Could it happen here?

Question

In Star Wars: Episode II, Chancellor Palpatine convinces the Galactic Senate to grant him emergency powers in order to squelch the Separatist movement's droid army, led by Count Dooku. But Palpatine ultimately abuses his authority, disbanding the Republic and appointing himself the lone ruler of a new Galactic Empire. Could it happen here?

Answer 1

possibly although not exctly like the movie but some what like that after all the president is using the high gass prices to his advantage saying if u let me drill oil out of every where and destroy everything we will have more oil less price

this si wrong because obvoiusly he has all oil companies on his payrol and he also could verbally abuse them about this.

by the way we could get a lot more gas from bio fuels than oil could ever produce

Answer 2

NO

"I'm only doing this to protect the people." This is the cry of every dictator who takes over power when his country faces a threat.

Thank the founding fathers that America has a checks and balances system and a well thought out Constitution to prevent anything like this from every happening. As proved by the recent ACLU case to stop the presidential ordered mass wiretaps.

If Gorgy Porgy tried this then the Congress would knock him down so fast that all our heads would spin. To take over the government he would need a loyal military or police force that would be willing to shut Congress down. Any soldier would HAVE to turn him down. It is in their oath to protect and serve the Constitution of the United States, and that comes before obeying the orders of the superiors appointed over them. Just following orders is no excuse. If some General tried a military coup then his officers would refuse to take his orders and call the MPs to arrest him. The same would happen in any police or FBI organization.

This is also why a nuclear submarine takes several people to launch a missile. There may only be two keys, but the NCOs have to push the buttons and pull the switches, receive the message and so on. No one person can authorize a launch. To launch an attack from a ship is just as difficult. If somehow two Air Force officers in the same missile silo decide to make a launch, then they are stuck. Missiles can be aborted, the officers cannot escape the bunker and majors, colonels and generals aren’t given assignments in the bunker. They would be the ones most likely to attempt a military coup. Then there is all the psychological screening that those officers have to go through, before they are given such positions of power.

If the police tried to run a coup, then the other departments would stop them. ATF, FBI and local police are all separate organizations that are not in each other chains of command. If one department somehow rebels, then the other departments are there to shut them down. The CIA and the NAS don’t have the forces to run such a coup.

If somehow all these safeguards are bypassed then there are the states to contend with. All of them have National Guard forces, and police who can step in to stop a coup.

I don’t know about England, but I am sure they have a system to prevent a dictator from taking power. Like the US Congress the House of Commons will step in to stop it, and for a coup to succeed they will have to be disbanded. Their military is well trained as are the police they will not allow something like this to happen.

The risk is in the fear mongering and a slow campaign to change the system. In America it would require a change in the Constitution and the support of Congress. In England it would require a reelection of Parliament, and somehow getting all of them to cooperate with a military coup.

In the weaker nations of the world, those nations with an unsteady government or one that is weakly backed could suffer a coup, but more established nations like England and the US have a governmental organization to prevent a military coup from happening.

Answer 3

That was cool in the movie, but i doubt it will ever happen in america. If anything, we should give emergency powers to our GENERALS. We do not have holograms that lay out the entire battle for the president anyway.

Answer 4

It is happening, slowly, but surely. It is not Bush's fault, and it didnt just start. It is a slow process, so that common people dont even see it. It is much like "desynthesizing".

Answer 5

Yes, if he wanted a civil war. Bush, that is.

Answer 6

what is the ficticious name of the place you call HERE

Answer 7

um, I think it already has happened here!

Answer 8

ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN ANYWHERE. I HOPE NOT.

Answer 9

NO

Answer 10

no it cun"t