I went and read the original article carefully. This was not easy to do, because quite honestly, it's not well-written. And it's simply being quoted over and over again from one blog to another; a true echo chamber. It gets worse each time it's repeated. Now it is mostly
"Obama Feared Coup," with absolutely was not said by anyone but the blog writers themselves.
http://www.opednews.com/articles/Obama-Team-Feared-Coup-If-by-Andrew-Kreig-110907-156.html
Note the use of the word 'revolt' and not 'coup'. They are very different words, and mean very different things. A coup is a revolt, of course, but it means that the government it toppled by illegal means. A 'revolt' is:
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/revolt
Note that definition #1 above is the same as an attempt at a coup. But none of the other definitions are anything like that. One meaning I find most likely in Edley's response to the author is #2 above,
"To oppose or refuse to accept something."
Note also that it was the transition team that feared this revolt; not Obama. Yet many of the echo-chamber blogs now headline that Obama himself feared a 'coup'.
Not often quoted in the various blogs is this bit:
http://www.justice-integrity.org/in...h-if-he-prosecuted-war-crimes&catid=44:myblog
OK, so what I'm reading here is that Edley (and the transition team, NOT OBAMA) feared that the military leadership (not the troops), the CIA, and the NSA might 'revolt' AND he adds that there was a fear that a prosecution might thwart the Obama agenda in Congress.
Now, tell me this. If you fear a COUP, meaning your government has been utterly overthrown and the president is no longer president, in what way do you ALSO fear that your president's AGENDA is going to be thwarted in Congress? If you are ousted in a COUP, you haven't GOT an AGENDA anymore, do you?
So I am satisfied that what Edley was saying was that the transition team feared that if they instigated war crimes investigations, they'd have huge problems with angry military leaders and the heads of the CIA and NSA (and not surprising, since it would be their asses on the chopping block). And the backlash of an investigation in Congress would harm the Obama agenda right off the bat. Revolt? Yes, in the sense that some senior generals and admirals and the head of the CIA and NSA would say
"Shove it up your butt, Mister President," forcing them to be fired and causing all kinds of bad will with Congress right off the bat.
At no point did Edley say or imply that the transition team feared a coup - and definitely not that Obama feared one.
I wish people had better reading skills. It is pretty clear to me that the first person to blog this read 'revolt' as 'coup' and it was off to the races.
It's really kind of sad.
And both sides do this; this is not a slam on the left or the right. Idiots with agendas abound. Nobody gives a crap about facts, it's all about attacks.
