backfires](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/apr/08/rnc-trump-takeover-republican-strife)** > > Presumptive Republican nominee installed allies to run party but loyalty tests have led to weakening of certain areas, including data > But the threats of termination and the rumored loyalty tests – which turned out to be accurate when staffers were asked in job interviews if they thought the 2020 election was stolen from Trump, though there has been no evidence of election fraud – may have been too aggressive. > > In the weeks that followed, although the new RNC leadership quietly extended offers to a majority of former staffers, with the exception of those who worked in the RNC political department, some staffers on crucial teams declined to return, the sources said. > > The situation means the RNC has been left without people with deep knowledge of election operations at the Republican party’s central committee, and who were willing to work for salaries far lower than what they could earn in the private sector. ---
**Author:** ![Aeschines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aeschines/32/16251_2.png) [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2024, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wouldnt-the-government-itself-rebel-against-a-second-trump-presidency/999947/159 "2024-04-09T02:54:26Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > Not sure if this is the best thread to post this, but it occurs to me that Trump’s takeover of the RNC is probably a good test case for what would happen if he took over the government again. LOL, these idiots. Trump is no Hitler. He would not succeed in putting together a competent dictatorship. I’m more worried that he would do a bunch of dumb shit that would trigger multiple constitutional crises with unpredictable results. I mean, I _know_ he would do that if reelected. ---
**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:** [April 9, 2024, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wouldnt-the-government-itself-rebel-against-a-second-trump-presidency/999947/160 "2024-04-09T02:57:01Z")
> [@Aeschines](#): > > He would not succeed in putting together a competent dictatorship. It might end up like when Elon bought Twitter, and fired everyone whose job didn’t make sense to Elon, personally. When you fire The One Guy Who Knows What That Button Does, don’t be surprised when pushing that button blows up Amsterdam. ---
**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:** [April 9, 2024, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wouldnt-the-government-itself-rebel-against-a-second-trump-presidency/999947/161 "2024-04-09T03:08:00Z")
Moderating: > [@mrbillbenson](#): > > I think you are completely delusional. You’re new here and welcome, but you need to abide by our rules all the same. One of the primary ones is that you aren’t permitted to personally attack another poster. Don’t do this again. Here’s a link to our rules: > [@Terms of Service and FAQ](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terms-of-service-and-faq/823562): > > Terms of Service The current Terms of Service may be viewed [here](https://boards.straightdope.com/tos). I encourage you to take some time to review and understand them. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wouldnt-the-government-itself-rebel-against-a-second-trump-presidency/999947.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wouldnt-the-government-itself-rebel-against-a-second-trump-presidency/999947.md?page=9)