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Ending republics on a whim does not have that great a history,

perhaps someone should point out the precedents to george

Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.

by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Mon Nov 12th, 2007 at 10:43:26 AM EST
[ Parent ]
I think you misunderstand. I mean that people are not being whimsical when they use highly dramatic phrases such as the End of the Republic. See also the following article, which appears unintentionally prescient.

Parameters, US Army War College Quarterly: The Origins of the American Military Coup of 2012 by Charles J. Dunlap, JR. in Winter 1992

The letter that follows takes us on a darkly imagined excursion into the future. A military coup has taken place in the United States--the year is 2012--and General Thomas E. T. Brutus, Commander-in-Chief of the Unified Armed Forces of the United States, now occupies the White House as permanent Military Plenipotentiary. His position has been ratified by a national referendum, though scattered disorders still prevail and arrests for acts of sedition are underway. A senior retired officer of the Unified Armed Forces, known here simply as Prisoner 222305759, is one of those arrested, having been convicted by court-martial for opposing the coup. Prior to his execution, he is able to smuggle out of prison a letter to an old War College classmate discussing the "Origins of the American Military Coup of 2012." In it, he argues that the coup was the outgrowth of trends visible as far back as 1992. These trends were the massive diversion of military forces to civilian uses, the monolithic unification of the armed forces, and the insularity of the military community. His letter survives and is here presented verbatim.

It goes without saying (I hope) that the coup scenario above is purely a literary device intended to dramatize my concern over certain contemporary developments affecting the armed forces, and is emphatically not a prediction. -- The Author



We have met the enemy, and he is us — Pogo
by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Mon Nov 12th, 2007 at 11:45:28 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Some days this place does make me feel monsterously underread.

Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.
by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Mon Nov 12th, 2007 at 12:08:14 PM EST
[ Parent ]
I recall that Colin Powell gave some sort of tribute to Dunlap for this article.
by de Gondi (publiobestia aaaatttthotmaildaughtusual) on Mon Nov 12th, 2007 at 03:43:25 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Yes, the article won an essay competition, or something.

We have met the enemy, and he is us — Pogo
by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Tue Nov 13th, 2007 at 03:03:21 AM EST
[ Parent ]

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