I’ve lived through a few coups. They’re insane, random, and terrifying, like watching sports, except your political future depends on the score.
The kickoff begins when a key official decides to buck the executive. From that moment, government becomes a high-speed head-counting exercise. Who’s got the power plant, the airport, the police in the capital? How many department chiefs are answering their phones? Who’s writing tonight’s newscast?
When the KGB in 1991 tried to reassume control of the crumbling Soviet Union by placing Mikhail Gorbachev under arrest and attempting to seize Moscow, logistics ruled. Boris Yeltsin’s crew drove to the Russian White House in ordinary cars, beating KGB coup plotters who were trying to reach the seat of Russian government in armored vehicles. A key moment came when one of Yeltsin’s men, Alexander Rutskoi – who two years later would himself lead a coup against Yeltsin – prevailed upon a Major in a tank unit to defy KGB orders and turn on the “criminals.”
We have long been spared this madness in America. Our head-counting ceremony was Election Day. We did it once every four years.
That’s all over, in the Trump era.
On Thursday, news broke that two businessmen said to have “peddled supposedly explosive information about corruption involving Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden” were arrested at Dulles airport on “campaign finance violations.” The two figures are alleged to be bagmen bearing “dirt” on Democrats, solicited by Trump and his personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani.
Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman will be asked to give depositions to impeachment investigators. They’re reportedly going to refuse. Their lawyer John Dowd also says they will “refuse to appear before House Committees investigating President Donald Trump.” Fruman and Parnas meanwhile claim they had real derogatory information about Biden and other politicians, but “the U.S. government had shown little interest in receiving it through official channels.”
For Americans not familiar with the language of the Third World, that’s two contrasting denials of political legitimacy.
The men who are the proxies for Donald Trump and Rudy Giuliani in this story are asserting that “official channels” have been corrupted. The forces backing impeachment, meanwhile, are telling us those same defendants are obstructing a lawful impeachment inquiry.
This latest incident, set against the impeachment mania and the reportedly “expanding” Russiagate investigation of U.S. Attorney John Durham, accelerates our timeline to chaos. We are speeding toward a situation when someone in one of these camps refuses to obey a major decree, arrest order, or court decision, at which point Americans will get to experience the joys of their political futures being decided by phone calls to generals and police chiefs.
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Whatever you might think of Trump, should he be removed, whatever replaces him will be far far worse
ReplyDeleteI don't think Americans would take that sitting down. High ranking Democrats must have done some pretty bad stuff to continue down this road.
DeletePut it this way. George Bush lied to get us into the Iraq war, where we've spent trillions of dollars, shed the blood of hundreds of thousands and lost countless civil liberties. Then the whole BS in Florida to secure the second election. I don't recall Democrats ever calling to impeach Bush. He lied to go to war, raped the Constitution and Bill of Rights and possibly stole an election. No one called for his impeachment!
That tells something about Trump... judging by the behavior of his enemies they are in panic, doing truly sloppy hit jobs. What exactly does he know about them to inspire such hatred?
Delete"Campaign finance violations" seems to be the Deep State goto technique for silencing potential enemies.
ReplyDeleteThe funny thing is the press makes a big deal about campaign finance violations and tax law (like Manafort) but I doubt 1 in a 1000 could explain what was violated and how. Both sides have paid fines over the years for alleged campaign finance violations.
DeleteI don't regret voting for Trump. He sure beats libertardians on border security and immigration.
ReplyDeleteCurious, LM, what has changed under his administration in regards to immigration and border security? In actual action, not his talking points and wishes? Cause it seems like a lot of stuff people say he’s doing this and that, like the camps or whatever, the Obummer administration was doing also. Serious question as I would like your point of view to actual action that you have seen. Thanks.
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