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Sunday, September 11, 2011

Did Obama Fear a Military Coup in 2008?

Andrew Krieg:
President-Elect Obama’s advisors feared in 2008 that authorities would revolt and that Republicans would block his policy agenda if he prosecuted Bush-era war crimes, according to… University of California at Berkeley Law School Dean Christopher Edley, Jr…. the sixth highest-ranking member of the 2008 post-election transition team preparing Obama's administration. [Edley] revealed the team's thinking on Sept. 2 [while] moderating a forum on 9/11… [at] Boalt Hall… Edley sought to justify Obama's "look forward" policy on Bush-era lawbreaking that the president-elect announced on a TV talk show in January 2009…. Edley's rationale implies that Obama and his team fear[ed] the military/national security forces that he is supposed be commanding.
This reporting seems overstated, and I suspect it will be repudiated completely if it actually gets any sort of traction. It is certainly hard to square the Obama of the vile Afghanistan surge or problematic Libyan intervention with an Obama insecure in his role as Commander in Chief (concerns about CIA retaliation and revolt may be another matter). But before we dismiss such fears altogether, it isn't the worst idea in the world to recall a neglected little piece of American history, the birth of libertarian Movement Conservatism in organized right-wing fascist/marketeer opposition to the New Deal:

1 comment:

Matthew Fuller said...

It's not clear at all there ever was such a conspiracy. The video is very poor evidence. Can you point to something more substantial than claims of claims?

You know, names, official documents or sources?