Coup Attempt

A number of years ago, I attended a function at which Democrat Dick Gephardt was the keynote speaker.  While I was not a big fan of Gephardt’s, and he undoubtedly toned down his usual rhetoric for a business crowd, Gephardt had a number of worthwhile things to say.   What stuck with me was his assertion that what made American democracy so special is that the losers in elections always accept the outcome.  They may not like it.  They may grumble.  But they accept it, learn to live with it, and move on. 

That’s not what is happening.  And this time, it’s different.   

What’s really happening is a coup.  I am not the first to use that word—commentators Jake Novak and Kurt Schlichter were among the first to use the term.  I mean to amplify what they have said and offer additional support for that position.

The shock of the defeat of the pre-ordained Clinton presidency had not even worn off when the Democratic Left began to challenge the legitimacy of Donald Trump’s election.  It was the consequence of the anachronistic Electoral College, they said.  It is a vestige of the white slave owners, and the Electoral College needs to go the way of the displays of Confederate flags and statues of Confederate generals.  We just haven’t gotten around to it, yet.  This fallacious argument was a twofer for the Left—tying Donald Trump to black oppression and their first attempt to de-legitimize him.

When that failed, various other excuses were tried—Comey, Fox News in bars, general misogyny, racism, voter suppression, and finally, the Russians, Putin’s animous toward Hillary and the ever-elusive “Russian hack,” or “Russian collusion.  Leaks from the security apparatus derailed Michael Flynn’s confirmation.  While all the other excuses evaporated and were shrugged off, the success that the Left had with Flynn coupled with the difficulty of disproving innuendo have them something to hang on to.  Meanwhile, leaks from the security agencies kept coming (themselves, a federal crime).  Despite not having a shred of concrete evidence, the “Russian collusion” narrative will continue to be advanced.

Connected to that is the existence of Deep State.  Obama clearly politicized each of the departments that are supposed to be politically independent—NSA, FBI and the IRS.   Barack Obama has learned how to use the State surveillance and enforcement apparatus to spy on and punish political enemies.   While other presidents have had great inhibitions about weaponizing these agencies, Obama has had none.  Moreover, he has learned from his sometimes adversaries, the Clintons, that if you evade, layer and deny long enough, you can usually get away with it.   In the normal course, a change in administration means that all these people in the government apparatus would be reporting to the new boss.  This is not the case.  It’s as if Obama had explicitly said to his appointees, “I know Trump is the president, but you’re still really reporting to me.”  The first clue that this was the case was Sally Yates, the interim attorney general, who openly defied Donald Trump and was summarily fired.  The problem is that there are 100’s of Sally Yate’s sprinkled throughout the administration.   Meet the new boss, same as the old boss no longer applies.  They still think they’re working for the old boss.  Dennis Kucinich articled this position the other night and I recommend that you watch his interview with Hannity given this week. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9wWIhwKy4c)

Resist.  Language matters.  When politicians and their followers use that word, it connotes that they will not respect the expression of the electorate through our process.   They do not intend to regroup, refocus, reformulate, re-energize.    Those aren’t the words they have chosen.  And Hillary has appointed herself leader of the Resistance.   They do not plan to recognize Donald Trump as the legitimate president of the United States.

The other clue that this is not a normal transition of political power is that Obama and Clinton have not gone away.  At no other time in my lifetime, do I remember a losing candidate and a sunsetting president  sticking around the Beltway and keeping themselves in the headlines in the manner in which Obama and Clinton are.   (The press criticizes Trump for his vulgarity, but Obama last week labelled Trump a “bullshitter”).  Lyndon Johnson retreated to Texas as did George W. Bush.  Nixon disappeared from public view almost completely.  Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter faded.  The most popular of recent presidents, Ronald Reagan stayed out of the limelight.  Romney mostly disappeared after his loss and McCain went back to his role in the Senate.  Obama and Clinton have announced that they are not going away anytime soon, and Hillary is started a PAC and appointed herself leader of the “Resistance.”   This is very unusual and very, very troubling.   Most telling is that Valerie Jarrett has moved in with the Obamas in D.C.  Why?  The statements and actions of Obama and Clinton give us a clue.  They intend to do whatever they can to unseat this duly elected president and subvert the will of the people.  The reality is that they do not intend to allow political power to be transitioned.

Obama learned much by the experience in Ferguson.   Darren Wilson was justified in defending himself against Michael Brown.  But it didn’t matter.   What he learned was that the “Hands Up. Don’t Shoot”  narrative survived what actually occurred.   It worked.  It worked despite Roland Fryer’s study at Harvard that showed no racial bias in cops shooting unarmed black men.  Obama learned from Vladimir Lenin, ”A lie told often enough becomes the truth.”  “Russian Collusion” is the new “Hands Up. Don’t Shoot.”  It doesn’t matter whether it actually happened or not. 

This is an attempted coup.  Make no mistake.  It is not being done with AK-47s and hand grenades, but electronically and by innuendo.   And it is happening.  The coup may not be fully consummated, but Obama and Clinton fully intend to operate as much of the mechanisms of the State as possible by remote.   Obama/Clinton, the MSM and Deep State will not permit the Deplorables to choose and keep their own leader.  They will not stop until Trump is gone.

Just ask yourself who is bitterly clinging now?