Will the United States of America experience a coup in 2020?

[crazy canuck]

The point is that today's Republican Party wouldn't object to a Trumpian power grab, even if it amounted to a military coup. On the contrary, the party would cheer it on

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/04/opinion/trump-nixon.html?action=click&module=Opinion&pgtype=Homepage

[Josquius]

I have to wonder whether all this talk may be a self fulfilling prophecy. Spell out tactics trump can use to keep hold of power and how little can be done and he will be pushed towards giving it a try

[grumbler]

Here's what to watch for:

https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/06/04/donald-trump-election-disruption-2020-294721

That is worrisome tactics but, as the article points out, this is what Republicans have been doing for years.  The CDC itself says that it only has power (delegated by the president to the Secretary of HHS, and by him to the CDC) to act when dealing with "persons arriving into the United States and traveling between states"

Under 42 Code of Federal Regulations parts 70 and 71, CDC is authorized to detain, medically examine, and release persons arriving into the United States and traveling between states who are suspected of carrying these communicable diseases.

https://www.cdc.gov/quarantine/aboutlawsregulationsquarantineisolation.html

An attempt by the Trump administration to stop intrastate travel for the purposes of voting would, at a minimum, be stayed by the state courts when challenged by state officials.  Presumably, state officials in states dominated by Republicans would obey trump's order, but that would just give more power to the states that are dominated by Democrats.  Appeals to federal courts would, as the article says, take forever and not likely impact the elections.

[Razgovory]

The point is that today's Republican Party wouldn't object to a Trumpian power grab, even if it amounted to a military coup. On the contrary, the party would cheer it on

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/04/opinion/trump-nixon.html?action=click&module=Opinion&pgtype=Homepage

Krugman mentions and incident that I've been thinking of quite a bit.  One night Nixon just left the White House and talked to protesters at the Lincoln Memorial.  It was a very strange event, and was probably brought on, in part, by the mental strain Nixon was under.  Nixon was ruthless and dishonest but he still gave a shit.  He acted the way he did because he thought it benefited the country.  He did things that were wrong, often illegal, but he had a reason for doing them.  With Trump there is only Trump.  He does things because it either benefits him or it just amuses him.  Sometimes the things he says or does don't appear to serve any purpose.  Policy is frequently changed to match what ever loopy shit that Trump has said that day.

Example:  Nixon ended the Vietnam war (or at least the US portion of it) because it was clear the war could not be won and the continued fighting was tearing the US apart.  Trump has given his blessing to ending the Afghan war but immediately scrapped it when he thought he wouldn't get a photo-op.

[Sheilbh]

I mean Nixon was also meddling to scupper the Paris peace talks to win an election, I mean how many lives did that cost (ignoring the expansion of Vietnam)? He maybe thought he really needed to win over Humphrey for the good of the country, but it was also for his own benefit.

[Barrister]

It's pretty common for high level politicians to conflate whats good for them as being what's good for the country.

But with Trump the good of the country never seems to figure into his thinking at all.

[Sheilbh]

Yeah my point is Nixon actually colluded with foreign politicians to undermine peace negotiations involving the US. Let's not go crazy in the Nixon revisionism.

[The Brain]

Trump colludes with foreign politicians because he gets a funny feeling in his vagina when he thinks they approve of him. Nixon did it to get an advantage.