Have We Experienced a Coup d’etat In the United States

Now that we’ve had an opportunity to digest the NY Times Op Ed piece by anonymous (I Am Part of the Resistance Inside the Trump Administration), there are actually some very troubling things that we should be thinking about. A number of online posters have questioned whether some of the actions described might be grossly illegal. Should there be an actual Department of Justice investigation? Is there an act of treason here? And from the extreme, are we in the middle of a virtual coup d-etat?

Was the original op ed something that was supposed to assuage the fear and anxiety of the resistance? Or an alarm to law enforcement that our government is being subverted from within? Or to our other elected officials that our commander in chief is even more incompetent than we think he is?

I am not assuaged…I am not comfortable…I don’t see anyone doing anything.

I work for the president but like-minded colleagues and I have vowed to thwart parts of his agenda and his worst inclinations.

The dilemma — which he does not fully grasp — is that many of the senior officials in his own administration are working diligently from within to frustrate parts of his agenda and his worst inclinations.

Although I don’t for a minute, trust President Donald Trump, and cringe at most everything he tweets or speaks…he is right…this is treason. He says its treason because it is disloyal to him…I say its treason because it is disloyal to the presidency and the Constitution. These actions, no matter how ‘noble’ the cause, must not be allowed to become precedent or we will forever have an actual shadow government rather than the perceived one.

I find the silence from Capitol Hill frightening…aren’t the republicans constantly aghast at the unelected bureaucrats that actually run the government? But usually they are doing so at the president’s bidding, not to thwart him. Why don’t they have issue with any of this? Are they that hard set to push through their agenda that they are willing to destroy the remainder of our democracy?

Anonymous sees this but is taking the wrong tack:

But we believe our first duty is to this country, and the president continues to act in a manner that is detrimental to the health of our republic.

So instead of outing the president, you undermine the Oval Office and the West Wing? Were all of you born in reality TV shows?

The root of the problem is the president’s amorality. Anyone who works with him knows he is not moored to any discernible first principles that guide his decision making.

It may be cold comfort in this chaotic era, but Americans should know that there are adults in the room. We fully recognize what is happening. And we are trying to do what’s right even when Donald Trump won’t.

To do what’s right? What is that? Just because you are thwarting the footloose and feckless policy coming for the president, doesn’t mean you are doing the right things. I abhor much of the Republican agenda…so implementing that isn’t doing the right thing by me. And it isn’t necessary what the voters thought they were getting in November of 2016 either.

But at the base of it, you are subverting the operations of the federal government. What you are doing is most assuredly illegal. What you are doing is most likely unconstitutional. If you are claiming to be defending the republic and the Constitution, this isn’t the right course of action.

Oh I can’t believe I am writing this, but to preserve the presidency it has to be acknowledged: the president deserves to be served truthfully, faithfully, and honestly by his appointed cabinet and staff. If the president isn’t capable of serving as president, then other actions are available and need to be taken.

Given the instability many witnessed, there were early whispers within the cabinet of invoking the 25th Amendment, which would start a complex process for removing the president. But no one wanted to precipitate a constitutional crisis. So we will do what we can to steer the administration in the right direction until — one way or another — it’s over.

You didn’t want to precipitate a constitutional crisis? I think you’ve done exactly that.

Time to get up to speed Attorney General Sessions! We need another special counsel investigation into the workings of the West Wing and Oval Office. Do we have anyone we can trust left at DOJ?

Update 9/9/2011: Nikki Haley’s rebuttal: (When I challenge the president, I do it directly. My anonymous colleague should have, too. )

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