If the US deep state attempted a coup against Trump, what would happen?

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Debate & Discussion > If the US deep state attempted a coup against Trump, what would happen?

Thug Lessons: Dec 14, 2006; I lust in my heart for as many dead refugees as possible.

Main Paineframe posted:

"Deep state" has a lot of meanings, all of which boil down to "the shadowy conspiracy that a) secretly controls the country from the shadows regardless of who the nominal leader is, or b) is secretly responsible for all dissent against our country's glorious leader and is constantly scheming to undermine or overthrow our great government". It's basically a genericized conspiracy theory. In places like Egypt or Turkey, it generally holds meaning B, while in the US it usually is used for meaning A.

Pointing out that even liberal democracies contain undemocratic elements that are capable of independent action outside of the control of that nation's leaders is not a conspiracy theory.

# ¿ Dec 12, 2016 23:06

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Thug Lessons: Dec 14, 2006; I lust in my heart for as many dead refugees as possible.

Main Paineframe posted:

Of course they do. Claiming that those undemocratic elements are secretly colluding in a largely-unknown shadow government that controls everything in the country, on the other hand, is absolutely a conspiracy theory.

For example, this link. This is Conspiracy Theory 101. He points to basically every entity with any political influence at all, both inside and outside the government...and mishmashes them together into a "secret and unaccountable Deep State", which has been in complete and utter control of government to the point where it basically is the government, except when a heroic Tea Partier talks about maybe perhaps considering rolling back a law, at which point the Deep State teeters on the edge of complete destruction at the hands of those brave radicals rebelling against the evils of political consensus (which he compares to Marxism). It's one thing to say that the military-industrial complex has too much influence; it's another thing entirely to assert that "terror" is actually a secret code word used by Congressional leadership to pass along voting orders from their shadowy masters.

You're taking the things that quote is saying and rephrasing them to sound crazy, along with inserting various claims he's not actually making.

# ¿ Dec 12, 2016 23:47

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Debate & Discussion > If the US deep state attempted a coup against Trump, what would happen?