The United States has one of the most stable governments in the world. There has never been a military coup (a takeover of the government by the military) -- and most Americans would be horrified at the prospect that it could ever happen.
But if you have any doubt as to how extremist the Republican Party has become, the chart above should settle that doubt (and it should scare the hell out of you). About 43% (or more than 4 out of 10) Republicans say they could envision a situation where they would support a military takeover of the United States government. Another 25% say they are sure whether they could support that or not. Only 32% (slightly less than a third) of Republicans say they could never support a military coup.
Supporting a military coup is right-wing extremism at its worst -- and it's something that no American should even consider supporting. The very idea of it is traitorous. But that's where the Republican Party is these days. It's their way or the highway, and compromise is no longer an option for them (which they have clearly demonstrated during the terms of President Obama).
The modern Republican Party is an extremist party -- one willing to trash our democracy to see that their "values" trump the wishes of the majority. There's simply no other way to put it.
The chart above represents a result from the recent YouGov Poll -- done on September 2nd and 3rd of a random national sample of 1,000 adults, with a margin of error of 4 points.
I'm so tired tonight, I wasn't going to comment. I was just going to read through what you posted, and call it a night. But this is amazing. But if I reflect, I can't say that it is shocking. I've been saying for a long time that there has been a big anti-democratic increase in recent years in the Republican Party and the conservative movement generally. I've called the Republican Party a proto-fascist group for a long time. It may be about time to get rid of the "proto."
ReplyDeleteThis information is very scary but no real surprise to me. I live in MS now and have lived all across the southeast and southwest US. What I have observed (the increase in gun sales, the openly anti-democracy rhetoric, the hostile dismissal of anything remotely logical) has been going on for decades. This information validates what was only my "gut-feeling" over the years that political extremism is becoming mainstream. I hope we don't have to fight another "civil war" but I can tell you that if that were to happen tomorrow, these idiots would be able to mobilize in 24 hours. Very very scary, indeed.
ReplyDeleteI overslept this morning but did I wake up in 1861?
ReplyDeleteNot a surprise to me, either.
ReplyDeleteThe contradictions present in conservatives' acceptance of the rule of law leaves them little choice but to consider this sort of thing.
Contrast the opposition to #blacklivesmatter with their giddiness over Cliven and company pointing guns at federal authorities so he can steal federal land out in Nevada. Or the current Kim Davis debacle. Or the way we were all told that we had to stand behind the last President, but the attacks on this one are justified because he's not a real American.
The poll is even scarier when you include all three groups, even though it isn't as effective as a weapon to be used against Republicans.
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I have no argument with the conclusions drawn above about Republicans, or where their own willingness to support such an idea comes from. Anyone who has been reading Right Wing Watch almost every weekday for years knows about then.
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But why are 29% of Independents -- and worse, 20% of Democrats -- also willing to put themselves on record saying the same -- and the 'npt sures' among the Independents are almost a plurality by themselves?
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Is it accurate, a reflection on the question and how it was put, or -- I think a bit more likely -- a demonstration of the growing problem with polling. We forget that poll answerers are 'self selected.' They have to have the time, the interest, and the patience to spend what is usually a twenty minute period, they have to trust the questioners, and they have to be sufficiently unparanoid enough that they are willing to tell their ideas to an unknown source. (For some of the right, the calls might be coming from those black helicopters or have a drone set to fire against anyone who gets a certain number off them 'wrong.')
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I could argue that the poll actually undercounts the Republican answers -- but that's just a guess. But I would like to know about the reason so many Democrats agreed -- if only to judge better the reliability of the poll among other reasons.