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Regardless, I just do not see a well oiled military machine can be brought to knees by weekend warriors who are probably over 50 and not in good physical shape

The scenario will not be open warfare, at least not after the tanks roll in and crush open dissent.

But, and this could be a very interesting but, a developing resistance could wreak havoc on the country and its masters.

The military could obviously subdue open revolt in all of the major urban areas. That is a very long way from true control of the country. And more importantly, control of its economic activity.

They could rule the country by force in principle. The reality could be very different. What size standing army would be needed to successfully stamp out guerrilla warfare in a county this large and diverse *if* (a significant if, I'll grant you) there were sufficient numbers in resistance?

That is why Big Brother is taking control incrementally. A sudden move would invoke chaos.

...more importantly, control of its economic activity.

Key point.

In Chile those resisting Allende caused havoc by very simple means, for example dumping tacks and nails on the roads leading into and out of the cities.

They could rule the country by force in principle. The reality could be very different. What size standing army would be needed to successfully stamp out guerrilla warfare in a county this large and diverse *if* (a significant if, I'll grant you) there were sufficient numbers in resistance?

Given the problems we had in Afghanistan and Iraq, we would need a military dozens of times larger.

And don't forget that if the US military were magically turned into a group of thugs who hated America and the Constituation, and started acting all Gestapo here in the states, plenty of countries overseas would stir things up in Africa, parts of Asia, the Middle East, and maybe even closer to home in the Americas, further stretching the military. Don't think for one instant that certain groups in the Middle East would not attempt to bring the Caliphate back by violence, and don't think for one instant the drug lords in Mexico, Central and South America wouldn't take advantage of things. And we can't leave out the Chinese and Russians.

That is why Big Brother is taking control incrementally. A sudden move would invoke chaos.

They don't need the military for this kind of stuff, and they run a big risk of large parts of the military refusing to follow such orders.

You know why they don't need the military? Because we are in a Brave New World. The majority of people in this country care more about who won that American Idols crap on Fox or that Dancing with Celebrities on ABC or what team won what game last night than they do about politics.

We are already on that path to government control, and both parties fully support it. It was a Republican White House with the backing of both parties in Congress that got increased federal control over the schools with No Child Left Behind. It was a Republican White House with the backing of both parties in Congress that got the PATRIOT Act pushed through (and many in Congress didn't bother reading it). The GOP is supposed to be the party that is against Big Government, but it fully embraced it under George W. Bush, and the GOP gave us Big Government candidates with McCain and now Romney. I could go on and on, but the point is, we as Americans, as a whole, have continued to re-elect people from both parties to Congress that are creating the tools for government control, and we are signing off on Big Government presidential candidates like McCain and Romney.

This battle was lost, our own party screwed us over, and they did it out in the open with our consent.