Counting Coups

by digby

So today the famous Floyd Brown, (now of World Net Daily) makes the first call for Obama’s impeachment. I wonder what took him so long?

And last week we had a Newsmax columnist calling for a military coup. Newsmax took it down after being called on it, but it turns out that this wasn’t a one-off outlier. Jonathan Schwarz noted in an email to me that there has been quite a bit of this at the teabagger rallies:

It puts this in a whole different light, doesn’t it?

Six House members on Friday sent a letter to the president of the Honduran Congress warning that the Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) and his travel delegation to Honduras do not represent the views of the White House or Congress, but are mere members of the “minority party.”

“We understand that you received visitors from our Congress who represent the minority party, the Republican Party, who have expressed views that differ markedly from those of President Obama’s administration and the Democratic Majority in the U.S. Congress,” they wrote.

DeMint’s trip to Honduras has drawn fire from Democrats, who are concerned because of his position on the government coup. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry blocked his mission this week. But the trip was then approved by Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.)

(It sheds a light on this too, now that I think about it.)

This seems like crazy fringe stuff, I know. But during the Clinton years these wild ideas all started on the fringe and then became mainstream when the Republicans took the congress. Congressman Bob Barr actually called for an official House impeachment inquiry before the Lewinsky affair was revealed.

It’s highly unlikely that events will follow the same course, but it’s worth keeping an eye on. And needless to say, this throwing around the idea of a military coup is exceedingly dangerous. With that teabagger sentiment running the way it is, DeMint going down to Honduras and declaring his own position is contrary to the US Government’s official position and that the coup was a legitimate constitutional function of the Honduran government should be something that gives everyone pause. This stuff is right in their wheelhouse.

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