7 ms·

Right. Even if the system is fraud proof. It must be so transparent so everybody understands how it works. The US has not experienced (yet) a candidate that re

by huherto 10y ago

Right. Even if the system is fraud proof. It must be so transparent so everybody understands how it works. The US has not experienced (yet) a candidate that refuses to accept the results of an election. An unloyal candidate will claim fraud without any proof. And enough people would believe him to cause internal division or even a civil war or a coup d'etat.

DigitalJack 10y ago
It's really not possible to have a coup in the US. Government is too distributed for a quick take over. Civil war, on the other hand, could still happen, but I think it would probably end up with just a few stand-off situations and be resolved quickly. I believe that the population of americans that view politics as reality TV are the majority. Also, Bush v. Gore, florida election results, 2000. AKA "The Hanging Chad" incident. Also happens to be the year that americans at large learned the words "enjoin" and "disenfranchise."
- eternalban 10y ago
  Is it really viable to apply old world paradigms to USA? > It's really not possible to have a coup in the US Then what exactly happened on 9/11? In non-banana variety republics, the person in charge of national air defense would have been minimally subjected to a court martial. This still happens here too [1] for far less serious events. The general in this case, however, got promoted. [2] > US. Government is too distributed for a quick take over How about a very slow and deliberate take over. Would that work? [1]: http://www.stripes.com/news/middle-east/another-navy-commander-tied-to-iran-incident-relieved-of-duty-1.415931 http://www.stripes.com/news/middle-east/another-navy-command... [2]: http://www.jcs.mil/About/The-Joint-Staff/Chairman/General-Richard-Bowman-Myers/ http://www.jcs.mil/About/The-Joint-Staff/Chairman/General-Ri...
  - DigitalJack 10y ago
    > How about a very slow and deliberate take over. Would that work? No, that is not what a coup is.
- pessimizer 10y ago
  I think you're assuming a coup against the government, which I'm not sure has ever happened anywhere. Any coup would come from a portion of the government, aligned with powerful interests external to the government. As an example in the U.S., let's say that 3/4s of Republican governors, along with half of Republican Senators, and an absolute majority of the House, the vast majority of their individual financial backers, and a large number of generals decided that Trump lost due to voter fraud that occurred largely in states and cities with Democratic administrations. A group of them then read an open letter on Fox News about it, and the reading, while not carried on major networks, is broadcast on all channels by Comcast, Altice, and Cox Cable. As the letter is being read, a mass email goes out to the Trump email list to converge on the White House in DC and Clinton Foundation headquarters for a peaceful protest, named "Occupy the Crooked Election." As the thousands accumulate, the Governors that can announce that they're going to mobilize the state militias to do a recount, or rerun the election. Is this impossible? How do you walk it back? Also, didn't we just have a massively blood soaked civil war 150 years ago?
  - greenleafjacob 10y ago
    State militia? Are you from the 1800s? The California State Army Reserve is 1500 strong. The California National Guard is 18000.
    - 0xffff2 10y ago
      What's your point exactly? While the term "state militia" is a bit unusual these days, that's effectively what the National Guard is.
      - xj9 10y ago
        The National Guard doesn't report to California.
  - AnimalMuppet 10y ago
    > A group of them then read an open letter on Fox News about it, and the reading, while not carried on major networks... Fox isn't a major network? (Or did you mean "not carried on other major networks?)
th0waway 10y ago
you mean like Gore?

by huherto 10y ago

DigitalJack 10y ago

It's really not possible to have a coup in the US. Government is too distributed for a quick take over. Civil war, on the other hand, could still happen, but I think it would probably end up with just a few stand-off situations and be resolved quickly. I believe that the population of americans that view politics as reality TV are the majority. Also, Bush v. Gore, florida election results, 2000. AKA "The Hanging Chad" incident. Also happens to be the year that americans at large learned the words "enjoin" and "disenfranchise."

eternalban 10y ago
Is it really viable to apply old world paradigms to USA? > It's really not possible to have a coup in the US Then what exactly happened on 9/11? In non-banana variety republics, the person in charge of national air defense would have been minimally subjected to a court martial. This still happens here too [1] for far less serious events. The general in this case, however, got promoted. [2] > US. Government is too distributed for a quick take over How about a very slow and deliberate take over. Would that work? [1]: http://www.stripes.com/news/middle-east/another-navy-commander-tied-to-iran-incident-relieved-of-duty-1.415931 http://www.stripes.com/news/middle-east/another-navy-command... [2]: http://www.jcs.mil/About/The-Joint-Staff/Chairman/General-Richard-Bowman-Myers/ http://www.jcs.mil/About/The-Joint-Staff/Chairman/General-Ri...
- DigitalJack 10y ago
  > How about a very slow and deliberate take over. Would that work? No, that is not what a coup is.
pessimizer 10y ago
I think you're assuming a coup against the government, which I'm not sure has ever happened anywhere. Any coup would come from a portion of the government, aligned with powerful interests external to the government. As an example in the U.S., let's say that 3/4s of Republican governors, along with half of Republican Senators, and an absolute majority of the House, the vast majority of their individual financial backers, and a large number of generals decided that Trump lost due to voter fraud that occurred largely in states and cities with Democratic administrations. A group of them then read an open letter on Fox News about it, and the reading, while not carried on major networks, is broadcast on all channels by Comcast, Altice, and Cox Cable. As the letter is being read, a mass email goes out to the Trump email list to converge on the White House in DC and Clinton Foundation headquarters for a peaceful protest, named "Occupy the Crooked Election." As the thousands accumulate, the Governors that can announce that they're going to mobilize the state militias to do a recount, or rerun the election. Is this impossible? How do you walk it back? Also, didn't we just have a massively blood soaked civil war 150 years ago?
- greenleafjacob 10y ago
  State militia? Are you from the 1800s? The California State Army Reserve is 1500 strong. The California National Guard is 18000.
  - 0xffff2 10y ago
    What's your point exactly? While the term "state militia" is a bit unusual these days, that's effectively what the National Guard is.
    - xj9 10y ago
      The National Guard doesn't report to California.
- AnimalMuppet 10y ago
  > A group of them then read an open letter on Fox News about it, and the reading, while not carried on major networks... Fox isn't a major network? (Or did you mean "not carried on other major networks?)

th0waway 10y ago

you mean like Gore?