Carrie Leonetti
Associate Professor
Posted on 12/23/2016 5:41:05 PM PST by hiho hiho
There has been a great deal of hand-wringing lately, particularly in progressive circles, about how a Trump presidency could destroy American democracy: the end of free speech and a free press, the influence of money in politics rising to the level of a true oligarchy, Supreme Court appointments that end cherished civil rights, like abortion rights, voting rights, and equal protection. These changes could be coming, and they could be every bit as destructive to the core values of our democracy as many people fear.
But a Trump presidency poses a far more direct, permanent, and existential threat to our democracy that has had almost no notice in the media: the threat that a Trump presidency would trigger a coup. Not an armed rebellion, but a bloodless coup brought about by a reckless and indefensible presidential order, and a refusal of Trump's subordinates to carry it out.
Imagine for a moment that Trump ordered a nuclear first strike of China because the Chinese Premier insulted him on Twitter. Or imagine that Trump ordered the armed take over of Saturday Night Live to stop Alec Baldwin's unflattering caricatures of him. Now imagine that the Joint Chiefs or the FBI SWAT team or the missile-silo commanders simply refused to carry out the order. For most of us, that refusal would be a good, responsible, reassuring response. It would also be a coup. Under our constitutional structure, the President is the chief officer of the executive branch of government and the commander in chief of the military.
This is the scenario that I have been playing in my head since the election, and it is not nearly as far-fetched as it sounds. All it takes is a reckless, dangerous, abuse of power by Donald Trump (and that sentence pretty much writes itself). That would leave the fate of our democracy in the hands of the people to whom he gives orders. If they comply: World War III, autocracy, the end of life as we know it. If they refuse, we are Turkey, Burma, Pakistan - a titular democracy whose continued existence ultimately depends on the whims of its generals.
Whatever one may think is broken with our democracy - campaign finance, government surveillance, executive power - we are still fundamentally a democracy. A country in which military leaders and bureaucrats have to decide whether to follow a president's orders (and can and must decide not to, if human survival depends on doing so) is not.
Carrie Leonetti is a professor of criminal and constitutional law at the University of Oregon School of Law.
major vapors.
I’m afraid Carrie needs professional mental help to get her out of the safe space she’s been living in for far too long.
Ah, yes, the "American Democracy" created by Wilson. And restore the Republic... I hope so!
I’m confused — do I tell this dingbat to stop drinking, or to go have a few drinks?
I blame it all on our abysmal educational system. We have allowed a nation of idiots to be produced for far too long.
I first started noticing it in the 60's when I was in high school and the students were taking control from the teachers. Even at that age I realized this would not be a positive thing in the the long term.
I kept expecting the clampdown, but it never came.
Abortion is not an American core value.
It sounds like something the Dem party supporter would have written after Ronald Reagan defeated Jimmah Carter.
Imagine for a moment that Lucy won the lottery.
And we are not fundamentally a democracy.
We are a constitutional republic.
See this is what is wrong in thismcountry. These libtard idiots cannot even get what kind of governmental system we have, correct.
What happened is we just destroyed their world. Of course they are upset.
LOL. You beat me to it!
Caption: Yeppers I’m a Professer
What’s that thing she’s wearing around her neck? Looks like a slice of radish.
Professor, your concerns are chock full of irony, since only Progressives threaten free speech and a free press...Clinton outspent Trump by hundreds of millions...and it is liberal judges who vote to abridge individual God-given rights.
The facts deny your premise...
Oregon ping ...crazeeeee UO Professor
Merry Christmas
Now they're just teasing me.
Looks like a slice of radish to me.
Yes it is, dumbass (Leonetti). You people are literally hysterical. Literally.
Or, in the words of the immortal Bugs Bunny - "You - are a mental case".
On the contrary, it probably makes them very proud. I've seen their alumni publication and the crap they publish is mind-numbing. The anti-American bilge they're filling young minds with should be considered treasonous. Yet people pay huge sums to have their kids brainwashed and seem oblivious, sometimes downright enthusiastic, about it. American colleges and universities are in the dankest areas of the Swamp. The alligators and pythons must be eliminated.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.