I wonder about the military ... can he trust them?
I KNOW they despise him ... what will they do? If they do a coup, what kind of a country will the U.S. be then? We have to be careful ... .
I wonder about the military ... can he (Obama) trust them?
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
No.
A perfect example was the attempted coup against Gorbachov by Communist party hardliners. The took Gorbachov hostage (issuing a statement that Gorby had health problems) and took control of the government. They ordered the Soviet army to start supressing dissent (including firing upon Soviet citizens.)
The Soviet army refused, and instead surrounded the building the coup members were in, forced them to surrender, and returned Gorbochov to power (the Soveit Union fell not long thereafter.)
The Soviet army was brutal, and had no problem supressing people in other countries. They were also ultra-patriotic. There were not going to fire on their own citizens, nor allow a coup to take place.
America has an all volunteer army. The majority are very patriotic and belive they are fighting to protect the rights of American citizens. If ordered to fire upon American citizens in a wholesale manner, I think a significant number would simply refuse.
If Obama (or any president) attempted to hold onto power by nullifying an election or some other scheme, I’m not sure they could hold on. They would probably find themselves in a similar situation to the Soviet coup members.