Prominent conservatives suggest military coup of US to regain power!

[BlooInBloo]

Note to self (126th time): *Never* think they can't get any lower.

http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=YmU0NGQ0ZTQzZTU4Zjk4MjdjZWMzYTM4Nzk2MzQ0MGI=

"When I see the worsening degeneracy in our politicians, our media, our educators, and our intelligentsia, I can’t help wondering if the day may yet come when the only thing that can save this country is a military coup."

[Gman]

1. Don't worry

that's Thomas Sowell. They guy is about as looney as you will ever find 'em. He's got a long history of being among the looniest.

[The Backlash Cometh]

26. I hope he's on sombody's watch list.

[EnviroBat]

33. All these f'ers are "looney" and look where they've gotten us.

People like this need to be watched. They are treasonists and should be delt with accordingly. I seem to recall another loonie from history, wrote a little thing called "Mein Kampf".

[Marie26]

53. Good to know

"Prominent conservatives" implies an actual movement; this is just one loon columnist. I think the headline is pretty alarmist considering what the columnist actually says. He's not detailing an organized plan to overthrow the country, or even ranting about a military coup. The military coup line is a one sentence non-sequiter added to a column of equally pointless non-sequiters. IMO it's not even worth reading, much less analyzing too deeply.

[Faryn Balyncd]

56. Thomas Sowell cites FALSE STATISTICS on Babe Ruth, even as he channels Michael Savage ideology:

In Mr. Sowell's muddled stream-of-consciousness, he credits Alan Reynolds says that people often form “strong opinions” based on “weak statistics.”

Without attribution, Mr. Sowell, for reasons which remain obscure, inserts this comment,

"The home run records that made Babe Ruth famous have been broken but one of his records will probably never be broken — pitching the longest shutout in World Series history, 14 innings. Few pitchers go even nine innings these days."

. . . . . .

Marveling that I had never heard of this, I found it interesting that Google searches did not quickly reveal documentation for Ruth's remarkable "World Series shutout record".

Eventually, however, some support for Mr. Sowell's statistic was located, on an Angelfire page "created by JingleBob, 1999":

(Babe Ruth)...Pitched the longest shutout in World Series history, 14 innings against the Dodgers in 1916.
http://www.angelfire.com/tx2/jinglebob/ruth.html

The Baseball Almanac, however, gives a different account of Ruth's remarkable achievement, complete with composite hitting & pitching statistcs for the entire 1916 World Series, as well as an account of Game 2. Composite pitching statistics revealed that Babe Ruth did pitch a remarkable 14 innings, all of it in Game 2. This is the description from Baseball Almanac:

Sherry Smith and another young lefty nicknamed "The Babe" went at it for Game 2 in what has been dubbed as both a "double masterpiece" and a 'hitters nightmare". Through thirteen innings, both had allowed only six hits and one run each. In the bottom of the fourteenth, Dick Hoblitzell set the stage for a dramatic finish by drawing his fourth walk of the game. Duffy Lewis followed suite by sacrificing Hoblitzell into scoring position at second. With all his pieces in place, Red Sox manager Bill Carrigan prepared to checkmate his opponent by sending in Mike McNally as a pinch-runner and Del Gainor as a pinch-hitter. Gainor stepped up and delivered, driving in Hoblitzell and sealing Boston's 2-1 victory.

http://www.baseball-almanac.com/ws/yr1916ws.shtml

Another description can be found at WorldSeries.com. It seems that Ruth himself ties the game in the 3rd inning with his grounder RBI, erasing the 1-0 lead the Brooklyn Robins had achieved when Hy Myers hit an inside-the-park homerun (off of Ruth) in the 1st inning:

Game 2 featured a matchup of left-handers, Boston's Babe Ruth and Brooklyn's Sherry Smith. Myers hit an inside-the-park home run in the first inning when outfielders Harry Hooper and Tilly Walker both slipped, and the Red Sox tied the game in the third when Ruth's grounder plated Everett Scott, who had tripled. And that's where the score remained, 1-1 through nine innings, and then 13, with both starters still in the game. Ruth retired the Brooklyns in the 14th, and in the bottom of the frame, Dick Hoblitzel led off with a walk, was bunted to second base, and scored the game-winning run when pinch-hitter Del Gainer singled to left field.

. . . . . .

While Babe Ruth's pitching in Game 2 of the 1916 World Series was indeed most remarkable, it appears that the reason we've never heard of Ruth's record for the longest World Series shut-out was because it was not, in fact, a shut-out.

The trait of building an ideology upon "weak statistics" seems to be endemic among neo-conservative warmongers.

(Maybe Ruth would have had the "longest World Series shut-out" - - - - - IF Myers just had not hit that inside-the-park home-run, AND IF Ruth had not had that RBI in the 3rd to send it in to extra innings..........................And maybe the case for war would have been accepted by the American people if we'd just found those WMD's.) :banghead:

Where Mr. Sowell gets his baseball statistics remains obscure.

But when he then proceeds to "wonder"....."if the day may yet come when the only thing that can save this country is a military coup", he may as well be channeling Michael Savage.

[eShirl]

2. ever hear of "crossing the Rubicon?" n/t

[marzipanni]

10. And a month after crossing the Rubicon, a group of senators assassinated Julius Caesar

I'm just saying :shrug:

[loudsue]

30. Speaking of Crossing the Rubicon...what ever happened to Michael Rupert?

He moved to Mexico or some place to get away from the death threats. We haven't heard from him in a long time.

He was one helluva blogger! I miss him.

:kick::kick::kick:

[M0rpheus]

47. His site is still up...

He's currently in Canada recovering from an illness.
http://www.copvcia.com/

Enjoy!

[loudsue]

49. What in the hell? What's he in the hospital for? Was he poisoned?

He's not going to continue his activism? :cry: This totally sucks! I don't blame him...you KNOW the nazi fascists were out to get him. He told the truth WAY too much for their comfort.

:kick:

[M0rpheus]

58. A quick blurb from his site.

Mike Ruppert was successfully moved from Venezuela to Canada on November 18th. He is currently in the greater Toronto area and receiving medical care and rest thanks to dedicated Peak Oil activists. In addition to his previously described symptoms it has been learned that his adrenal system is severely damaged and there may be toxicity of the liver. He has lost more than 20 pounds in the last ten weeks. Many of you have written suggesting possible poisoning as cause for his known symptoms. We are not pursuing that at the moment because the treatment for the symptoms would not change in either case.

And the obligatory link:
http://www.fromthewilderness.com/free/ww3/120206_mike_canada.shtml

[dairydog91]

3. That's one...

...but just a few days ago William F. Buckley wrote an article titled "It Didn’t Work". Evidently he'd finally gotten it through his skull that "One can't doubt that the American objective in Iraq has failed." Interesting to see the founder of National Review has lost faith in the Chimpster.

[BlooInBloo]

4. Yup - I made no claim that it was anything line *unanimous*...

... I'm mostly concerned about the normalization of what should be considered extreme (in the extreme) views.

[Kagemusha]

5. As Andrew Sullivan said though...

Buckley's own magazine, and the conservative movement in general, have been ignoring him for several years now. I'm sure they've decided he's just gone senile. No sane conservative would turn against the Decider's holy crusade.

[lvx35]

17. God, it just makes me want to scream.

Yes. Giving absolute power to a moron didn't work. Bombing and shooting at people to liberate them and hoping they would eventually "greet us as liberators" didn't work. Smearing shit on them, torturing them, forcing them to walk through town nude and forcing them at gunpoint to simulate homosexual acts while troops photographed them didn't win hearts and minds.

Dip. Shits.

[BlooInBloo]

18. Who woulda thunk that fighting evil with evil wouldn't work? Sheesh.

[lvx35]

20. Who could have IMAGINED?

I mean we loved Al Qaeda SOOOOO much after 9/11, who could have imagined their reactions could be so different from us blowing up their shit??? :sarcasm:

[BlooInBloo]

41. :)

[Skip Intro]

6. is it not a sign of absolute weak-willed gullibility to crave extreme authority?

I mean, that's all a bot wants, isn't it?

Please keep extreme order so that I won't have to think?

Please think for me...

I crave ritual and the mundane, and insist everyone comply.

EVERYONE MUST COMPLY!!!

[BlooInBloo]

7. Yes, yes it is.

[4bucksagallon]

8. Haha LOL sorry I have to laugh. Conservatives are going to FIGHT.

Since when do chickenhawks pick up arms and go to war, for ANY reason. They would be easy targets with the big yellow stripe that runs down their backs.

[CAG]

9. I don't know what was scarier; that statement, or the tangential thoughts

that seemed to be pouring from the mans head as he went from one rant to another.

One question; What the he*& does Babe Ruth's 14 inning shutout have to do with anything?? And, does Sowell understand that if it weren't for progressive values fighting against his friends on the right, no african-americans to this day might even have the OPPORTUNITY to break the Babe's records??

[undergroundpanther]

11. Authoritarian personalities

Narcissists and psychopaths will never see themselves as mistaken as sinking too low for in thier minds they are entitled to rule and must defend thier lifestyles of decadence no matter who gets hurt. Don't you all get it? they are morally blind.They are imitators of human beings wearing masks of sanity.They are NOT like us.
____________________________________________________________
Imagine - if you can - not having a conscience, none at all, no feelings of guilt or remorse no matter what you do, no limiting sense of concern for the well-being of strangers, friends, or even family members. Imagine no struggles with shame, not a single one in your whole life, no matter what kind of selfish, lazy, harmful, or immoral action you had taken.

And pretend that the concept of responsibility is unknown to you, except as a burden others seem to accept without question, like gullible fools.

Now add to this strange fantasy the ability to conceal from other people that your psychological makeup is radically different from theirs. Since everyone simply assumes that conscience is universal among human beings, hiding the fact that you are conscience-free is nearly effortless.

You are not held back from any of your desires by guilt or shame, and you are never confronted by others for your cold-bloodedness. The ice water in your veins is so bizarre, so completely outside of their personal experience, that they seldom even guess at your condition.

In other words, you are completely free of internal restraints, and your unhampered liberty to do just as you please, with no pangs of conscience, is conveniently invisible to the world.

You can do anything at all, and still your strange advantage over the majority of people, who are kept in line by their consciences will most likely remain undiscovered.

How will you live your life?

What will you do with your huge and secret advantage, and with the corresponding handicap of other people (conscience)?

The answer will depend largely on just what your desires happen to be, because people are not all the same. Even the profoundly unscrupulous are not all the same. Some people - whether they have a conscience or not - favor the ease of inertia, while others are filled with dreams and wild ambitions. Some human beings are brilliant and talented, some are dull-witted, and most, conscience or not, are somewhere in between. There are violent people and nonviolent ones, individuals who are motivated by blood lust and those who have no such appetites. <...>

Provided you are not forcibly stopped, you can do anything at all.
________________________________________________________________
Bush's power playbook, Think of bush's refusal to withdraw from Iraq , all his "reasons" for invading..and read #48.
http://www2.tech.purdue.edu/cgt/courses/cgt411/covey/48_laws_of_power.htm

[Rex]

12. They lust for death and violence.

Repukes dream of the military, but are too chickenshit to join. :eyes:

[undergroundpanther]

They get off on others suffering

They fancy themselves too precious to die in the stupid wars they instigate and profit from.

[Telly Savalas]

13. Perhaps such conservatives will realize the GOP has failed them

and they'll run a third party in 2008.

[roamer65]

14. A con military coup = civil war.

That's all I'll say.

[BlooInBloo]

15. It's true - they've been wanting another crack at that for 100+ years....

... Ironic that the call is coming from a black guy this time though.

[Supersedeas]

32. the K-Street Repigs have been developing wedge issues--add this to the list of methods to further

divide the country.

[donkeyotay]

52. This theme keeps popping up. Similar to the WSJ's talk of the president

being above the law. Are they trial ballooning this? Getting the base all worked up about the liberals costing them their glorious victory, and the necessity of putting the traitors (Delay's warning that the Democratic leadership was very, very close to treason.) in jail/camps? The neocons have completely trashed this country and I worry that they won't go quietly.

[EVDebs]

16. 7 Days in December (2000), The SCOTUS selection coup 'd etat

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

19. I've often thought that may be necessary if things don't change

We've already had at least two recent coups, it would be a sort of ironic justice to have things set right via a third one.

[Madspirit]

21. k&r and scary!

It's a mistake to underestimate the Far Right, imo.

I mean for frak's sake, we already have a Theocrat for POTUS in a country supposedly NOT a Theocracy.
Lee

[NickB79]

22. And people wonder why it's a bad idea to suggest only cops and the military have guns

Exhibit A right here.

[Madspirit]

23. I think people get surprised

I'm usually the one on the furthest left on almost ALL issues but then I protest taking our guns. It surprises some people. It's because I'm THAT scared of the Right Wing. THAT scared. How did a Theocrat ever get to be POTUS?

When did the Right turn into such...vicious, snarling, mean-spirited, bile-spewing, homeless person-shooting, gay bashing, race lynching, women raping, dog kicking, cat skinning, selfish, red-faced, foam spitting, God Preaching, Fundie speaking, child beating, war mongering...yet claiming to do it all in the name of Really Pious Family Values...people? Have they always been THIS scary? They give me nightmares.
Lee

[Blue_Tires]

24. advocating the violent overthrow of the government??

LOL at that!

And I'm just sure Sowell would volunteer to lead the first charge, guns a-blazin'...I personally am glad one of the prominent RWers actually came out and said the U.S. Constitution should be ripped up in favor of a military dictatorship...This quote needs to be saved for posterity before that site gets edited...

[Madspirit]

34. Question

Good point you made. Why isn't Homeland Security all over him for advocating the violent overthrow of the government? If I was publicly advocating a violent revolution, I bet they would be all over me.
Lee

[Marie26]

55. Wouldn't BUSH be tossed out in a coup?

Come on - conservatives already got their coup in 2000. If there was a military coup now, Bush and the Republicans would be the ones who would lose power.

[DFW]

25. Don't confuse "radical right wing" with "conservative"

I posted this yesterday, but it is relevant here, too.

They can label themselves "conservatives" all they want.
They can label a dog an elephant, too, for all the
difference it'll make.

I'm not ashamed to put myself up as an in-their-face example.

I applaud caution when contemplating foreign involvement, as put forth by George Washington.
I demand the total separation of church and state and an independent free press as envisioned
by Thomas Jefferson. I like the idea of conserving our environment, and freedom to criticize
the president as advocated by Theodore Roosevelt. I think our country would be far better served
by those old ideals than some of the newer crap that has shown up from Joe McCarthy to Ann Coulter.

I don't do unnecessary drugs, including drinking alcohol or smoking anything.
I am still, after 25 years, happily in my first marriage. I have two smart,
normal children and no debts.

I am totally against further liberalizing laws that pertain to the ownership of firearms
or the right to pollute without responsibility to clean up and compensate.

Republicans note: I am a classically-defined conservative, i.e. your nightmare. I am a
Democrat--a Howard Dean-loving Democrat. Go deal with that one, you nut-cases.
You call me "libbrul," and yet you have no more clue what that means than you do what
"conservative" means. By that, I mean none.

The old adage is true: being inside a church no more makes you a Christian than
being inside a garage makes you a car. Furthermore, it makes no difference to me
if you are either one, or neither.

It's too bad that "get a life" isn't enforceable in a court of law, or I'd have the
lot of you locked up.

But look on the bright side--there's no law against getting a life (or a clue), and you can be a
conservative spender while freeing your thinking: it won't cost you a cent!

Watch it, though, with that "free" notion. You remember what "freedom" is in Latin, right, scholars
that you are? Libertas, a root word for liberal*. Can't be too careful with our labels, there, can we?

* "liberal" --that's English for "libbrul"

[Madspirit]

36. Nice Post DFW...n/t

[DFW]

59. Thanks!

Every now and again, I get these rare flashes.
I used to think they were enlightenment. Now
I realize it's just my skin wearing thin with use.

[Blue_Tires]

27. this is too good to NOT kick...

[byronius]

28. Funny -- a military coup would likely favor the Dems these days.

I know a few military-type humans who have changed their stripes totally -- now registered Democrats. (The Party of the Normal American.)

[Madspirit]

38. I was thinking that

Trying to have a military coup when the military is sick of the same people we are sick of. It might not work out quite the way Sowell envisions...<g>.
Lee

[Virginia Dare]

29. I read it twice, it still made zero sense to me...

geez, that guy was all over the place. What a loon! :crazy:

[NoodleBoy]

31. yes-- they will save American democracy by destroying it

If they ever tried such a thing, there'd probably be alot less extreme-rightists who could vote, since probably 85% of the country would rise up and oppose them.

Also, since the ones who would be leading the coup would have no military experience, it probably wouldn't be too hard to stop it.

I just reread the full article... the guy barely makes sense. He's angry that the dialogue on a number of issues has gone beyond "no vs. yes" to "how much vs. how little."

And of course, he acts like the only real values in America are conservative values. I can understand how upset he is, then, to see Americans abandoning conservatism like a sinking boat, since his entire worldview was based on narrow, questionable wins at the presidential level.

He also mentions how people form the strongest opinions about things they're least informed about, but also excoriates "intellectuals" for thinking they're so smart. Hmm... seems to me that "intellectuals" rarely apply that term to themselves, and are labelled as such because of their widespread in-depth knowledge. Nevermind the fact that the average Daily Show viewer is much better informed than the average O'Reilly Factor viewer.

[Nikki Stone1]

37. Do you think people would rise up and oppose it? If it were marketed correctly and

American Idol was still on, I have a feeling people wouldn't get up off their couches, leave the bag of chips, and go out and protest no less fight back with guns.

[NoodleBoy]

60. you underestimate the American people, and that's pretty insulting

Let me ask you something: have you ever volunteered for a political campaign?

[porphyrian]

35. What's a "prominent conservative?" A child rapist with a boner? - n/t

[BlooInBloo]

40. Nah. Someone with a national podium & bullhorn like tnr.

[Neecy]

39. gee, he sure must know his history

One of the first things a right-wing dictatorship does is clear out the "degenerates" in academia and the intelligentsia by either jailing or capping them.

What a charming vision he has for America. Why do traitors get a platform in National Review?

[ProgressiveFool]

42. What a vapid bunch of thoughts this Sowell has to share

What's the freaking point? Is that just conservative navel gazing/despairing that he's writing? What is one to do with such drivel?

[YOY]

43. Bring it on b**ch!

Oh wait!

You were just posturing to scare us "hippies"?

Yeah, I though so...

[qwlauren35]

44. How ironic...

I have similar thoughts all the time. I think we have crappy politicians, screwed up media, an education system that doesn't work, and too many people focused on money. There is sexual perversion everywhere, and too often among men with power. (Just this morning, I heard about another teacher who has been molesting students.)

It's just that I don't think a coup would quite do what is necessary if it occurred without bloodshed.

I am as convinced, for different reasons, as the average conservative that there is an absence of morality and decency in our nation. It goes beyond a "lack of tolerance". We have a tendency to safeguard the rich and pin everything on the poor. And frankly, I'm quite sick of it.

I think there is a lot to be said for France's revolution.

[leftofthedial]

45. sick, anti-American fucks

we need to purge the right

[Jack Rabbit]

46. You're headline is a bit misleading

Professor Sowell's piece is a long, disjointed rant. I've seen better here at DU. Toward the end of it he makes the remark quoted, but in context it's not to be taken seriously.

The National Review usually puts up better stuff that this (indeed, Sowell is capable of better). It reminds me of Ann Coulter, but without quite as much the bile.

It wasn't worth the time it took to read it.

[shance]

48. Why in goodness name is this a surprise to anyone? This is what they have been planning

all along.

Remember "we are going to fight them over there so we don't have to fight them over here"?

Then why are those associated with this Administration like Blackwater trying to buy land to build huge, private military training camps in Colorado and California? And what about those Halliburton concentration camps?

What's it going to take for Americans to wake up?

A "Coup" by numbers set???

Seize the oils resources in the Middle East and after they have already destabilized our economy, our families, our health, our communities through neighborhood spy programs which the Adminsistration has been building through programs like Neighborhood Watch and Citizen Corps since 2002 (Operation TIPS was never halted - what a joke to think it would be) come back to America and do the same exact thing they are doing in the Middle East. They already engaged in a few test drives - one being Katrina and the assault on New Orleans.

And the abusers continue to get away with it because of those of us who are in denial, immobilized, and/or those who actually think no one could be that bad and cruel and vicious.

How much do they have to do to show us to make everyone realize what they are doing it to YOU.

[conspirator]

54. Pretty soon there will be a blackwater trooper in every corner...

with a stir aug and a gas mask to intimdate more.

[Marie26]

50. Can anyone make sense of this column?

I can't even really get upset because I have no idea what he's talking about. He just rambles from one random disjointed thought to the next. It's like reading a Larry King column.

[KansDem]

51. What are they bitching about? They own the White House, the Supreme Court...

the Media, and up until last November, the Congress, yet they're bitching about the necessity of a military coup???

There's no pleasing these people!!!

[Mme. Defarge]

57. Whenever the means justify the ends

there is a very good chance that the means will become the ends.

[Initech]

61. Conservatives suggesting a military coup? Yeah right!

:spray:

If there's anything we need a coup for, it's to get the conservative oil shilling douchebags out of our government!!!