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erronis

(16,987 posts)
Mon Nov 4, 2024, 09:29 AM Nov 4

What if Trump's campaign is cover for a slow-motion coup? Jan-Werner Mller - The Guardian [View all]

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/nov/04/trump-campaign-election-coup-cover-up
Even if Trump can’t really mobilize large numbers of people to the streets, just prolonging a sense of chaos might be enough

This is a very well-written and scary article.

Whatever happens next, one day historians will have to explain why a candidate who earlier this year had been presented as disciplined started to veer off into unrestrained racist rhetoric and dancing for 40 minutes to his own playlist. Was it age, as plenty of commentators have speculated? Was it a brilliant attempt to balance dehumanizing attacks on minorities with an effort to make himself look human?

A much more sinister explanation must be taken seriously. We still assume that we are witnessing two campaigns for the presidency. But what if we are witnessing one campaign and one slow-motion coup, whose organizers need to go through the motion of campaigning for the plan to work? Since winning at the ballot box does not matter, taking a break to listen to Pavarotti isn’t a problem; conversely, a festival of racism and conspiracy theories, as at Madison Square Garden, is not about convincing any undecided voter, but motivating committed Trumpists to go along with another coup attempt.

To be sure, this can also sound like conspiracy theory. The point is not prediction, but to call for preparedness. After all, there is an overwhelming number of reasons why, should Trump lose, he will once more try to take power anyway. His followers have long been primed to assume that evil Democrats will steal the election. The unchecked racism fits into a logic of far-right populism more generally: far-right populists claim that they, and they alone, represent what they call “the silent majority” or “the real people” (the very expression Trump used on January 6 to address his supporters).


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I've wondered the same. Doodley Nov 4 #1
I have been thinking that all along...before the tRump Biden debate. FarPoint Nov 4 #2
"this can also sound like conspiracy theory" TwilightZone Nov 4 #3
The authorities haven't held Trump to account for his actions four years ago. He's a traitor to America running for Doodley Nov 4 #10
The weird behavior at rallies are a signal to operatives bucolic_frolic Nov 4 #4
We have Merick Garland. nt Hotler Nov 4 #5
We have an Air Force with nukes. Nt Fiendish Thingy Nov 4 #12
.... orangecrush Nov 4 #19
Merrick Garland ... less useful than a potted plant. Sky Jewels Nov 4 #21
I've grown quite tired of the "what if" nonsense. Conjuay Nov 4 #6
They started something on J/6 and people died. That should not be what we are hoping for. Ferrets are Cool Nov 4 #8
Trump came near to stealing the election. That is more than noise. Doodley Nov 4 #11
There is no 'far right.' J_William_Ryan Nov 4 #7
I don't think t runs that deep sboatcar Nov 4 #9
I agree. Trump isn't what they want, he's just the key to the door. mucholderthandirt Nov 4 #20
"go through the motion of campaigning" orthoclad Nov 4 #13
there's no if about it. 20 years or more in the making Tetrachloride Nov 4 #14
The difference this time is that President Biden is in control and Biden's not naive. rainin Nov 4 #15
What if? Was there ever any doubt?...nt Wounded Bear Nov 4 #16
BS Metaphorical Nov 4 #17
The fact that something like this can even be considered is evidence for why Trump should be defeated soundly. lees1975 Nov 4 #18
Well, duh. That's been fully evident for years. Project 2025 lays it all out in 900 pages. Hekate Nov 4 #22
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