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628 points nodea2345 | 1 comments | | HN request time: 0.228s | source
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nvahalik ◴[] No.21125093[source]
> Imagine if the US suddenly had a dictator

This is why we have the second amendment. And the constitution as the thing to which office-holders swear allegiance to rather than to "the party" or "the president".

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Fezzik ◴[] No.21126073[source]
I always find this sentiment a little silly - if the US President went in to full dictator mode and had the support of the military, do you really think a militia of armed citizens would be anything but gnats against the windshield of the United States Armed Forces? And if s/he did not have the support of the Armed Forces, it would not be a very effective dictatorship and you would not even need guns for a rebellion. I truly do not get it.
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flatline ◴[] No.21126219[source]
People have this vision of a civil war, some all-out armed conflict with winner-take-all. Looking at any country with a history of armed rebels, you see a long-term political standoff that occasionally runs hot. Ruby Ridge and Waco are small scale examples in the US. On a larger scale these types of movements actually can accomplish quite a bit. I'm not condoning it by any means, I think it's completely nuts, but I don't think it's so far fetched. If you get enough people with enough political will they can accomplish a lot, armed or not.
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1. dsfyu404ed ◴[] No.21126256[source]
Waco and the public response to the government acting that way is why Bundy Ranch turned out the way it did. There was an overwhelming majority of people who didn't think the governments use of force at Waco was ok (pictures of burned to death kids will do that) and the government changed the way it operates to reflect that which resulted in a more "wait them out" approach. Incremental feedback loops like that are what prevent civil war in the long term.