bloodless coups

dr. elsewhere here

UPDATED AT END OF FULL POST

Last night I idly flipped on the TV and landed on an episode of West Wing that aired like a documentary about the mystique of the Oval Office. Interviews with various players in the real theatre of this powerful room interested me enough to keep it on; Clinton, Carter, Kissinger, DeeDee Meyers, Peggy Noonan. Not at all shabby.

Then one guy came on I didn’t recognize at all and told this really touching story that I thought I’d share because it reminded me of another story of mine I’ve been meaning to post.

This man, whoever he was and whatever he had to do with the White House, I don’t know, but his story was simple. The night Nixon resigned, (August 9, 1974, my birthday!), he said, he packed up his toddlers in his car and drove them to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, where Ford was moving in to the role of President. Our storyteller then made a very brief but oh so powerfully eloquent little speech (wish I could recall verbatim) about how this was such a profound thing, that the government had changed hands and not a single shot was fired. A bloodless coup, he said, admitting tears in his eyes. He turned to get the reaction from his kids, and they were both sound asleep in the back seat.

I was touched, even if his kids were not. It was such a pure and innocent sentiment. And I reminded myself that this changing of governments happens every four or eight years in our country anyway.

But I wondered if this was even possible anymore.

My story, on the other hand, is ...well, odd.
(To read the rest, click "Permalink" below)


A couple of years ago, I had a very disturbing epiphany. I’m a little embarrassed at how easily this thought entered my head, as it gives me more than a clue of just how capable I am of thinking like the depraved enemy.

But here it is. At some point prior to the ’04 election it occurred to me just how dispensable Bush is. In fact, it occurred to me that he might well be worth more dead than alive. Not from any grand insurance scam, mind you, but from a purely practical point of view.

Um, from the purely practical point of view of the GOP, that is. First, he is clearly not the brains behind this operation. His only appeal is him pseudo-homespun, ersatz cowboy personae, and his frequent gafs and buffoonery – not to mention his questionable history on oh so many dimensions – make him a disaster waiting to happen.

Second, just think of the benefits of losing him to an assassin’s bullet. Cheney would take his “rightful” place on the throne, where he could lobby for executive privilege with impunity. The nation’s loss would generate tremendous sympathy for the GOP, not to mention the necessary fear for Cheney to pull of his executive power agenda. Pinning the event on some hapless Syrian or Iranian plant would also excuse Dick Vader to attack those nations, a plan that has not gone as swimmingly as we might have expected.

And it would have given The Big Dick the power he needs to declare martial law.

The more I explored the notion, the more elegant it seemed, to the point where it really really scared me. And of course, I hesitated to share this idea with anyone, for the obvious reasons. When I did share it with my ex-GOP buddy, she was equally fascinated with its power. We commiserated occasionally on what would be the best approach to the problem.

Naturally, we did NOT – and I repeat here, WE DID NOT – wish such harm to come to W, much as we loathe his presidency. And not just for the requisite, humanitarian reasons, I readily admit. We also did not want the outcome we predicted from the scenario, which we felt would serve as more than adequate impetus for the “powers that be” to actually, um, do it.

Other than my conversations with this friend, and my brother, I kept this to myself. Then not long ago, another friend who is at least as rabid about the Bush/GOP insanity as I am, confided in me that he had been thinking the unthinkable, and I was the only person he could think of who might actually entertain his thought seriously.

And there it was; he, too, had had the same idea, and for much the same reasons. We considered the option of coming out with it, as going public is somewhat limited in our world. Nevertheless, it became increasingly clear that, the longer the idea remained in silence, the more likely it remained a real option for actualizing. I prepared to put together a more considered piece for cannonfire, for starters.

And then I read about it. It’s a movie/docudrama, Death of a President. At first, it seemed unreal, even unbelievable, but there it was. It was first shown at the Toronto Film Festival last month, winning the Fipresci Award, and then aired last night on British TV. It will likely hit theatres soon, having been purchased for distribution by the same company that did Gibson’s Passion of Christ.

[UPDATE: Here is a brief clip of and about the docudrama.]

The good news is that now the idea is in the public domain in a huge way, hopefully to dampen any ambitions out there to make it real. The bad news is that, regardless of how it is done, the odds for bloodless coups in our future seem to be plummeting along with the GOP prospects for this mid-term election. The stakes have simply become way too high for those in power, and they’re less and less likely to allow such a thing without a bloody fight.