Originally published at: http://boingboing.net/2017/01/30/from-the-outside-its-imposs.html
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Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.
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I wouldn’t characterize Trump’s moves as strong in any way. They may be an attempt to grab power, but that is definitely not a sign of strength.
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I can’t believe this is a question. With the firing of people who won’t do things his way, of course it’s a coup. Perhaps one could argue that it’s merely an attempted coup right now, or that it’s an incompetent coup, but yeah it’s a coup.
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These things are not completely mutually exclusive. It was pretty obvious before the election that Trump did not really understand the fundamental mechanics of constitutional government, and did not really care. He’s used to getting his way. He’s completely narcissistic and never willingly admits to being wrong about anything. He doesn’t believe he needs the advice or consent of others. He’s surrounded himself with people willing to work with that to get their own agendas furthered. So I think he really does want to concentrate as much power on himself as he can, and he is being hamfisted about it because he doesn’t know how the machine works.
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He actually may not think of it as a coup. (Hell, he may not know what the word means.)
ETA: Perhaps it’s actually not Trump’s coup, but it sure is somebody’s.
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What if it’s clearly both malice and stupidity?
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This is a debate for imbeciles. Imagine a general whose operating principle is always that his enemy is an idiot who is incapable of anything.
Come to think of it, that neatly sums up the fortunes of the Democratic party.
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Yes.
Thise two words describe his entire waking life as far as I can tell.
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When you say he might not understand the word…do you mean the word think or the word coup? I’m betting he doesn’t get either one of them. My fear is that because of his pathology he may very well allow a coup to take place without realizing what’s going on. He isn’t very bright, he’s sly and devious but not especially intelligent. Any one who is at all intelligent and self aware doesn’t need to constantly claim to be intelligent. The greatest danger of him being in the position he’s in is that bright people can turn him in any direction they want as long as they stroke his ego.
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Bannon’s? Who is on the record for stating he wants to tear down the current system.
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That would be my best guess. I think he’s more likely than Pence to be running things, although Pence is being thrown bones.
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The problem with “Trump the weakling” just means the coup will be staged by someone else like Bannon.
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Ooooh, I’m using this one!
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I messed up the hair a bit, but the idea cracked me up.
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A leader still needs people to do his dirty work, he’s only as strong as those around him; firing people and closing the circle to insulate himself is both a sign of weakness and an attempt to consolidate power. They think they know what they’re doing, but they may not.
I remember a friend saying that whenever he played a friendly game of wiffleball he would always steal bases if it hadn’t been specifically addressed before the first pitch. Nobody would see it coming, a single could be stretched into a double or more. But eventually everyone would figure it out and be ready. If Trump/Bannon are testing the waters then eventually they will have to dive in.
The moment Trump tries to arrest a Senator or censor the press it will be like a rotten tooth cracking open and the smell of decay permeating the room, and that will be the moment someone like Bill O’Reilly or Alex Jones comes out against him.
Or so I hope.
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Turns out presidentin’ is hard!
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I have no idea if trump is an idiot, but he is following a plan, and the plan appears to be working so far.
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