Trump is setting himself up for a coup by packing Cabinet with ex-generals, military expert warns

[deminks]

http://www.rawstory.com/2016/12/trump-is-setting-himself-up-for-a-coup-by-packing-cabinet-with-ex-generals-military-expert-warns/

Donald Trump is populating his Cabinet with retired generals, which one international affairs expert says violates democratic norms and puts him at risk of being toppled in a military coup.

Steve Saideman, a political scientist at Ottawa’s Carleton University and an author who has extensively studied civil-military relations in democratic societies, said he’s concerned that Trump seems to be ending civilian control of the U.S. military — which he says is a necessary condition of democratic governance.

“Civilian control of the military is both means and end,” Saideman wrote on the blog Political Violence @ A Glance. “It is not just about concentrations of power, but of subservience of the folks with the guns to the people elected to run the country. This is not about the founders of the U.S. or about what makes the U.S. special, but what is essential for modern democracy.”

(snip)

“Trump’s inherent flaws, including his appeals to white supremacy, his inability to concentrate for the length of an intel briefing, and – most importantly – his lack of respect for and adherence to the various norms that make the institutions operate, make civilian control of the military more, not less, important,” Saideman argued.

He worries that Trump could be such an awful and conflicted president that the military camarilla he established around himself will see no choice but to take over the executive branch.

(end snip)

I don't especially think a military junta is in our best interests, either.

[uponit7771]

1. Or setting us up for war

[Yavin4]

8. This

A big, ugly fucking war at that. A war that will make Iraq and Afghanistan look like days at the beach.

[Auggie]

2. This is absurd fear-mongering

Enough already

[exboyfil]

5. I agree - overplaying our hand

I don't think anything will be gained by resisting Mattis. If Petraues was still a candidate for SecState, that would be one that should be opposed.

The NSA is not subject to confirmation, and I don't see anything short of an international disaster separating Flynn from Trump. That is the real problem.

Actually I trust Marines to do the right thing (biased I guess).

[dhol82]

3. Well, we shall certainly live in interesting times.

[exboyfil]

4. I don't think that is the immediate problem

The biggest problem is Flynn at NSA. He does not need to have a coup. Given the wide Executive power the President has, Flynn only needs to convince Trump which appears to be pretty easy for him (call him the Trump Whisperer).

I almost choked when I read an article that implied that the NSA was not important. The role is always important, and in Trump's case, it becomes the most important role in Washington as far as I am concerned. I got to think traditional moderate Republicans (or even Republican internationalists who are socially conservative) must just be going crazy right now. Within the guidelines of the Constitution, the various Departments serve the President's policies. Flynn will decide what those international policies will be (at least in those areas involving potential conflicts).

[KittyWampus]

7. Mattis will be fighting Flynn.

[elfin]

6. I thought he might be insulating himself from one

By stacking the deck with 'friendlies" who can be alerted by their cadre of military insiders and counter any takeover by those military with a constitutional conscience.

The ones he has chosen like Flynn (with the possible exception of Mattis) fit perfectly in his cabinet of crazies.