Prior Aelred sent me this article from Project for the Old American Century, that does an excellent job of explaining a point I've been trying to make in several recent posts: "'A coup d'etat ... or just coup ... for short, is the sudden overthrow of (taking over from) a government. Unlike a revolution, which usually takes large numbers of people to take over, a coup can be done by a small number of people, or even one person, if they, for example, control the country's army,' Wikipedia
Generally, a coup is seen as the overthrow of those in power by another - usually with support of at least part of the military. Often this is imagined as a swift move followed by a consolidation operation (kill or expel those who were previously in power). However, a coup seems to be occurring in the United States, but it is a slow coup. It may be culminated by one drastic move that consolidates the plan, but the pieces are being clearly put in place for a coup of the entire government with the eradication of democracy and the Constitution."
Discussing "executive power," (including Bush's attempt to use "signing statements" to implement his "unitary executive" (aka dictator) theories), "intelligence," (including Bush's illegal spying on American citizens), and Bush's military reach into domestic affairs, Rowan Wolf (great witch name!) concludes that "we have an administration attempting to institutionalize their vision of a 'unitary executive.' It is also an administration which has directly supported eroding the Constitutional protections of the people as well as fighting any oversight or transparency. It is an administration which has supported, and dramatically increased the role of the military in domestic operations, intelligence and direct intelligence gathering (spying on people in person), technology transfer, and enforcement tasks. This raises the prospect of a coup, [yet]few seem to see this as anything more threatening than a 'temporary' situation."
There's a power in naming something by its true name. The true name for the Bush administration is a coup.
3 comments:
Woo -- & I get an acknowledgment!
Was it Saul Alinsky who pointed out that, at bottom, all governments are oligarchies? Whoever, it was, the point is that there is a small group of decision makers who make things happen -- if they don't cooperate, nothing works -- if they do, it is almost impossible for those outside the power structure to do anything about it.
I don't think I'm the only person who has had a sense of helplessness about this "slow coup" -- I written & called & voted (can't donate since I've taken a vow of poverty & it would violate our tax status & I can't demonstrate since I've taken a vow of stability) -- one feels hope only to have it dashed -- despair is the new black...
Hecate, this is a great post. I know how the good Prior feels, since I can't effectively call or write, nor can I (legally) donate to political campaigns. Being a non-citizen of the US who is often directly affected by US policies is frustrating sometimes, especially since I know that the powers that be here are itching to use the techniques learnt on us, once they're perfected and adapted.
Pardon me if I sound like I'm veering off into tinfoil-hat territory here, but I've long maintained that the people currently in charge want everything, and that doesn't stop at the US' borders.
The coup is not run by Bush or even Cheney. It's by the big corporate interests who shove piles of money at ALL political candidates, insuring that ALL political candidates will support corporate interests. And that, my friends, is not democracy. Unless you live in ancient Rome.
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