Trump Faces Coup

This post Trump Faces Coup appeared first on Daily Reckoning.

We have it on excellent authority that a “Russian coup” is seizing the reins of the American republic.

Further, we understand this coup threatens “the end of the United States as an independent country.”

On whose warrant do we receive this information?

No less an authority than Keith Olbermann… former ESPN guy and present host of GQ’s indispensable political show. Here’s the Edward R. Murrow of our times in full blast:

We are at war with Russia. Or perhaps more correctly, we have lost a war with Russia without a battle. We are no longer a sovereign nation; we are no longer a democracy; we are no longer a free people. We are the victims of a bloodless coup…

The nation and all of our freedoms hang by a thread, and the military apparatus of this country is about to be handed over to scum! Who are beholden to scum! Russian scum!

Well, now…

It seems we recall a time when folks of Mr. Olbermann’s political persuasion were all mush and milk when it came to the Russkies. It was the American cowboy who wore the black hat, recklessly jabbing at the Russian bear, provoking it to atrocities.

No longer. Now it’s Olbermann and his gang who are doing the jabbing. “Russian scum”?

The U.S. intelligence community has, apparently, been listening to Olbermann. Intelligence officials are claiming that Putin had “personal involvement” in those email leaks that helped sink Hillary.

NBC cites two senior officials: “New intelligence shows that Putin personally directed how hacked material from Democrats was leaked and otherwise used. The intelligence came from diplomatic sources and spies working for U.S. allies.”

We’ll just have to take their word for it. No evidence is forthcoming. But it’s not the sort of accusation one should necessarily make without solid DNA evidence. Russia’s no pup the U.S. can knock around like an Iraq, for heaven’s sake. The Intercept:

With two enormous military powers placed in direct conflict over national sovereignty, we need an extraordinary disclosure. The stakes are simply too high to take anyone’s word for it.

Just so. And did the Russians even do it?

It certainly remains plausible that Russians hacked the DNC, and remains possible that Russia itself ordered it. But the refrain of Russian attribution has been repeated so regularly and so emphatically that it’s become easy to forget that no one has ever truly proven the claim…

No one has actually proven that group is the Russian government (or works for it). This remains the enormous inductive leap that’s not been reckoned with, and Americans deserve better.

We should say they do. What if it’s not the Russians but a leaker within the intelligence community itself who wasn’t happy about the way Hillary lied about Benghazi… or with her handling of classified data… or (fill in the blank)?

The Russians are sophisticated hackers. They probably have ways of hiding their tracks. Why leave evidence behind?

Questions and more questions.

Here’s another, and please ignore the tinfoil hat: Is all this just an 11th-hour stunt to stop Trump from becoming president?

The popular election is over. But the real vote takes place in four days — Dec. 19. That’s when the Electoral College submits its vote to Congress. Trump won the Electoral College vote with 306 total votes. To secure the crown, 270 votes are needed, and that’s critical…

A certain Larry Lessig professes constitutional law at Harvard. This fellow told Politico he’s been advising Republican electors with cold feet about voting for Trump. Lessig claims 20 Republican electors are already considering voting against Trump. And he expects more will follow.

If they can pick off an additional 17 votes, that totals 37… which drops Trump below the required 270. That would hand over the decision to the Republican-controlled House.

You’d expect them to stick with Trump. It would be the shocker of all shockers if they didn’t. But you never know what dark collaborations have been going on behind closed doors… in smoke-filled rooms. Maybe the establishment isn’t giving up just yet.

Which raises another question: What if it’s not Russians who are attempting a coup… but Americans?

If that’s the case, a new word would have to be discovered. “Irony” just wouldn’t suffice…

Regards,

Brian Maher
Managing editor, The Daily Reckoning

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