The term has been bandied about

I know you’re here for the photos and possibly escape the news, and I don’t expect many “views” and even fewer comments (if any), but our then- and current-president was right about one thing on J6: “… if you don't fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore.” So this is me doing my infinitesimal fighting for democracy.

Since the term has been bandied about, I thought I would consult a dictionary for the definition of “coup d’ état” and there it is: “a violent or illegal seizure of power.”

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[ PXL_20250215_221611003_LE15tm :: cell phone ]

We have an unelected, unconfirmed-by-the-Senate, richest-man-in-the-world with multiple federal contracts but without a security clearance running amok with his “team” in our constitutionally- and congressionally-established agencies and data systems.

We have a 49.9%-elected president fire-hosing executive orders, many of which are likely to be found unconstitutional or illegal. Yeah, “illegal.” So the “illegal” part of the definition above from the Oxford American English Dictionary and Language Guide does seem relevant and appropriate.

This doesn’t even address last week’s “Thursday Night Massacre” or the mass firings (including the personnel who oversee our nuclear weapon arsenal whom administrators cannot contact to rehire because the fired people’s government email accounts were disabled).

A favorite recent quote about the current situation. “‘Disruption’ is a term that is currently lauded by tech entrepreneurs and political populists alike: throw all things old on the rubbish heap of history! This mantra has fundamentally transformed and revolutionised many markets and business models. But democracy is not a business model [emphasis added]! Democracy is not a playpen for disruption!”
—Frank-Walter Steinmeier, President of Germany

Democracy is not a business model.
Let that sink in.
“Move fast and break things” does not apply here.*

And let’s keep in mind why there’s a fire-hose of executive orders. It’s because MAGA can’t get their policies through the House and Senate. Why not? Because the policies are unpopular — in some cases by almost-super majorities — with the American people.

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* Do Elon and Felon47 know that “on May 2, 2014, Zuckerberg announced that [Facebook] would be changing its internal motto from ‘Move fast and break things’ to ‘Move fast with stable infrastructure’”? Yeah, probably not. See Meta Platforms > History

Links
» Frank-Walter Steinmeier (President of Germany) speech at the Munich Security Conference
» “Say what this is: a coup.”
» “Call it what it is.”
» “Is It Really a Coup?”

15th February 2025 15th Feb 25