A Coup Is in Progress in America
techdirt.com
techdirt.com
1. Auto-coups don't exist 2. Coups require tanks on the street 3. Once a coup is started it will succeed.
This is a an auto-coup, where the president is trying to seize power that is not granted by elections, and trying to make the legal system irrelevant. All in the name of urgency and saving the country (we call them "salva patrias" in Spain for a reason). No one can vote for this. Voting a president does not make the president all powerful.
Also, this coup does not need to succeed. We saw this recently in South Korea. This will only succeed if people don't oppose it. Don't believe them when they make you feel like you already lost.
Finally, the game has changed for the supporters of democracy. This is no longer about writing stern worded letters, if you catch my drift.
(references: I was born in a dictatorship and I lived through a failed military coup)
Also, why would the majority oppose it? What he is doing is affecting illegal immigrants (who can’t vote), the poorest people who those just one level up think they are “only temporarily poor”, minorities, trans - you notice that he only removed the T from LGBT while he is taking down “wokeness”.
You also have to remember he has the evangelical Christian block in his pocket who literally believe he was sent by God to keep America from descending in hell fire. You can’t “reason” with devout religious people. Religion requires you to ignore logic and science (born and raised in the Bible Belt).
You notice he isn’t disrupting farmers in red states with immigration raids? Also because of gerrymandering and how the Senate is designed. The low population red states have much more power than their population calls for.
No not true. only a few people believe that. Most do not. Stop grouping religious people into the few who interview on tv.
> Religion requires you to ignore logic and science (born and raised in the Bible Belt).
Also wildly not true and you’re extending an experience you had to a whole population, which is a biased opinion.
Many of us use science and logic daily, in conversations, and there are well received physicists who argue for an existence of a God using logic. The Bible says to use both wisdom and knowledge (logic and science).
I'll believe that many Christians do not see Trump as savior, though. Following true Christian values in these times is a great idea.
Pence was probably the most “Christian” of the Republican candidates last year and he had the fewest votes.
None of the prior Republican candidates for President would have stood a chance in todays environment.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominion_theology https://www.counterpunch.org/2019/01/30/a-theology-of-power-...
As a Christian that is certainly concerned about Christians supporting and voting for Trump, sadly I think many do (see him as a Savior and one who can do no wrong) but don't realize it. They excuse excuse excuse. What I see happening is history repeating itself. The Isrealites pleaded for a strong man king like the other countries even though God said they didn't need one as long as they lived by "following true Christian values". They still wanted one so God let them have one. Saul, being an insecure man, began oppressing them shortly after getting the throne.
Bob Jones University didn’t end the interracial dating ban until 2000.
https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/library/national...
The entire Christian Organization is corrupt. From the wide support of Trump by its leaders from the national and local level to systematic covering of child abuse in the Catholic Church.
If the abuses in the Catholic Church had happened anywhere else it would have come under RICO charges
60-72% of White Christians voted for Trump.
> Many of us use science and logic daily, in conversations, and there are well received physicists who argue for an existence of a God using logic. The Bible says to use both wisdom and knowledge (logic and science).
Context: you’re replying to someone who spent his entire elementary school education in a private Christian school and even through the first year of high school was part of a “leadership group” going to Bible bowls.
So tell me one line in Genesis or Exodus that makes sense scientifically? Do you think humans ever lived to be 900 years old? The Jews ever being in Egypt has never been backed up by any historical record. Do you believe any of the miracles have a scientific basis? Do you believe in creation or evolution? Noah’s ark?
Now let’s go to the New Testament. Do you believe that Jesus was born to a virgin? He arose from the dead?
You can not believe anything that the Bible said happened and be science based.
I’m not pasting the following link to “prove” anything. It is a better summation of my opinion that is better written than I would do
https://www.ineos.com/inch-magazine/articles/issue-7/debate/
We're already just engaging in anecdotes, but having lived all around the south from virginia to texas, I've found that almost "god-king" belief extremely common in southern baptists in particular and christians in general -- especially if you done it down ever so slightly to: "Trump has God's favor, he was probably sent by God to save our country, which is God's favorite on Earth". I have, however, little experience with the north or the west -- almost only the traditional US south.
So, my questions for you would have to be, do you live in the south or elsewhere? Also, what would your analysis be in general about such people? (Regardless of if they are many or few)
for now... it won't stop there
Besides plenty of Christians have had to come to terms with the fact that at least one person they care about is gay. Many fewer have someone they care about that is trans.
EDIT: To expand on that Idea there is the exact apposing view that Biden was doing the same thing by the people that voted Trump in. But as we all know the media prefers one candidate over the other. Trump is the grenade that is supposed to destroy the power structures (the so called Deep State or permanent bureaucracy) in DC.
my moms lifelong friend recently told us her grandkids are all trumpers
they're all on SSI. one had four abortions. and they LOVE trump.
every group in america was promised whatever they want, despite the endless hypocrisies/lies with that, and none of them seem to care whatsoever??
for this reason i see no way out of this hell. it's simply beyond reason at this point.
(this take is from pennsylvania)
And when I say that I don't mean good or correct or proper, I mean effective. He has an innate ability (and if you watch old clips always has) to pull the conversation where he wants it.
I should have use the term *Electorate*.
The collective people of a country, state, or electoral district who are entitled to vote.It's not getting rid of all these bureaucrats in DC and giving power back to the people. It's getting rid any sort of independence and removing the barriers to centralizing power under Trump so that he can grab even more power and control.
And just to be pedantic, Trump received 49% of the vote and Kamala receive 48%. And that's of people who voted. He received 77 million out 244 million of the voting-eligible population, or around 31%.
There may be a plurality of people who want the Executive branch under Trump to consolidate power, but it's not the majority.
I personally believe the government of the USA is probably 10x the size it needs to be so i like seeing the cuts but I am well aware of the dangers you speak of.
Either way, we live in interesting times.
The idea being that when there are so many levers to pull and a disjointed system managing them, it makes it effectively impossible for a small group to effectively wield power. It’s like a buffer against concentrating power into a single individual.
Not that I’m arguing for endless bloat to the US government, that comes with its own problems. I agree we need to rein it in.
But I think there is a freedom-centric argument for a slightly larger government bureaucracy than is strictly necessary.
Or thinking about it in reverse, the bureaucracy is currently preventing the executive branch from just doing whatever it wants. I know Congress and the Supreme Court should act as blocks, but to paraphrase Stalin how much infantry do they have?
A slow moving bureaucratic executive can act as a buffer against ineffective other branches.
Or for those that may support the current administration consolidating power, what if the tides turn? What if in 4 years whoever the liberal villain du jour is takes power? Are we making it so that AOC is the most powerful president in history?
He most certainly remembers the January 6th failed coup and will likely spend the next 4 years making sure that he comes on top this time.
And yeah, if he fails, you better hope that the person which did succeed was liberal (and from I heard, AOC is not), because otherwise instead of putting back a system of checks and balances, they will just use the power that Trump concentrated to their own ends.
The other 2, depends.
Trump might behave more colorfully here, but I have to be honest that this isn't at all unfamiliar. I think a lot of Trumps current power stems from pretty weak defenders of democracy. Not referring to the previous government and instead of the common sentiment of 21st century politics. It doesn't lend itself to give a convincing picture.
Maybe that is a trap, but it just isn't that outrageous anymore in an overall outrageous context. Perhaps it is indeed worse, but I think a lot of damage was already done.
I've been hoping the Pentagon would grow some balls, but that looks like it won't happen.
Guillotines it is, then
Link that should work without signin: https://skyview.social/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fbsky.app%2Fprofile...
If things escalate all the way to widespread violence, we've all collectively failed.
Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán didn’t take power through a military coup—he systematically dismantled democratic systems while maintaining the outward appearance of democracy. Over time, his government:
* Purged independent civil servants and replaced them with loyalists.
* Gained control of media platforms to shape public discourse.
* Undermined legal checks on executive power through judicial and procedural manipulation.
* Shifted state functions into private hands, where oversight is weaker.
We may be seeing similar patterns emerging in the U.S.—not with tanks, but through institutional capture and elite influence.
The good news? Unlike military coups, this type of democratic backsliding can still be resisted peacefully. But the window for effective resistance does close with each passing institutional change.
I hope you are right though.
Poland is still repairing the damages done to the court system, media landscape, and other state organisations and organs.
The learning, whether Weimar Republic, Hungary, Poland et cetera is: A change in power is not a problem unless the party in power is out to destroy all that enables other players to keep power in check and allow for a future peaceful political transition.
The U.S. has a different political culture and norms than E.U. states. Will will see how things will turn out.
Mostly they serve at the pleasure of the president, some have to be approved by Congress.
> Is the claim being made that these people have a constitutional right to run the FBI, USAID, etc forever, and the public is not allowed to elect someone to fire them?
No, the claim is that only Congress can allocates funds to create these agencies, and only Congress can de-allocate funds for them, so the executive branch (and whoever the executive branch empowers, whether or not they are a government employee) does not have a right to shut them down.
> From what I can tell, it does look a lot like a coup, of an unelected bureaucracy trying to prevent the elected president from fulfilling his campaign promises that the public elected him for.
The president is not a king. He is the head of the executive branch and has a large degree of control over how the bureaucracy is run, but not total control. Maybe you aren't American or maybe you don't remember elementary school civics, but the US operates on a system of checks-and-balances to prevent any one branch of governement from acquiring too much power. The coup-in-progress is the president apparently subverting those checks and balances.
The point poster above is making is that the president should be able to fire them, and should be able to audit whether or not they have been doing their jobs correctly, which is essentially what is occurring.
"""
the order for [FBI] employees to compile lists of all current and former personnel who worked on investigations related to January 6, 2021, and a Hamas-related case.
"""
Also, if I understand correctly, agents are civil servants (not political appointees) and they cannot be simply fired at will.
This is all in law, which is why people are calling this a coup.
The coup isn't so much about the firing it's about freezing programs, or cutting them entirely without going through the process of congressional approval.
"Musk on the call also appeared to claim credit for the shutdown of the U.S. Agency for International Development ... though the executive branch’s legal authority to do so without congressional action is highly in doubt, as the agency’s existence is established in law. Trump on Monday said he didn’t need an act of Congress to shut down USAID.
USAID’s homepage has been shut down for days, as is its X account. Dozens of career staff at the agency have been put on leave, and hundreds have been shut out of agency computer systems. Musk aides have gained access to classified USAID information over the objection of agency security personnel, who were subsequently placed on leave, The Associated Press reported."
> The Trump administration took a variety of steps Monday.. The most dramatic was naming Secretary of State Marco Rubio as acting administrator of USAID.. The State Department said in its statement announcing Rubio’s acting role that he has also informed Congress that “a review of USAID’s foreign assistance activities is underway with an eye towards potential reorganization.” .. Rubio explained he was entrusting the duties of deputy administrator to Peter Marocco, the head of the State Department’s office of foreign assistance.. Marocco is also leading the review into USAID activities.
State Department tweet: https://nitter.net/statedept/status/1886512412863684802 or https://xcancel.com/statedept/status/1886512412863684802
Call your congressperson today.
there is a reason why one of Trump's first orders was to dismiss all top generals.
Yes, a military coup could override a civilian autocoup, and while there are a few (globally) historical cases where that has happened and the military coup leaders quickly worked with civilian leadership outside of either coup to restore something like normal government processes, there are also plenty of cases where that was out of the frying pan, into the fire.
It’s not clear that reorganizing US foreign aid agencies is in violation of statute. As I understand it statute allocate $X to US foreign aid. And instructs the State dept to organize this aid.
The EO to pause all payments was challenged in court and halted
A lot of bad crap has happened, and I disagree with what DOGE is doing, but it’s not a coup.
The President does have the authority to stop the agency's actions, and make it answer to the Secretary of State. Dissolving it altogether or making it part of the State Department likely requires Congressional approval.
>He’s mad that @DOGE is dismantling the radical-left shadow government in full view of the public.
>This is our ONE CHANCE to return POWER to the PEOPLE from an unelected BUREAUcracy back to DEMOcracy!! ...
515 Days until July 4th, 2026
$1.82B Taxpayer Dollars Saved of $2T Goal
Especially when the long term costs of destroying those programs are going to be enormous.
Calculate the totals yourself. Report the data to as many as possible. If you think it will look as bad as I do, there’s every reason to.
Trump's executive order only stopped funding that wasn't required by legislation.
If those programs are going to have long-term benefit, then they really should be directed by Congress and not by an autocratic president.
DOGE is advising the president and the president is choosing what to do.
There are a lot of people on this site claiming this is not legal for some reason but not really citing any law.
> A federal judge said on Monday that she intended to temporarily block the Trump administration from imposing a sweeping freeze on trillions of dollars in federal grants and loans, adding to the pushback against an effort by the White House’s Office and Management and Budget.
>5 million soviet rubles saved due to closing “ineffective farms”
Who knew it could be that simple!
Also, unfortunately, the HN crowd are not the type of people that will do anything in the physical world. We’re too busy sitting back thinking, “There is no way anyone is stupid enough to vote for Trump.” Then we all act shocked, and mainly disappointed people are actually stupid enough. We obviously solve nothing.
Democrats don’t get out and vote. Women don’t get out and vote. If they did, Harris would would have been elected. If anyone watched her convention, they would have seen she is a good human being and would have been good for this country. It’s a damn shame where the USA is now.
Republicans get out and vote. Bush Jr. was re-elected twice. During his first term he was already being called one of the worst presidents in history. He had the devil himself Chenney as his VP for crying out loud. Republicans get out and vote. Remember this the next election.
The article above is needlessly, wildly inflammatory. Frankly, so is your comment. Not everyone agrees with you, and you’ve made no case beyond cliqueishness as to why they should.
Does this not also apply to your comment?
Not trying to be mean, just trying to offer a different perspective. It seems many others agree with the author and it’s similarly unreasonable to dismiss them along with the author as “needlessly, wildly inflammatory” for holding an opinion you don’t agree with.
I voted against Trump, but this failed me right there. Does the author of this BS genuinely not know any instances of this from the dems and therefore is ignorant, or he does but unable to recognize hypocrisy?
Remember, last year we paid more in interest on debt than our entire military budget.
https://fiscaldata.treasury.gov/americas-finance-guide/feder...
National defense 15%, veterans benefits and services 6%, interest 13%.
According to the Congressional Budget Office’s latest baseline, in Fiscal Year (FY) 2024, spending on interest is projected to total $870 billion, while spending on national defense will total $822 billion. This has never been the case before, going back to at least 1940.
Maybe the fed interest rate drop pulled it back.
What can we do, truthfully? I've wrote to elected officials who I haven't heard a peep from. Why aren't the people in charge taking lead to stop this? Genuine question. What can we do? Because the last paragraph in this article makes it sound like violence is the next step which is not something I personally advocate for myself.
Put up a better candidate through a transparent process next time and stop the hysterics that alienate the majority of the population. Denying the reality of the poor quality of the candidate and continuing to be loud about things that only are believed in extremist bubbles is how you get even more of what you do not want. Remember, impressing people who think just like you isn't outreach, it's insulating and isolating.
Oh, and banish "Latinx" from existence. It's crazy how much damage that one little letter did and how tone deaf those who use it continue to be.
All the republicans have to do for the 2026 midterms and Vance for 2028 is play clips from the DNC Officer election process that took place over the weekend as campaign ads.
Many of my friends can only perceive the election outcome and the actions currently taking place from a place of identity based policies. Virtually everyone I know outside of that circle and many inside that circle who keep their mouths shut are tired of that being THE focus.
“Our rules specify that when we have a non-binary candidate or officer, the non-binary individual is counted as neither male nor female, and the remaining six offices must be gender balanced with the results of the previous four elections. Our elected officers are currently two male and two female. In order to be gender balanced… we must elect one male, one female, and one person of any gender."
I am the furthest thing from an “aggrieved Rural Christian Evangelical Conservative” - none of those adjectives apply to me.
They also said “So, I’m going to have a show of hands. How many of you believe that racism and misogyny played a role in Vice President Harris”. Did it play role? Yes. I’m a Black guy and I know a few Black men that didn’t vote for her just because of that.
But just like Christians and traditional Republicans held their nose and voted for Trump the first time.
Enough of America voted for Obama twice. Obama never made it about race. But then again, we had decent Republican candidates like Romney and McCain (who shut it down anytime it came up).
Harris lost because she was a continuation of Biden and was complicit in hiding the fact that Biden was losing his mental faculties
I think their grievances are more detailed than that.
They didn't pretend not to listen. They genuinely want what is currently happening and are very happy about it.
I'm in New Zealand and our MMP system has elected politicians with zero constituency (list vote).
https://issuesinsights.com/2025/02/03/trumps-executive-order...
As an extreme and memorable example: "$x million was spent on condoms for Hamas"
In my experience of the world, therefore through my personal filter, most of the justifications and reasoning I hear out of Trump's mouth are massive simplifications at best and outright untruths at worst.
Regarding rooting out corruption: $TRUMP coin. So they're replacing perceived corruption with outright scams in order to profit from their position?