Am I paranoid? Raise your hand if...

[LuckyTheDog]

... like me, you suspect that crazy old Dick Cheney is trying to rally support for a military coup.

[billyoc]

1. Not in this country.

[willing dwarf]

3. are you serious ?

or should I be reading emoticons or sarcasm into your statement?

[billyoc]

17. A military coup is not possible in the U.S.

[JackRiddler]

23. Well, so far there haven't been any coups that were openly announced as such.

- Ceding essential powers of war to an extraconstitutional but official secret state and the military-industrial complex: already in the 1940s and 1950s.

- Black budget and off-budget spook realm, largely self-appointed: ever since.

- Establishing doctrine, plans and logistics for covert or overt military rule, martial law and open suspension of civilian authority: ever since. Often rehearsed.

- Coup by national security state elements, but on the down-low: November 22, 1963.

- Fixed elections: 2000 and 2004. (Others were covertly manipulated, such as 1980 with the October Surprise maneuver, but those two are the ones where the loser in actual votes was installed and got to fake the next, too.)

- 9/11 ?

- Unelected regime declares "unitary executive" and the power of President as C-in-C during a "war" to suspend habeas corpus and ignore pretty much any law: 2001 forward. (Aggressive war, crimes against humanity, war crimes, torture, constant attempts to instill an atmosphere of terror and insecurity, hundreds of signing statements denying the power of Congress to legislate, etc. etc.)

- Missionary offensives to achieve Christian hegemony within the military officer class: ongoing and getting worse.

Nah, a military coup could never happen here. It's impossible. Hell, it's illegal!

[Echo In Light]

38. Well stated

[BeFree]

44. Coups rule!

But that might scare some folks so you may want to tone it down a bit?

[wildbilln864]

29. Oh it's possible all right...(edited)

Thanks to Smedley Butler it didn't happen in 1933.video link
:hi:

edited to fix link. Is this what they're building up to again? :tinfoilhat:

[willing dwarf]

2. sickening thought...

I wouldn't put it past him, but I think he'd be doing it more secretly, don't you? Of course, who knows what he's up to behind the scenes.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

4. Sort of.........

(it's hard typing with one hand - it's very slow, and capital letters are a pain in the ass.)

I think he's entwined with various groups who will attack us, and when that's done. he'll leap out and proclaim "I TOLD YOU THIS WOULD HAPPEN!"

I don't know about the military. Halliburton can supply sufficient numbers of mercenaries to take over DC without breaking a sweat.

Ever read "Seven Days In May," or see the movie?

[havocmom]

11. Martini in the other one, or are you doing Dr. Strangelove impression in dick's honor?

(Hope you didn't sustain an injury)

Seven Days In May is one of my all-time favorites, and anyone who thinks it couldn't happen is whistling past a graveyard. To tell ya the truth, I was flabbergasted that ol dick was going along with administration change so peacefully. Now we know he still hasn't given up after all.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

25. Hindsight is always 20/20,

and I have a friend who theorized that Old Fat Dick was in that wheelchair, wearing a bulletproof hat, because he couldn't bring himself to stand up for a black President.

Another theory is that Old Fat Dick didn't want to be an easy target.

I find both theories plausible, don't you?

(MARTINI!? You're serious! Way to go, havocmom!)

"Seven Days In May" is the scariest movie I've ever seen because it's far too close to reality. It really requires re-watching soon, I think .............

[havocmom]

34. Figured on the 'won't stand up for a black President' rationale myself

but the 'tougher target' theory seems plausible too. Maybe the hat was Jack Abramoff's? Chair could have been a requirement if bad heart = inability to lug around body armor ;)

I used to read Seven Days in May at night before I went to sleep when I was a young-un. Probably explains a lot about me. x(

[H2O Man]

13. "Seven Days in May" ....

JFK found the book interesting, and wanted the movie made.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

26. Is that right?

I remember reading that one of the authors got the idea for the book after a conversation with Curtis LeMay.

Think about THAT.......................

[csziggy]

16. That was the plot this season of 24 - coup by a private mercenary army

That had been a contractor of the US government.

I can't see the real military following Five Deferments Cheney's orders. Col. Lawrence Wilkerson shows the contempt they would have for him (watching the replay right now on KO).

[Tangerine LaBamba]

27. I watched KO twice tonight,

because I was busy with something else, but also because Wilkerson is SO going after Cheney, he's a damn joy to behold.

"Orwellian" was a nice touch. He really hates Old Fat Dick, which makes listening to him even more rewarding.

I watched "24" the first season, and thought it was pretty good, but then it lost me. There are people who think it's real, which is terribly disturbing ...................

[csziggy]

30. Too many times recently I zone out while watching serious TV

Too many meds for my shoulder. I love how all these guys are letting loose on all the BushCo crowd. Too bad they had to wait to be emboldened, to use a Cheney phrase. ;)

I've watched about 50% of this season's 24 and keep losing the plotline. My husband watched Heroes - when they totally changed the reality this season, they lost me completely. Pretty much for me everything is getting surrealistic. Maybe after my surgery next week it will get better. I'd like to have an attention span again....

[Tangerine LaBamba]

32. It's not you ..........

The crap on TV is - well, crap. These "reality" shows are a joke - reality, complete with a crew following you.

I tried, back a while, watching "Lost," even started at the beginning, with the DVD of Season 1, and it was so bad, I couldn't watch.

When did watching poker become entertainment?

And why do these shows about "real" people - Housewives, etc. - have people watching them? I've watched, and, after a while, I find myself wondering why, especially since the people on these shows, if I were to encounter them in real life, wouldn't get near me.

I watch "House," because it's brilliant. I watch reruns of "Boston Legal," because it's brilliant. I watch KO and Rachel and TDS and Colbert.

And that's about it. It's just crap, it's not you.

Good luck with your surgery. I hope you feel so much better after it's over ..

[csziggy]

33. Mostly I watch history & science shows and How-To shows

Right now, Naked Science about Hubble, for instance. Last night, Mythbusters (well, that is sort of science and it's lots of fun). During the day, cooking and decorating if there is no science or history.

I have to admit, I also have a sneaking fascination for the pseudo-science/paranormal genre. I've been reading and watching that junk since I was a teenager. If I ever went back for my master's in anthropology, I think I would specialize in modern folklore and write my thesis on this woo-woo stuff.

There is very little left on regular network TV that I watch. Bones and The Mentalist Are about the only dramas on networks I watch anymore. I got burned out on House when he dodged the rehab (I read the spoiler thread about this season's ending so I may have to watch reruns to see what happened).

I'm getting freaked about the surgery. When he did my other shoulder, we didn't expect anything serious, but he had to reconstruct the entire joint. At least a horse didn't try to rip this arm off, so we don't expect much but that doesn't help my anxiety. And this damn low that has been hanging around for a week does not help - all my joints hurt. Getting old sucks.

[Enrique]

5. don't you need an army for that? n/t

[Nickster]

6. No, he's just trying to avoid prosecution.

[bdamomma]

12. that is why he is running his mouth, the man has some mental issues.

[havocmom]

14. Yep. He realizes Obama is going for a p.r. war to build demand for prosecution

And he is campaigning against that for all he's worth. (of course, he is only worth anything to himself, his greedy family, and a few corporate chicken-hawks)

[Orrex]

7. Paranoid? No way am I raising my hand until somebody else does first.

:hide:

[dweller]

18. i'm going in ...

:hi:


don't shoot me.
dp

[Booster]

8. What with? His 16% (or less) army?

[JackRiddler]

28. What do you think?

Coups are almost by definition performed by minorities. That's why a coup, instead of an election.

That being said I don't think anything like this is in the offing, or that this is what Cheney's doing.

[PDJane]

9. He's certainly attempting something.......

And he and his cronies were trying to force fascism on the US.

[MadMaddie]

10. I think he is setting the platform for another attack on the US

I think he still has major ties to the CIA and if we get hit again you know where to look. Cheney is playing a dangerous game and he knows it.

He has broken all protocol by attacking the new administration, we have to ask ourselves why. It's not because he loves this country, he is all about himself and serving himself...

[bdamomma]

15. of course, he is not thinking about our welfare, not in the least.

he never brings up the troops who died, never, I think at one time he arrogantly said Well they volunteered, what a POS remark, cowardly cheney.

[havocmom]

35. "It's not because he loves this country, he is all about himself and serving himself..."

BINGO!

[rwheeler31]

19. Ban all Cheney's and crappy glasses.

Don't worry this family can't shoot straight.

[patrice]

20. I think he is preparing the way for Civil War II and I'm NOT exaggerating.

[Gman]

21. Nope. Cheney just doesn't want to go to prison

so he's trying to take control of the torture debate. He's an old man. A life sentence will mean he will die in prison.

[riverdeep]

22. His primary motive is to make sure that what happened

under his watch, let's be real- he was the President, never sees the light of day. He's doing that by trying to get ahead of the story and shape the narrative. The focus on waterboarding (instead of the stress positions, dumping of freezing water while naked, beatings, etc.), making sure the language is 'enhanced interrogation' and 'unlawful enemy combatants' (instead of those listed in the Geneva conventions), all these things are being done to shape the narrative.

By coming out so boldly, he's protecting himself also by a psychological trick. What do people do if they're guilty? They hide out. By being out in the open he is getting people to think, 'well, if he was really guilty of something, he wouldn't make himself so vulnerable'.

The one good thing we have going, is this man fails almost as much as the dimwit he covered for for eight years. While his evil is up and running it causes tremendous harm, but so far it hasn't made the ultimate takedown. His approval rating is in the teens. The thing working against us, is the media, they still believe he's a 'serious' man and therefore listen. He's a liar and a fraud and most of all, evil.

[The Hope Mobile]

24. I think he would love that and that is why the NRA is "up in arms"

so to speak, and Limbaugh-zombies are stocking up on weapons, etc.. they're working hard to make the military believe that Obama's against them . . . BUT

I think his main motivation is to keep his ass out of jail and keep making money off US citizens. If it has to come to a coup (in his mind) then he's got that as his contingency plan (consciously or not).
There's nothing I wouldn't put past him.

[kentuck]

31. If he is in good favor with the Director of the FBI....

and has two very good friends in General David Petraeus and Secretary Gates, would it be possible for him to pull a coup?

[spinbaby]

36. He's planning for the next terror attack

Obviously, he's setting up to blame Democrats when the next terror attack happens. Whether he's actually planning the attack or just hoping for one is a matter of some speculation.

[Echo In Light]

40. This is why the notion of the repub party being "dead" doesn't float

As soon as the next big, ahem, 'orchestration' is brought about, the media will go into full tilt promotion of "Strong Leaders" (the same fascists behind the "incentive") and the flock will once again, as they did on 9/11, rally 'round the national war cry, and "Democracy," Inc. will again be on the march. Let! Freedom! Ring!

[tom_paine]

37. Why would the Bushies disturb us Plebs with such an overt move?

They have just about everything they want, and with just a little patience, eventually they will have total Imperial Rule, with Plausible Deniability to keep the Plebs/serfs confused and docile.

[walldude]

39. LOL.. he's going to need more support than his 18% of the population

[Echo In Light]

41. Remember that Bush/Cheney were 'lame duck' prior to their 9/11

Terrorized people are ultimately malleable.

[Mrs. Overall]

42. You would need to be a strong, charismatic leader to initiate an uprising like that--

Cheney is a worn out, angry, fearful has-been.

But, you have given me something to think (and worry) about...

edited to add "fearful" because I think he is a coward.

[Soylent Brice]

43. *hand raised*

have had this thought several times, actually.

and yes, i am paranoid.