America and Coups
We're familiar with the practice, at home and abroad, and we should be prepared for another one
The United States is no stranger to supporting coups in nations across the globe. During the Cold War period alone we actively tried to change other countries’ governments 72 times. We have a long, sordid history of supporting undemocratic power grabs when our interests do not align with those who are in power at the time. We have supported, and in many cases helped design and coordinate coups in Argentina, Afghanistan, Brazil, Cambodia, Chile, Columbia, the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Iran, Iraq, Laos, Libya, South Vietnam, and Yemen to name only a few. Salon has a good breakdown if you’re looking to learn more.
And this wasn’t ages ago. We’re doing it right now. We are still supporting Saudi Arabia in Yemen. Libya was 2011, and Honduras was 2009. We’re also still actively engaged in Venezuela.
So the pearl clutching over Russia interfering in our election is a bit laughable. Yes, we should be concerned by a foreign power interfering in our elections and our democratic process, and we should do everything we can to ensure that doesn’t happen. But we also don’t really have a leg to stand in on terms of denouncing a maneuver like this. Additionally, many Americans are rightfully scared of a coup happening this week in the United States as Republicans across the country are rushing to have legitimate ballots thrown out, and the president is preparing to contest election results if they are not in his favor, and use the GOP-controlled Supreme Court to subvert the will of the people.
If you’re looking for comfort, for some words to calm you down, you’ve come to the wrong place.
A coup is a real possibility. And it wouldn’t be the first time we’ve had one here.
The 2000 election win of George W. Bush was a coup. Many people don’t think of it as such because it was neater and more buttoned up than most—all but soaked in decorum and precedent—but it was a coup.
You may or may not be familiar with what has now been termed the Brooks Brothers Riot. The results of the 2000 election between George W. Bush and Al Gore all came down to Florida, and a few counties specifically. One of the most important counties was Miami-Dade where there were believed to be serious voting machine glitches which prompted a manual recount. But the recount was disrupted by hundreds of protesters who were actually Republican operatives, and they successfully stopped the manual recount. Shortly thereafter the GOP-controlled Supreme Court ruled to stop the recount altogether in Florida, and handed the presidency to George W. Bush.
You may recognize the names of three of the lawyers who worked for the GOP on Bush v. Gore: John Roberts, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney-Barrett. In case you’re unaware, all three of them are now Supreme Court justices.
The Republican Party and later the Supreme Court put a halt to democracy 20 years ago, and it could absolutely happen again this month. Al Gore conceded the election “for the sake of our unity as a people and the strength of our democracy.” The chaos faded shortly thereafter, and the populace, by in large, appeared to accept the anti-democratic decision.
America is very familiar with coups, but most of the time we’re pulling the strings from the outside. This is a “the killer is inside the house” situation, and we all need to be aware of that.
The American public cannot let this happen again.
No more concessions in the name of false unity and order.
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