A ramshackle effort at a US coup d’état

American conspirators will now be keen to refine their knowledge on how to overthrow a government with the least possible fuss

FOLLOWING Trump’s ramshackle effort at a coup d’état, who would have thought that the United States, a bastion of democracy and an outpost of human rights, was now on a par with hopeless South American governments?

But the good news is that America is not yet up there with Haiti, which has had 27 insurrections.

Nonetheless, and thanks to Trump, America may one day have something in common with Bolivia, a country that has suffered 14 insurrections, or Iran’s 25 revolts,  Iraq 16 and Paraguay 19! Interestingly, in the wake of his coup failure, a story was put out that Trump’s justification for  attacking the Capitol was because paedophiles were undermining the country. 

No one believed it, but what is certain is that despite the putsch being a shambolic failure, American conspirators – including many from the 784 extremist groups in the Old South –  got a huge lease of life. They suddenly discovered they could have a role in national politics as regime-changers.

Consequently, from now onwards, they’ll be keen to refine their knowledge on how to overthrow a government with the least possible fuss.

The other side of the coin is that the American military, which plays an important role in homeland defence, also watched with interest Trump’s ‘attempted’ coup. Indeed a story  doing the rounds is that generals now might see it as their responsibility to go outside the legal process to impose order on nutty presidents and, perhaps, take a participative role in the formation of government.

No coherent plan

The beneficial side-effects of the military’s involvement in American politics would be easy to sell to a frightened public so long as it put manners on very dangerous organisations such as the Ku Klux Klan, the Proud Boys, the Oath Keepers, who recruit within the police and military, the NSC-131 (a neo-Nazi group that contends Jews are plotting to extinguish the entire white race) and other loonies such as The Base, Patriot Front and the Aryan Strike Force.

It’s very unlikely, of course, that the US military would ever endorse insurrectionist antics that emanated from congenital political failures such as the Boogaloo Boys – a weird outfit that is convinced a second civil war is on the cards.

Trump, as the world knows, encouraged his followers to launch a revolt and then did a hasty turn when he realised his putsch hadn’t a snowball’s chance of succeeding.

The reason for the ‘about-turn’, of course, was that neither Trump nor the thugs, thieves and vandals rampaging through the meeting place of the United States Congress, had a coherent plan!

The thugs, on this occasion, lacked proper leadership and the so-called tyrant in the making, panicked. Having led his gang up the hill, he didn’t just bring them down again: he fled!

Death and destruction

But not before washing his hands of any responsibility for the attack on the seat of government and not before making the hypocritical assertion that ‘any attack on our Capitol would not be tolerated and those involved would be prosecuted.’

Let’s  not forget either that Trump’s mob was not a bunch of happy-go-lucky excursionists whose jollity got somewhat unruly and unmanageable. The participants in the orgy of destruction carried lead pipes as weapons, sprayed chemical irritants at opponents, broke down doors, wrecked rooms, injured more than 60 police officers and were responsible for at least four deaths.

Yeah, sure, Trump’s revolt probably will go down in history as the worst ever attempt to overthrow a government. But it produced a simple and clear message for those hoping to follow in Trump’s footsteps: a presidential coup d’état must have confident leadership, a gagged media, military support and some international co-operation and approval. 

Otherwise it would certainly fail, as Trump’s did.

In the meantime, he should be arrested and put on trial for inciting a violent rebellion against lawful authority.

Mixed messages

The broadband service in Cobh has led to concerned citizens forming an ‘action group’ to highlight the broken promises of National Broadband Ireland (NBI), particularly the commitment to provide a proper service.  In a statement to this newspaper, the group said:

‘Last May National Broadband Ireland (NBI) promised that it would install broadband in Cobh between December 2020 and February 2021. But some weeks ago NBI announced there was no date for installation in Cobh and that the area was still being surveyed.’

To their astonishment, the Cobh Broadband Action Group discovered that installation had been pushed forward by another year – from December 2021 to May 2022.

Committee members Bill Ramsell, Jim O’Meara, Denis Twomey, Dave Muldowney and Eoghan Allen are now demanding a reversion to the original plan.

They also seek from the broadband company (NBI) ‘the courtesy of a response to our letters.’

Their campaign has the support of local people, the local authority and councillors. Hugely disgruntled customers say that it’s time for the broadband company to produce the goods and put an end to a defective service whose impact on customers is to drive them brainsick, unhinged and unbalanced!

Cobh Broadband Action Group can be contacted at [email protected]

‘Bizarre’ suggestion

Peadar Tóibín is a principled politico and founder of an ‘alternative republican and  conservative party’ called Aontú, which is struggling to gain a foothold in the popularity stakes. His political roots are in Sinn Féin, a party that stupidly dumped him after he voted against the Termination of Pregnancy Bill 2018.

Just before Christmas he was again in the news when he took a cut off what remained of the Cloth Cap Brigade (Labour), which had suggested that single sex schools lead to domestic violence.

Tóibín retorted that the Labour Party was damaging the reputation of hundreds of schools without producing any evidence, and he called for the party to produce the facts to substantiate their ‘bizarre’ suggestion.

He went on: ‘Many people in this country attended single sex schools. Is the Labour Party suggesting that these people are more likely to be violent and abuse their partner? The deputy presents himself as a champion of diversity and pluralism but debate in the Dáil is debased by wild evidence-free allegations such as this!’

We agree!

Jigsaw whiz kid!

A joke about Trump tickled our fancy: Oblivious to the chaos outside, what really pleased the President was having finished a jigsaw puzzle in record time.

‘Well done, Sir,’ said an aide. ‘And how long did it take you?’

‘Well’ he answered, ‘the box said 3 to 5 years, but I finished it in a month!’